What I read in June 2026

The most charitable thing I can say about June 2026 is that it ended. We had to say goodbye to our 16-year-old cat, Toby, and even though I knew it was coming for a few weeks, I’ve never known grief like it.

Despite feeling like a major support was about to, and then had fallen away from me, I continued to function – because if I stopped, I might not start again. A zine I made was published as part of Of Dice and Meeples issue 2, and I attended two writing workshops and my regular writing group, where I produced some fragments that might or might not become something “proper”. I also read nine books, of varying lengths.

After the Syzygy, by J.D. Sanderson - 4.5*

A House with Good Bones, by T. Kingfisher - I <3 Hermes the vulture. 5*

Bad Influence, by Will Carver - 4.5*

Of Sorrow and Such, by Angela Slatter - 4*

An Immense World, by Ed Yong - 4.5*

H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald - bit of a bird theme this month. 4*

May We Feed the King, by Rebecca Perry - 4.5*

The Poppy Fields, by Nikki Erlick - 4*

Men at Arms, by Terry Pratchett - 4*

Looking ahead…

I’ve had The Last Gifts of the Universe, by Riley August, on my TBR for a while, but I saw an internet friend praising it the other day, and that’s prompted me to get to it ASAP.

T. Kingfisher continues to spark joy for me, and my next read of hers will be A Sorceress Comes to Call. I didn’t end up getting to Lost in the Archives, by E. Saxey, in June, but hopefully I’ll read it this month instead.