📚June 2022 Ranked Reading Recap

Charming middle grade, thought-provoking speculative satire, and several books about books

Hey, readers!

Today I am thrilled to share my June Ranked Reading Recap with all of you newsletter subscribers. My Reading Recaps have been an exclusive benefit for Patrons since I launched my Patreon in August of 2020. They are one of my favorite pieces of content to put together, because I get to reflect on my month of reading, think critically about the books that do and don’t work for me, and—of course—share book recommendations with an incredible group of readers.

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Today I’m offering the first newsletter version of the RRR free for everyone! You can listen to the audio version below, or, if audio just isn’t your thing, you can find one sentence reviews and “for readers of” comparisons in written format. The written list also includes time stamps of when I begin discussing each book so you can skip directly to the books you’re interested in.

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Alright, let’s get to the books!

Hit play on the audio file below to listen to me describe each of my June reads and share what I loved about it!

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June Reads Ranked

DNF: Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (1:29) A witty and informative road trip book exploring presidential assassins that didn’t quite work for me on audio.

For fans of:

• Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

• Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

• You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

• Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

#12-10: The Penderwicks In Spring, The Penderwicks At Last, and The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall (3:46) A middle grade series that explores friendship, family, and first love with humor and charm that won me over by feeling both classic and fresh.

For fans of:

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery

• The Ramona Books by Beverly Cleary

#9: Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (6:26) A coming-of-age novel with a rich, textured sense of place, a fantastic historical focus, and characters who I wanted fleshed out a bit more.

For fans of:

• Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

• A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

• The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

#8: Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner (10:08) A sweet story of a feminist takeover of a bookshop that had me cheering for our protagonists and reveling in each literary name dropped.

For fans of:

• The Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

#7: When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill  (13:39) A rollicking, messy, and sensational story of female friendship that I loved for its twisted wit and feminist take on the French Revolution.

For fans of:

• Bunny by Mona Awad

• Ottessa Moshfegh

#6: The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid (16:50) A satirical, fable-like story about race, identity, and power that went down surprisingly smooth.

For fans of:

• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

• Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

• A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet

#5: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish (19:39) A fantastic deep dive into historical Jewish London under the guise of a compelling literary mystery.

For fans of:

• Possession by A.S. Byatt

• Kate Morton

#4: Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change by Angela Garbes (21:08) A brilliant redefining of what it means to mother and an argument that I will think of daily about how caretaking can change the world.

• Like a Mother by Angela Garbes

• Belabored by Lyz Lenz

#3: Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion (22:33) An timely modern classic that linked old and new favorites for me by depicting one woman’s desire to define herself in a world that sees her as disposable.

For fans of:

• The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

• Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

#2: Search by Michelle Huneven (24:25) An incredibly unique novel with the pace of a suspense novel and the style of literary fiction that follows a pastoral search committee as it slowly combusts from within.

For fans of:

• Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

#1: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (27:25) A gorgeous and triumphant story about Covid, BLM, found family, and the power of books that somehow just works.

For fans of:

• The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

• Kevin Wilson

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Readers, I hope your June reading was as satisfying as mine was. For questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com or responding directly to this newsletter. I love hearing from you!

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Happy reading!

Sara