Discussion: What was the best book you read in June?
Plus the Anderberg family's favorites
Hey there, readers!
Once again, it’s time to chat about our favorite reads of the previous month. Here’s what our family most enjoyed in June:
JEREMY: Hernan Diaz’s In the Distance blew me away — read my full review from last week. On the non-fiction side, Christine Rosen’s The Extinction of Experience was a memorable entry in the quickly-expanding anti-tech canon. Look for my write-up on Friday.
JANE: After a lot of 3-star novels in the last couple of months, Jane is once again picking a non-fiction title as her favorite: Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. It provided a lot of food for thought and has already shaped how we’ve approached summer with kids home.
GRAHAM (almost 10 years old): The oldest kid is growing up; lately it seems like I’ve heard less about what he’s reading and he doesn’t need as much help picking out what to read next. That’s okay, it just means I need to be intentional about asking him! This month his favorite was J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and illustrator Jerry Craft. Both of the oldest kids are devouring graphic novels this summer.
WILLA (7 years old): Middle kiddo is still really into the Baby-Sitters Club series, but has also enjoyed grabbing Ranger Rick magazines from the library. Magazines are definitely an underrated resources from your local library, and most are available in digital formats too.
BO (4 years old): I think we’ve highlighted this one before, but Bo is back into We Found A Hat by Jon Klassen. A little out there, but fun and plenty enjoyable to read on our end. Win-win!
Your turn! What was your favorite June read?
I re-read a short favorite: Letter from New York by Helene Hanff. A collection of monthly 5-minute talks she gave for the BBC’s Women’s Hour program in the 80’s. This is my second favorite Hanff after 84, Charing Cross Road (which I re-read almost yearly).
The Joy Luck Club! Somehow I never read it when it came out. It’s been on my shelf since 1990. Not the traditional plot driven story arc but the life tales of four women in China during the war with Japan and their relationships with their daughters after emigration to the U S are so funny and compelling and painfully sad. I could not put it down.