Read:
The Golem and the Jinni – Helene Wecker (Olive Editions, 2020)
Whistler – Ann Patchett (Harper, 2026)
The Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Co, 1965)
Enormous Wings – Laurie Frankel (Henry Holt and Company, 2026)
Tenderness – Rowan Beaird (MacMillan Audio, 2026) (narrated by Evan Sibley, Katharine Chin, Pete Cross)
Land – Maggie O’Farrell (Alfred A. Knopf, 2026)
Transcription – Ben Lerner (McClelland & Stewart, 2026)
Make Believe – Mac Barnett (Little Brown & Co, 2026)
Did Not Finish:
Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
I started this on audio but then ran out of time on Spotify. But the real clincher was that it started to lean too medical and I just cannot listen to descriptions of surgery. I have a paperback copy of this so I’ll attempt it that way instead.
Rasputin Swims the Potomac – Ben Fountain
I might come back to this one but with summer starting my audiobook time becomes much more limited. The other major problem though is that this political satire is…not satirical enough. It feels like it’s supposed to be outrageous but so far everything that happens feels far too close to something that could or is already happening in the USA.
Currently Reading:
Fancy Gap – Zak Jones
A Circle of Quiet – Madeleine L’Engle
Thoughts:
My numbers were a little lower in June, having read 8 books, but certainly respectable. I struggled to find an audiobook I really loved and never really landed on one. I’ve been enjoyed a lot of ALCs through Libro.fm this year which means I’m sometimes picking up audiobooks that I might not have otherwise chosen. This can be a good or bad thing. Writing up my list for the month, I see that most of my reads were from 2026. There were some new releases that I was excited about (Whistler and Land) and I’m a bit of a sucker for that new release shelf my library puts right up front! I’m looking forward to leaning more into my TBR backlist over the summer though. My June reading highlights were Whistler, Land, and finishing The Lord of the Rings with my kids.
2026 Reading Goals:
62/100 books (8 in June)
Theological: 0/12
Translated Works: 6/12 (none in June) )
Pre-2025 TBR: 11/25 (The Golem & the Jinni (since 2021) in June)
Goliaths: 5/6 (none in June)
Owned: 12/25 (The Golem & the Jinni, Whistler, The Return of the King, and Make Believe in June)
Current TBR: 191 (previously 173, at least some of those because I’m continuing to add physical copies I’ve had hanging around my house to my actual TBR)
What’s Next:
Summer has officially begun at my house which means some different routines for a couple of months. I expect fewer audiobooks but some solid reading time. I plan to lean more into books I own and so knock off a few long-time TBR titles. Here’s my hopeful list:
10 11 books of Summer
The Golem and the Jinni – Helene Wecker
A Fortune of Sand – Ruta Sepetys
Prophet Song – Paul Lynch
The Boy from the Sea – Garrett Carr
The Odyssey – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson)
Abiding Dependence – Ron Block
Babel – R.F. Kuang
Prophet Song – Paul Lynch
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers – Tom Rachman
A Horse at Night – Amina Cain
A Circle of Quiet – Madeleine L’Engle
Karissa Reads Books 
It’s odd how listening to gruesome stuff is so much harder than reading it on the page. I still haven’t worked out how to skim-listen – they need to develop a skim app!
Sometimes I can sort of manage by doing something else while listening so my brain isn’t as fully engaged. But one of the characters is a doctor and I’ve read Verghese before and realized there was likely to be more medical stuff.
I am not at all squeamish (after all, I used to be a surgical nurse) but I also find descriptions of surgery quite hard to listen to. It’s funny the way these things go. I hope the paperback is easier going!
There’s something about listening to it…you can’t escape and then I can’t help but visualize what’s happening on the page! Even in a movie you can look away but you can’t do that with an audiobook.
Here’s hoping the for of you have a great summer! I assume Peter and Rose and Pearl have it off?
Thanks! Yes, they are all on holiday now!
How will they fill a whole summer??
Well, we had some plans but unfortunately Pearl fractured her ankle over the weekend and is now in a cast and on crutches. So we’re re-evaluating what she’ll be able to do. No hiking or swimming for a while.