Wow we’re into June … the halfway point of the year. Summer is pretty much here now and we’ve already had some crazy hot weather this past week hovering around 90, which broke records and we usually don’t see till much later. Sadly wildfires in the north of several provinces are causing havoc and smoke. It’s way too early, right? Hopefully some rain tonight might help.
On the positive side, we’ve had some nice bike rides and I’m enjoying my golf league once a week as well as tennis doubles. Most of our vegetable patch is planted, though the deer ate the tops off my tulips. I couldn’t believe it, the flowers are gone and the stems are left. Out of 14, maybe one flower is still there. Sigh I will need to try deer spray on the flowers for next year. Grrr.
Meanwhile it’s time to start the Summer Book list. But wait, I’m still finishing up some May reading that includes a buddy read of Elena Ferrante’s — Book 2 of the Neapolitan series — The Story of a New Name with Tina at the blog Turn the Page. This modern classic published in September 2012 is a doozy of the later teen years of two Italian friends Elena and Lila, one of whom is studying to get through high school and the other who’s already married to someone who’s a brute and she’s ill-suited to. Yet something happens one summer spent at the beach that appears to change their fates. Right now I’m near the 70% point of the novel, which is nearly 500 pages. Tina is closing in on the end and we’ve been eyeing the friends’ every move and debating their competitive friendship. Is it a good friendship or destructive? What will the two do to raise themselves out of their poor neighborhood? I will wait to see. I’m quite liking it … though I feel Ferrante could go on forever about their everyday episodes.
And now let’s chat about what’s releasing this month. There’s new novels by such well-known authors as S.A. Cosby, Megan Abbott, Leila Mottley, Wally Lamb, Susan Choi, and Joyce Carol Oates among others. I have read Claire Lynch’s novel A Family Matter (due out June 3) and Heather Clark’s novel The Scrapbook (due out June 17), which are both 4+ star debuts that I recommend.
There are two other novels releasing this month that are on my Summer List, which include Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel Atmosphere (out June 3) that follows a woman’s journey through the space program in the 1980s where she encounters sexism and a surprising romance. Kirkus says Reid keeps the story’s tension high in this propulsive novel that is hard to put down. So what are we waiting for? I enjoyed Reid’s novel Daisy Jones & the Six but didn’t care too much for Carrie Soto Is Back. Still the story’s premise of the space program is too promising to pass up. Will it be the most popular book of the summer?
I also have Jess Walter’s novel So Far Gone (due out June 10) on my Summer List. I have never read him before but his novels, including Beautiful Ruins from 2012, have been popular. Apparently So Far Gone is a “rollicking and heartrending adventure” that follows a reclusive journalist who’s forced back into the world to rescue his kidnapped grandchildren in an increasingly divided America.
Author Tom Perrotta says it’s a “deeply humane exploration of the way one family falls apart and puts itself back together in a moment of crisis.” While Lauren Groff says it “speaks directly into the profoundly troubled soul of our fractured, embittered country … with gentle wryness and angry love.” So we will see. I’m curious how what’s going on politically in the country will be addressed in novels ahead.
Also the novel Endling (out June 3) by Maria Reva is getting much high praise. Set in Ukraine, it’s about a scientist whose path crosses with sisters posing in the mail-order bride industry in order to find their activist mother. As Russia invades, they set off on a wild journey together.
It sounds a bit crazy, but it’s said to be a darkly comic novel that explores survival, love, and the impact of war. It’s also said to be meta-fiction as a character named Maria Reva emerges in the book’s second half. It’s already being heralded as quite a literary achievement, so I’m adding it. Apparently the author was born in Ukraine and grew up in Vancouver, B.C. This sounds like a pro-Ukrainian novel we can’t miss … by a Canadian author too!
For what’s on the screen this month, I don’t see a whole lot that’s notable, but I’ll mention Season 3 of The Gilded Age starts June 22 on HBO Max. I have not watched this show, but it has some good actors in it and is made by Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey. Apparently the series follows the conflicts surrounding the new money Russell family and their old money neighbors, the van Rhijn family, in 1880s New York City high society. Have you seen it? I wouldn’t mind trying it out, though my husband will be closely watching the Stanley Cup hockey finals with the Edmonton Oilers. So who knows when the remote control will be freed. I’ve made him watch Miss Austen on PBS lately though he says it’s a chick series.
