June Reading Wrap-Up
Even before the fireworks, Summer started off with a Bang!
From June’s Bookshelf:
Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie, Ed Cray. Ebook.
The Fraud, Zadie Smith. Hardback, library and some audiobook.
If You Want to Write, Barbara Ueland. Hardback, gift.
A Passage to India, E M Forster. Audiobook.
This Year Will Be Different, and Other Stories, Maeve Binchy. Audiobook.
Good Material, Dolly Alderton. Hardback, little free library.
Desperate Remedies, Thomas Hardy. Audiobook.
The "Read Good Challenge" for June was “Shame Forgiveness Month.” Its goal? To read a book that we would be ashamed to read, or a book that we are ashamed to have not yet read. I chose Walden (or Life in the Woods,) by Henry David Thoreau. Growing up in southern New England as I did, I was ashamed to have never made the time for Thoreau. Somehow, I always found a way to avoid reading his assigned chapters in school, too. At last, I’ve read it—although I didn’t finish it until a few days into July. My review will come next month.
"Savidge Prompts" asked that we read a book set in a hotel. I had already fulfilled this prompt in March when I read Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac and Sarah Winman’s Still Life. You can find those reviews here.
I’m also participating in the 2025 Big Book Summer Challenge, with a goal of reading at least one 400-plus page book before Labor Day. There’s still time to sign up and post your "big books" to the challenge. In May, I read and reviewed The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. You can find that review, here. Below, my reviews begin with the two "big books" I completed in June.
Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie, by Ed Cray (512 pages.) I read this as an ebook. I wouldn't recommend that format. Cray’s book is deeply-researched and includes many footnotes and photographs. The latter are a treat! Songwriter, balladeer and author Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) spent much of his life just hobo-ing around. He was a staunch union man and a brave merchant marine during WWII. Cray portrays his complexity well: maddening and difficult but also charismatic and sincere; doggedly hardworking and simultaneously unfocused. His life was rough, mostly caused by his own actions, but also by family tragedy, war, and disease. Cray’s writing isn’t lyrical. I sometimes felt tangled in his sentences. But I drank up the remarkable detail he provided. If you are interested in folk music, or even mid-20th century America, this book is a great resource. 3.75 stars.
My second June "big book" was Zadie Smith’s The Fraud (464 pages,) winner of Best Book of 2023 by The New York Times and NPR. This historical fiction follows the Ticheborne Case, a sensational inheritance trial that captivated England during the 1870s. We follow the case through the eyes of Eliza Touchet, the housekeeper, and cousin-by-marriage, of William Ainsworth. Ainsworth, a mediocre writer, is friends with Charles Dickens. Ainsworth’s career is in a slump and Mrs Touchet worries for their large household’s future without her cousin’s steady income. The book is filled with treasures which I won’t spoil. The chapters are shockingly short, creating a lively reading experience. If you read the audiobook, Smith reads it herself and does a superb job. At the beginning, I couldn't be sure who was a character in Mrs Touchet’s life, in her personal history, or in the Ticheborne case. So I borrowed the physical book from the library and read most of the novel in its physical form, bouncing between the two as I neared the end. I recommend a Google search of the Ticheborne Trial, Elizabeth Touchet, and/or William Ainsworth before you undertake this book. The novel is based on real characters, and although fictionalized, it is helpful to know what actually occurred. This book deserves its praise. 4-stars.
A few months back I received the gift of a small hardback book, entitled If You Want to Write, by Barbara Ueland (1891-1985.) I was unfamiliar with Ueland at the time. But I have since learned that she studied at Wells College and graduated from Barnard in 1913, in preparation for a successful career in journalism. She was a staunch feminist, probably because of the influence of her mother, a suffragette and the first president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters. Eric Utne, the founder of the Utne Reader, is her grandson. Her book is not a technical “how to,” nor is it filled with craft advice. Instead, it urges its readers to disregard criticism and to write freely. It lauds encouragement. It pronounces that the best writing comes from those who, no matter how untrained, write what they witness and express it from their hearts. She cites many lovely quotes from classic literature, particularly Tolstoy. It’s a shortie, so if you need a little creative encouragement, I highly recommend this read. I agree with Ueland more than I disagree with her. But I strongly believe that a creative endeavor benefits from constructive criticism. At least in this book, she argues against criticism. It makes a great gift for any budding writers. 3.5 stars.
