June 2025 Wrap-Up and July TBR

Plus a very special Booker of the Month meeting and a Tolkien readalong

Hi, book friends.

Happy July! This wrap-up is landing in your inboxes a liiiittle later than usual because I had a busy start to the month — my daughter turned one on Friday, and we threw her a “one year to rule them all” themed birthday party on Saturday. She had a hobbit cloak. It was perfect.

I have so many Substack posts I want to write for you, and so little free time outside of work and parenting, and so many things competing for that free time — actually reading, half-marathon training, and working on my Christmas stocking project, to name a few. Still, keep your eyes peeled for some reflections on the first half of the year, including my favorite books so far. I’m also hoping to pull together a list of my most anticipated new releases for the rest of 2025 now that Lit Hub’s list is out.

Last but not least, a few of my fellow Tolkien-loving Instagram friends and I are embarking on an 8-week buddy read through The Silmarillion, starting this week. I’ve never read it before, so I’m excited! We’ll be following the readalong schedule that Tolkien substacker/Instagrammer

Breanne Rodgers

followed earlier this summer, which I pulled into a Google Sheet here. I also became a paid subscriber to Breanne’s newsletter, Many Meetings, so I can retroactively read her posts and participate in the comment threads. (She’ll be starting a LOTR readalong in the fall, which I’m hoping to participate in as well.) I have a few one-month gift subscriptions to Many Meetings to give to friends, so if you’d like to join our buddy read, comment below or send me a DM on Instagram!

Okay, on to the wrap-up.

---

What I Read in June

I read eight books last month, which I’m happy about — especially because that includes Assassin’s Quest, which is 850+ pages. (Transparently, I didn’t actually finish it in the month of June, but I spent all 30 days of June reading more than half of it before finishing up in the first five days of July, so I’m counting it. Luckily, I make the rules!)

I also began a reread of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, simply because my heart requested it. This is my third time with the book, and I’m really enjoying reading a chapter or two before bed without hurrying. It’s just so beautiful — if you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for?

All in all, my first month of less TBR-ing and more mood reading was great. I’ll definitely be continuing, at least until National Book Award season comes in September!

Here’s what I read in July — click the titles for full reviews.

Loved

• Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane† 📖🎧: Part travelogue, part narrative journalism, part prose-poem. Simply exquisite nature writing. I loved this and am so excited to have an entire backlist of Macfarlane’s work waiting for me!

• Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara† 📖🎧: This is an essay collection fused with mixed-media performance art, examining how AI and the tech industry is shaping us as people and as a society. It’s so smart. I hope it wins awards this fall.

• Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy, #3) by Robin Hobb 📖🎧: This was my favorite of the trilogy; it expanded the world and story so much! What an unexpected joy it was to sink into this slow-paced and chonky book — usually not a winning combo, but in the hands of Robin Hobb, magic.

Liked a lot

• The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager*† 📖🎧: THIS is your next beach read, friends. I had a great time with this sweet, fun, magical story of a woman who finds she can walk into the artwork at a museum and falls in love with the subject of a painting.

• Enlightenment by Sarah Perry* 📖🎧: I wasn’t sure what to expect after this one had such a mixed reception during last year’s Booker season, but I ended up totally jiving with it. The trick is to go in unhurried, I think!

Liked

• When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley*† 📖🎧: Found family, Coney Island in the early twentieth century, M/M merman romance. It was imperfect, but definitely a fun time!

• Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky 📖🎧: This is one of the 2025 Hugo Award nominees for best novel. Tchaikovsky is one of the greats in the sci-fi world, and it’s easy to see why — this is some excellent storytelling. Unfortunately, hard alien-world sci-fi is just not my favorite flavor.

• Wear It Well: Reclaim Your Closet and Rediscover the Joy of Getting Dressed by Allison Bornstein 📖: 4-5 stars for the advice, 3 stars for execution. It’s very self-help-y, but it’s also VERY short, so I think it’s worth it for the good advice! I especially loved her system for sorting through your existing closet and her three-word method to identify your personal style and guide future purchases. I think my words are going to be something like … practical, playful, and weekendy. think overall shorts with usable pockets and letters of the alphabet embroidered on them (I made that up, but if you know of such a garment, please send me the link).

*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher

---

July TBR

I’m excited to follow my nose again this month, but below is a list of the books I’m definitely planning to read. I also already started Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, which I’m not listing below because it was a mood read. Plus, I borrowed The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle That Saved a Child’s Life by Rachel Clarke from the library after it won the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction, so we’ll see if my nose leads me there or not.

• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai*: This comes out in September, but Desai is a Booker winner so a few friends and I are reading our ARCs together this month in case it makes the 2025 longlist! Plus, a chonky literary love story? Say less.

• The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett*†: My next read from the list of Hugo Award nominees. As a bonus, I’ve heard great things and had this on my TBR for awhile.

• Wild Houses by Colin Barrett*†: This month’s Booker of the Month — our last read from the 2024 list!

• Audition by Katie Kitamura*†: There’s a group of women who live in my neighborhood who do an IRL book club, and I’ve been meaning to go more often, and this was on my TBR. Win win win!

*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher

---

A very special July Booker of the Month

ICYMI, I run a book club called Booker of the Month, where we read one book from the Booker Prize longlist each month. There are 13, so we double up just once, and by the time next year’s longlist is announced, we’ll have read them all. The June meeting was fantastic as always!

This month is a very special one — not only is it time to discuss our LAST book from the 2024 longlist, but the Zoom chat is also happening the night before we get the 2025 longlist. Every year, we extend this last meeting by 30 minutes so we can talk about what we think will happen the next day. Even if you don’t read the book this month, please join us for the last 30 minutes to swap predictions, bask in the hype, and kick off the 2025 season!

Our July selection is Wild Houses by Colin Barrett.

• Learn more about the book on the StoryGraph.

• Get a print or ebook copy.

Join us for the Zoom discussion on Monday, July 28 at 8 PM ET.

• We’ll discuss Wild Houses from 8–9 PM ET

• We’ll swap predictions for the next day’s 2025 longlist from 9–9:30 PM ET

• Come for either part or both!

---

July hot releases

FYI, I keep a running list of new releases I’m excited for on my Bookshop storefront, plus a list of recent releases I love or expect to love.

This month is light, but that’s probably because there are so many good books scheduled for release this fall! Still, a few books I have my eye on this month include:

• I Want to Burn This Place Down: Essays by Maris Kreizman (7/1)

• Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (7/8)

---

As always, thanks for sharing your corner of the internet with me! It would mean a lot if you were to take a second to like this post. I’d love to hear how your reading month went in the comments, too.

Finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.

Until next time,

— Deedi (she/her)