Also this month is the start of Season 4 of The Bear (June 25 on Hulu), which follows a successful chef in Chicago who inherits his family’s sandwich shop (renamed The Bear) along with its initially surly kitchen crew and staff. I have not seen the show as we don’t get Hulu or Disney+, but I know others swear by the series so I’m putting it out there. Enjoy the 10 new episodes set amid the chef’s chaotic kitchen.
Lastly in music this month, there’s new albums by Haim, Caamp, Lorde, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Orianthi, Van Morrison, and Springsteen among others. I will likely check out a few of these, I especially like Caamp’s music and Haim’s. Though when Springsteen is releasing a boxed set of unreleased songs from 1983-2018 it’s hard to beat. His new compilation: Tracks II: The Lost Albums (due out June 27) spans 83 songs! 83 songs that are not on his other albums. Oh my. His first boxed-set Tracks 1 was released in 1998 and I used to mow my lawn to it when I lived in Virginia. It’s excellent. In fact, I’ll play it this week to get ready for Tracks II, lol.
And that’s all for now. What about you — which new releases are you looking forward to this month? And have you started your summer reading yet?
The smoke is really spreading. We can see it turning the sun red and making the sky white without clouds, here in Michigan, I think thousands of miles away.
Hi Mae, yeah it’s bad … I hear the Winnipeg & Saskatchewan fires are really sending smoke south. I guess northern Alberta is too. Ugh. We need more rain & cooler weather. It’s amazing how far the smoke can travel. Stay well.
Half way through the year already! I put a library hold for Atmosphere (I’m #3). I will also be interested in King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby, as I loooved his previous book. Besides that, hopefully I’ll get to The Lost Masterpiece by B.A. Shapiro; I really liked The Art Forger back in the day. The books from the last few months that I’ve not gotten to have started to pile up. I wish I could read faster! 🙂 Enjoy the hours of sports, TV watching, and reading. Have a nice week!
Hi Carmen, thanks. I hope you get to a couple of these. I’m glad you brought up the Shapiro book … I looked at it and it does sound pretty good. If you like it, I might read it too. I probably won’t read Cosby — as I have too much else. I really need to finish Ferrante but it’s long. You might get to Atmosphere before me – I hope it’s entertaining. I’m not expecting high Lit. It’s been busy but I need to make better progress this week. Enjoy your reads!
I can’t believe we’re already into June! It’s been a hot couple of days here, too with highs in the upper 90s. It’s back to the 80s this week thankfully. I don’t have HBO Max but The Gilded Age sounds good, especially if it’s made by Fellows. We just finished Downton Abbey last month and loved it. I read one book by Taylor Jenkins Reed (After I Do) and hated it, so I haven’t had the interest to try her again, but a story about a woman in the space program in the 80s appeals. I still remember the Challenger disaster. It was exciting to have a female teacher go to space. I was getting ready for school when it happened.
Oh, it’s frustrating when the deer eat your flowers! We fenced in my rose/flower/veg garden so that doesn’t happen anymore. I still have a hydrangea and one climbing rose they could get to, but I spray it with Deer Mace and they haven’t touched them.
Hi Rachel, I’m glad you told me about Deer Mace … we will try to get some here. It was very frustrating to have the tulips destroyed. Our vegetable garden is behind a big fence, but the flower garden is not. Hmm. It’s good yours are fenced in. Your roses are too precious!
And I agree – like you I hated one of Taylor Jenkins Reed’s books (Carrie Soto) but I’m hoping this one will be better. The Challenger wreck was devastating, so sad. I was at college and saw it on TV, ugh.
I’m glad you enjoyed Downtown Abbey. It was an entertaining show. Might see if we can get The Gilded Age. Cheers. Have a good week.
We liked The Gilded Age, mostly for the history. I’ll definitely watch the next season.
Hi Joy, good to hear you liked the series! I need to see if we can get it here. It looks entertaining. Hope Season 3 works as well. Have a great week.
I still haven’t watched The Bear! I am pretty sure I will enjoy it when I watch it. Just have to get to it!
I would have been so disappointed to see the tulips were eaten! They are my favourite flowers! However, I would also be entranced by seeing deer occasionally!
Have a great week.
Hi Marg, thanks. yeah the tulips massacre was not good. The deer attack came at night so we really didn’t see them do it but they left deer poop on the lawn, so I’m guessing the rabbits aren’t likely to blame. I might try to spray deer mace on the flowers next year. Tulips take a while to grow here so it was a blow to see, lol.