I finally read, A Passage to India (1924) by E M Forster. From 1912-1921, Forster lived there while serving with a civilian military corps of The Red Cross. The story focuses on the colonizing British citizens and a handful of native Indians including the protagonist, Dr Aziz. The book is exploring friendship between the sexes, between colonizers and the colonized, between the powerful and the weak. The characters and scenes are vividly drawn, as gorgeous as in Room with A View. Forster peppered this manuscript with Indian vocabulary, which obscured some meaning, but also added authenticity. Dr. Aziz is falsely accused of a crime, and because he is Indian, the chances of vindication are slim. The story explores the complex relationships, power and influence, and the resulting trauma. Societal dictates limit the relationships and restrict how or what various characters can say to one another. Throughout, Dr. Aziz suppresses what he naturally wants to do or say in lieu of what he believes is required of him. The novel is a ringing indictment against colonial rule, but moreover, its about human connection and the barriers that block it. There are many moments when two characters are uncomfortably placed together. Unseen by others, their privacy creates a frisson in the plot or dialogue. Forster seems to have been exploring the contrast of visible relationships vs those hidden from view. 3.5 stars
While an unlikely choice for June, I read a collection of Christmas stories by Maeve Binchy, This Year Will be Different and Other Stories, by audiobook. It's an intriguing look at the holidays through a modern lens. These are not Currier and Ives Christmases. Things go wrong. People are inconsiderate, lonely, and stressed. But each story portrays what feels like a real Christmas. I really enjoyed their quirkiness and well-defined story arcs. Unfortunately, the audio is the duplication of an original recording. Its quality was quite poor. But I liked the stories enough that I just turned up the volume and listened through the warble and static. 3 stars.
While donating to a Little Free Library, which I always dub the “book box,” I snagged Dolly Alderton’s modern novel, Good Material. I really enjoyed it, despite how much of a departure modern humorous fiction is from my usual reading preferences. It's a story of a break-up between a mediocre comedian and a middle-manager at an insurance company. The story is told in first person, mostly from the comedian’s perspective, and so, despite the ache he's feeling, he’s quite funny. The characters are well-drawn, very believable. Their flaws, frustrations, and desires are bubbling just below the text.
Very near the end of the book, the POV abruptly changes. For two and a half-pages, I thought the book had pronoun misprints until it dawned on me that the POV had shifted. Because I traveled so long and so far in the amusing headspace of the male lead, I found it disquieting to close the story in his exe’s head. However, in order for the story to resolve the way Alderton intended, the woman’s POV is needed. It’s a very minor criticism and did not at all ruin the overall reading experience. This story isn’t going to change your life or end any of the world’s ills. And it probably won't help you through your own breakups. But if you want a bit of escapist fiction that is neither silly nor gloomy, Good Material is a good choice. 4-stars (but that is not to say that it is a better book than Passage to India. It’s not. These 4-stars commend Alderton’s writing and the pleasure in reading it.)
My last book of June was Desperate Remedies, Thomas Hardy’s first novel. I’m a Thomas Hardy fan and have read all of his well-known titles. Earlier this year I read a collection of his short stories, The Wessex Tales, which caused me to refocus on him. Desperate Remedies (1871) is less tragic than his later novels. Protagonist Cytherea Graye and her brother Owen are orphaned and thrust into poverty just as they come of age. Cytherea seeks employment and is hired as a lady’s maid to Miss Adclyffe, a manipulative older woman who oversees a large inherited estate. Miss Adclyffe appears to make sapphic overtures to Cytherea. Ultimately though, this is a heterosexual love story. The man Cytherea wants is spoken for; and she doesn’t desire an older man who wants her. There are dozens of plot twists and forces. As in most Victorian novels, the female lead has very little agency, and when she finally makes a firm decision, it is to self-deny. Unfortuately, this book suffers from that precept. The story feels quite gothic. There are odd noises, spooky old houses, secrets, gossip, dangers, fire, unknown figures lurking in shadows. The twisty surprises were very bewitching. It would make for a terrific October read. For those who are wary of Thomas Hardy, this is a great choice—although not really typical of his work. Don’t be put off by Hardy (just avoid Jude.) His prose is magnificent. 4 stars.
Desperate Remedies and The Fraud were my favorite reads of the month.
What did you read in June? Are you tackling any "big books" (400+ pages)?
Have you read any of the books on my June Bookshelf? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts! And please tell me about your favorite Summer Reads!