Mid-Month Reading Update: Queer Mermen and The Personhood of Rivers
Plus all the good links I bookmarked for you this month
Hi, book friends.
How’s your June going so far? My reading has been a little slow, but considering that the tech company I work for had its biggest product launch ever last week, plus Father’s Day, an 8K trail race (my first postpartum 5-mile run!), and lots of other time spent with loved ones and getting outside, I’m feeling pretty content.
It’s hard to believe we’re almost halfway through the year, but I’m also looking forward to reflecting on the last six months of reading. Do you have any questions you’d like me to ruminate on? I asked in my Instagram stories a few days ago and have already gotten some good ones, like how my focus on different genres is going, how (if??) I’m fitting in time to read physical books, and whether I’ve noticed any trends in publishing. Drop any others in the comments so I can add them to my list.
But for now, let’s check in on June, shall we?
If you read my wrap-up and TBR post from a few weeks ago, you’ll remember that I’ve scaled way back on the planning front to make room for more mood reading. I had four books on my June TBR, and I’m actually happy to report that the first three I read this month weren’t any of them! (But don’t worry — I’m currently reading two, and the other two are definitely still to come.)
What I’ve read so far this month
Full reviews on the way! Keep your eyes on the blog or Instagram.
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley*† 📖🎧: This was a fun found-family standalone about a man who joins a side show on Coney Island and falls in love with the merman they captured. I thought it made a few strange choices, but ultimately a good summer read.
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane 📖🎧: Apparently I have been SLEEPING on Robert Macfarlane when it comes to nature nonfiction. This book was absolutely stunning in both prose and subject matter.
The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager*† 🎧: Another very fun book, this one about a woman who gets a janitorial job at a museum and falls in love with one of the subjects of a painting, which she discovers she can enter. This comes out July 1 and I think it will make the perfect beach read.
Currently reading
Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy, #3) by Robin Hobb 📖🎧: I’m about 100 pages in (of 800). This is a buddy read that’s going to span June and July, so no rush here.
Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara 📖: I’ve only read the first chapter, but it’s off to a promising start!
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 📖: My heart wanted a(nother) reread, what can I say? And no wonder; I was shocked to see it’s been three years since the last one.
Still on my June TBR
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry* — this month’s Booker of the Month pick
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky — a 2025 Hugo Award finalist
*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher
Links, glorious links
I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this, but Libro.fm is having their annual member BOGO sale right now. That means members can get two books from this sale list for only one credit! I got The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin and Kindred by Octavia Butler; both of which I’m ashamed to say are still on my TBR.
If you aren’t a Libro.fm member yet, now’s the best time to join. It works the same and costs the same as Audible but financially supports indie bookstores instead of an oligarch billionaire. And if you join now with code SWITCH you can get three credits for the price of one — AND THEN you can shop the BOGO sale and get SIX AUDIOBOOKS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!!!!!
*Yes I am a Libro.fm affiliate, but trust me, I would wax poetic about this company even if I wasn’t. They’re good people.
Speaking of good people, Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote about the medicinal plants of the Adirondacks (possibly my favorite place on Earth).
An excellent review of Is a River Alive?, which I just finished and loved.
It’s summer reading list season. I always appreciate how Lit Hub goes through all of them to count how many times different books are mentioned and turns that into an ultimate roundup.
And if you’re looking for a more structured summer challenge, the New York Times put together a fun one (gift link).
The Women’s Prize was announced last week! I’ve already read the fiction winner and just put the nonfiction winner on hold at my library.
Alert, Leigh Bardugo fans! She has published a Ninth House 3 teaser!
I love Mal and Jo of The Ringer’s House of R podcast, which focuses on SFF genre media. I tune in and out based on whether I’m keeping up with whatever they’re currently covering — I listened religiously to their 3-hour deep dives of all the episodes of House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power and loved their coverage of Disney+’s new Percy Jackson show — but I always make time for their seasonal hype meter episode, in which they discuss everything coming out over the next few months that they’re especially excited about.
The National Book Foundation’s Summer Reading Adventure is officially underway! Complete fun activities, like reading outdoors and borrowing a book from a Little Free Library, and then enter to win some awesome prizes, including the grand prize of a trip to the National Book Awards this fall. Everyone who enters to win will also get a discount code for Bookshop.org and a free audiobook from Libro.fm. Win win win win win.
ICYMI
Getting ready for vacation? I rounded up some authors who write great “literary beach reads.”
Don’t miss the photos of @danielle.isreading’s collection of special editions!
And a few extra fun posts on Instagram:
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 June reading is going in the comments, too.
Finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.
Until next time!
— Deedi (she/her)
robert macfarlane is one of my FAVORITE authors to handsell to nature lovers, so if this is your first book of his, definitely look at his backlist.