I still haven’t seen The Bear series either. I hope you like it if you see it.
Enjoy your week too.
Hi Susan, I am going to put So Far Go e on my TBR list. I .Ike the premise, a novel about these divided times in America and can a fa ily be put back together again. I have watched seasons 1 and 2 of the Gilded Age. It’s worth a look.
Hope you have a great summer. Even though it’s still spring I always think of June 1 as the start of summer.
Hi Kathy, good to know about The Gilded Age (maybe I can find it here) … and that you might try out So Far Gone. I’m not sure when I’ll get to it but I hope it’s decent.
And things have felt like summer … with the high temps here. Though I guess real summer doesn’t come till later. So enjoy if this is spring, lol. Happy reading.
We have The Bear on our list to watch. Everyone has told us it is really good! Our tv show TBW is as long as my TBR! (not really but it feels like it!)
Hi Erin, yeah we haven’t gotten to The Bear either. But it sounds like everyone is really enjoying it. I know what you mean about lengthy lists, lol. I hope you get to try it out! Have a great week.
I wish we could get some rain, too! And I’m sorry deer ate your flowers. Unknown bugs keep eating my new veggie plants. It’s very frustrating, especially because this hasn’t happened in past years.
Hi Lark, man it was a tulip massacre … after all that time it took to get them.
I hope you can control the bugs on your vegetable plants. It is frustrating. We once had blight on some plants back before we moved. Luckily we haven’t gotten that here. And our veggie plants are now mostly behind a tall fence so bambi can not get those. Good luck with your plants!
One of our neighbors was telling me yesterday about squirrels breaking off his big red tomatoes, taking two bites, and then dropping them when they try to head back to the trees. He is so angry that he’s trapping them and taking them to a county park ten miles away.
I should add Gilded Age and The Bear to my list.
Astronauts were dads at my school and I was thrilled to hear about the teacher astronaut—I was stunned to see the explosion.
Hi Deb, Oh that must have been so awful. The 1986 Challenger explosion especially to your area and the schools there. Ugh. I can’t imagine. It just breaks the heart. I was in San Antonio at Trinity during the time of that. We were all so stunned.
And I sympathize about squirrels that cause a ruckus. We had some that got into the crawl space in our roof when we were in the city. I’ve heard of people trapping them and taking them away. Eating the tomatoes would be a real big No No. Luckily here we rarely have any squirrels. I hope it worked out for your neighbor. Have a great week.
I’m sad for you about your tulips, but have sympathy as well. Deer will eat what they eat. I know some things are supposed to be ‘deer resistent’, but….we’ve found that deer will eat whatever. We’ve been having them munching on some bushes that our landscaper told us that the deer would leave alone. Nope. They love them. Good luck!
I’m interested in trying Atmosphere. The whole space program thing is what has drawn my curiosity. As Deb said above, I remember the teacher astronaut and I also remember the horrible explosion. I actually remember right where I was when I learned about it. Sigh. Otherwise, my summer reading is going to be ‘whatever sounds fun’. LOL
Hi Kay, yeah the deer so far have left the petunias and geraniums alone but gobbled up the tops of the tulips. So I guess I live & learn out here. I guess we will monitor which ones they like & dislike. Good luck too with your bushes.
I think that Atmosphere novel is going to be a big popular read this summer. At first I didn’t realize it’d be about the Challenger disaster but we will see how much it includes about that. It surely was an awful event, ugh. Even now so many years later it’s etched into our skulls. I hope you have a lot of fun summer reads to balance that out.
I am in season 8 of New Tricks and enjoying it.
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books usually work for me, so I’ve added Atmosphere to my TBR list; thank you for the reminder.
I always enjoy the photo. you include at the top of your posts and this week’s is particularly wonderful. 🙂
Hi Helen, thanks. I try to get some serene photos for this blog and I’m really glad when others like them.
I will have to check out a trailer of New Tricks. I don’t think I know the show, but I usually like British series.
And if you get to the novel Atmosphere first — let us know if it’s any good. I’m sure the library list for it is long. Cheers!
Testing. I wrote a long comment and probably didn’t hit publish, ugh. Otherwise, I will email.
Hi Tina, I really hope my site didn’t eat your first comment. I know how frustrating that can be. Grrrr. But I see you’ve written back below, thanks much. Sorry to try your patience.
Ok, let me try again, haha.
I’m glad your garden is n and I hope you have much success with the produce. Sorry to hear about the tulips but if you plant marigolds and mint near them deer and rabbits so not like the smell so they may stay away. I have heard deer aren’t fans of bee balm either and that will get you butterflies as a bonus.
I haven’t heard about the books you mentioned but will check on some of the titles in about 2 weeks. Only 9 “sleeps” left in this house!
Speaking of books, I had put a suspension on all my holds with the exception of one I am #22 in line for the reserve. Wouldn’t you know it, the library has it in transit to me as they rented more of this title. Soooooo….when I pick it up I will give it my best shot. It’s The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon and I had planned to wait on this tome until I was moved.
Lila and Elena do seem to have a destructive friendship and then all of a sudden they are extremely supportive of one another. It’s almost like the they the competitive part of their personalities is dormant and then look out, something stirs in them and the b*tch comes out. Mostly I am liking Elena more than Lila.
Hi Tina, thanks for writing back. So sorry the first comment didn’t take.
You have good ideas about thwarting the deer around the flowers. The tulip massacre happened at night but I’m pretty sure it was deer. I will try something for next year. They haven’t eaten geraniums or petunias so far.
Uh-oh they’ve sent you The Frozen River … that’s sort of a long one but it moves a bit quicker than Ferrante. I hope you have time for it …. or can get it back?
I agree with you about Elena and Lila’s friendship. I have liked Elena more … though it is written from her narrative so perhaps we are biased. I’m just at the point where Lila has left Stefano so I need to see how this pans out. Sounds pretty dangerous. I will email you tomorrow … you might be done by now.
Hope all is well there. Cheers.
So strange to think of you having such high temps so early in the summer. We may hit 70 on Sunday, which will be nice. I wore a flannel shirt today since the temps dropped a bit. We’re only at 52! At least the sun’s out. There are already fires popping up in Oregon near John Day. We could use some rain…
You have been quite active with biking, golf, and tennis! Love the photo of the bike in the tall grass. Speaking of tall grass, do you have any problems with ticks? Apologies if we’ve already discussed this in previous posts/comments! 😉 Sorry the deer got to your tulips. We had squirrels and rabbits that would do that. So annoying!
I have a pre-order for So Far Gone (on audio), but still haven’t read Beautiful Ruins (which I’ve owned forever!). I should have put that one on my summer reading list…
I tried the first episode of The Gilded Age and didn’t watch any further. Wasn’t my cuppa. I’d like to watch the 4th season of The Bear, but we dropped Hulu, so I’ll wait and see if/when we pick it up again. Happy to hear the MCC has a new album out, although a lot of her more recent releases have had such similar feels that it’s hard to distinguish one new song from another. I love her early stuff. Van is a favorite, so I’ll check his out, too. And, of course who doesn’t love Bruce?!
I started the first book of my summer reading challenge last night. I was tired though, so I think I’ll start from the beginning tonight. It’s Tin Man by Sarah Winman.
Have a good week! Enjoy your gorgeous weather!
Hi thanks Lesley, yeah we had near 90 degrees all last week, but this week more in the 50s & 60s. So that’s more seasonable for early June.
We don’t have much trouble with ticks around the house (still on the alert) but this season I hear the mountains seem to be having an infestation of ticks … hikers are talking about certain hikes being full of them, yikes! Robert went on one such hike up high that had a lot. Ugh. Good thing I didn’t go.
I still haven’t read Jess Walter either. I need to try his new one and see.
And yeah me too — I used to be a big MCC fan of her early stuff and saw her in concert many times when I lived in Va. though I haven’t listened to hardly at all in many years. Maybe I just drifted … and her songs sound similar. I like Van & Bruce a lot. lol.
That’s great you started your summer list. I will see what you think of Tin Man. Gosh I can’t even remember any of it now! Good thing we keep these blogs so to remember our reads. I wonder what Winman is working on now? Hmm. In her early days she was an aspiring actress apparently.
Hope you have a beautiful weekend at the Cove! I am keeping really busy with biking, golf, gardening, and tennis. Also we have house upgrade projects coming so that’s also time consuming. I guess it’s good in light of my parents … who I miss pretty much daily. take care.
Summer? You’re having summer? In Colorado, we are in a cold front. It didn’t even reach 60 degrees F today, and has been rainy (which I love) but I need me some sunshine and vitamin D. A pox on those deer–luckily, my garden (knock on wood) has been safe from wildlife marauders, but I feel your pain.
First things first, with the Maple Leafs out, we are definitely Oilers fans here. My brother lives in Toronto and all four brothers played hockey through high school, so it’s in my blood.
Mary Chapin Carpenter is a favorite, so I’ll be looking for her new album. And Bruce Springsteen–my hero!
I may read Atmosphere, as I did like Carrie Soto, but Space has never done much for me…except The Right Stuff, I did like that.
The Gilded Age is on my TBW (to be watched) list, but first we have to get through The Residence. So good…is it on your list? Watched two seasons of The Bear, but I couldn’t take the angst.
Hi Jane, yeah the deer caused a tulip massacre, so I’ll have to rethink that. We had 90 degrees all last week, but this week is more seasonable in the 50s & 60s. Now it feels chilly in comparison, lol! It’s nice you are getting (good) rain.
I am amazed & pleased to hear you are such a hockey fan! I didn’t realize you had a brother in Toronto, wow. We too are rooting for the Oilers (big time against Florida). The Oilers’ McDavid is quite a star. Go!
And yeah Springsteen & MCC … can’t wrong with either. Been so good for so long.
I wonder how the novel Atmosphere will be … I’m hoping not too goopy.
I’m glad you mentioned The Residence — I didn’t know about the show — but it looks like fun from the trailer. Seems to be a good spoof and mystery. We don’t get Netflix at the moment but we might in the future. I hope you enjoy it. I could use a laugh about now.
Enjoy your garden! & have a great week.
Just to further the Canadian connection, my mom was from Montreal and met my dad during WWII. He was from England and did basic training in Lachine and then flight school in Saskatchewan. My sister was born in Montreal, the brother in Toronto was born in England, my next brother was born in Vancouver, and the final three in the family are Yanks (as my mom used to say!).
Wow Jane !! I had no idea. Your family is way more Canadian & English. But then did your parents eventually settle in the States to have the final 3? So how many sibs are still in Canada? What a great mixture of places! We have spent some time in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver … the three big cities and my husband grew up in Kingston, Ontario. But I’m still a transplant. Still it’s home now. You live in a great State ….
So sorry to hear about your tulips. How disheartening!
I have decided I do want to read something by Taylor Jenkins Reid, that is about as far as it goes. Haven’t decided on a book yet.
Endling sounds good, and like you say, a Canadian author!
I did start my summer reading, with the 9th book in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series by Bill Crider. It is set in a small town in Blacklin County, a fictional county in Texas. It is a cozy series, Sheriff Rhodes solves crime mostly with his intuition, and he and his second wife are in their 40s-50s. He loves Dr. Pepper in glass bottles and junk foods for lunch, which his wife disapproves of. This books was published in 1998 and he avoids computers where possible. I only have 16 books to go to finish the series. The last book in the series was published in 2019, so I imagine he has to start using computers sometime along the way. But I do enjoy police procedurals and other mysteries that were written at a time when technology was not so prevalent.
Now I am reading Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montidore, a time travel novel.
And I did not even name the book by Bill Crider, which is Death by Accident.
Also thanks for the Crider title. Only 16 left! lol. They sound enjoyable.
Hi Tracy, I like to see your various reading genres. Good to know about the Crider book and funny to hear the character likes Dr. Pepper (been awhile since I had one, lol). And I agree: it is nice to read novels that were written before computers & the internet. We overdose too much on that in our present day.
I forgot if you have any Canadian authors on your summer list? I was pleased to see this Endling novel by a Canadian talked highly about. But I’m not sure I will get to it right away. You have me curious about the Oona Out of Order novel. I’m not a big time-traveler but I always enjoy hearing about the books from your reviews. So I will see what you think of it. Have a great week.
No, I don’t have any books by Canadian authors on my summer reading list, and I was chagrined when I realized that. I do have one set in Canada: The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede.
I read a book by a Canadian author in late May: A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby. It is part of a mystery series but she has written other books, I just don’t know much about them.
Yeah that Gander, Newfoundland book should be a good Canadian one even though the writer is American. It seems to capture the spirit of the place and the connection between people from both sides of the border at the time. I hope all that goodwill won’t be ruined currently due to what’s going on & the tariffs. I haven’t read Jim DeFede’s book yet.
And I haven’t heard of Susan Juby so I’ll look into where she’s based in Canada. Thx for the info.