Reading Lately: June 2026 Book Reviews

Which books are worth the read and which should you skip? Find out what books I’ve been reading lately and whether I recommend them.

Well, it’s been a minute since I wrote book reviews. I’ve read so many interesting books lately that I figured I probably should act like a blogger and review them!

Let me catch you up on my crazy life. I’ve taken three wonderful trips this year. My child with a chronic illness had a terrifying relapse that consumed my life this spring. I coached soccer six days a week for six weeks and then ran three weeks of soccer tryouts. It about killed me.

If that wasn’t enough, I was randomly on Zillow and fell in love with a house. In the last three weeks, I went from swearing I would never move to buying a house and then prepping, staging, showing and selling my current home.

And yes, it has a built in library with a sliding ladder.

Scroll down to see my reviews, and, as always, be sure to let me know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments!

Natalie Heller Mills has built a growing brand as a tradwife, raising six children with her cowboy husband in a rustic farmhouse. A brand that conveniently overlooks all the nannies, producers and modern-day behind-the-scenes amenities. When Natalie wakes up to find her family living in 1855, she must figure out if it’s time travel or a new reality show. Because what she portrays as a charming traditional lifestyle is a nightmare in real life.

Yesteryear has become the buzziest book of the spring and, living in Utah, I am utterly fascinated by the tradwife topic. Obviously inspired by the Ballerina Farm Instagram account, Natalie makes a perfect unreliable narrator who always makes herself out better than she actually is. The time travel element was an intriguing twist and I could not figure out how Caro Claire Burke was going to wrap things together. I will say that I did not see the ending coming. Yesteryear is a book you will either love or hate but it’s one you should read so you can talk about.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 7 April 2026
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Ten years ago, best friends aspiring actresses Izzy and Scout Sage attend a tv executive’s Christmas party. When Scout’s younger sister Georgia is murdered at the party, Scout and Izzy immediately suspect the executive’s creepy son. Now Scout, an up-and-coming musician, finds herself the suspect in a series of high-profile celebrity murders. As a young detective investigates the case, Scout and Izzy show just how far women are willing to go to demand justice for their abuse.

Ashley Winstead really impressed me earlier this year with The Future Saints so I was curious about her other new release. Though not as deep as The Future Saints, Hot Girl Murder Club is a fun layered read full of girl squad vibes for the #MeToo era. The different timelines allowed the truth to slowly reveal, giving you some unexpected twists and turns. Although the ending was over the top, Hot Girl Murder Club is a great beach read for those lazy summer days.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 14 July 2026
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After they switch seats on a plane, ambitious scientist Allie finds she accidentally swapped phones with a movie star. At first, Allie and Milo are skeptical of each other but eventually digital reality forces them to trust each other so they can access the messages only available on their phones until they can meet and swap back. Through video chats and direct messages, will the deep connection Allie and Milo have started to form survive their first in-person meeting and real lives?

The Phone Swap is a low-steam meet-cute romance that eventually falls heavily into the miscommunication trope. Allie and Milo are well-paired and I did enjoy the first half of the story as they fall in love. However, I never enjoy a miscommunication trope and Milo’s behavior started to grate on me the further into the book I got. Worse, I didn’t love the way Allie and Milo’s friends behaved in the book. The Phone Swap is a quick easy read that will entertain you for an evening but you’ll like less the more you think about the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 25 August 2026
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V. E. Schwab and Cat Clarke team up to pen a locked-room mystery satirizing the publishing industry. Six authors have been invited to the private Scottish island of bestselling author Arthur Fletch. At arrival, they learn that Arthur is dead and his agent wants them each to take a shot at writing the last chapter of his unfinished mystery novel. Whoever can write a successful ending will also have their career revived. With only 72 hours, all they need to do is write a killer ending.

The Ending Writes Itself is a fun locked room mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Schwab and Clarke have plenty of sarcasm about the publishing industry with their nod to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. This slow-burn mystery took time to develop and while I enjoyed the buildup I wasn’t as satisfied with the ending. The unlikeable characters made this a story that I enjoyed but didn’t love.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 7 April 2026
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Professor Ember Agni is struggling to balance her rising career in archaeology with her failing marriage. After a decade, she’s running out of funds to search for the lost city that no one else believes exists. When a former student finds an artifact that suggest Ember may have been correct, Ember must decide how much of her personal life she is willing to risk in pursuit of her career ambitions.

I’ve quite enjoyed Lily Brooks-Dalton’s literary climate fiction stories but I found Ruins dreadfully boring. Although the premise held promise, the story is entirely ruined by the whiniest character I have ever read. Ember was selfish, self-absorbed and had no redeeming qualities. Every time you think she will learn or grow, she decides to keep on making self destructive choices. Her dislikable personality made the novel a chore to read, especially since the adventure plot didn’t start until well over halfway. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 31 March 2026
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In sleepy Sault St. Marie, Michigan, most teenagers spend their youth dreaming of escape. On the other hand, Everett Lindt wants to stay and grow his family’s sheep farm. When Mary moves to town, Everett is drawn to her restless energy. With his desire to stay and her desire to go, Everett and Mary make an impulsive choice that will echo through generations in this lyrical debut novel.

Sara Maurer’s debut literary fiction novel focuses on the coming-of-age story of Everett who constantly compares human behavior to that of the sheep he raises. I was drawn into the first half of the story, slowly enveloped in the rural setting and Everett and Mary’s competing hopes and dreams. However, I spent the entire second half wanting to scream at Everett’s choices. Disappointingly, A Good Animal ends immediately after its crisis point without giving you an closure into how this event will shape Everett and Mary in the long run.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 24 February 2026
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Although they have been drifting apart since high school, Tess finally agrees to go caving with her self-made travel influencer friend Allie. In the depths, Tess and Allie run into a strange man who starts harassing them. When Allie insults him, he retaliates and Tess finds herself trapped underground in a desperate fight for survival. As she recounts the events to a detective, Tess learns that the encounter wasn’t as random as she thought.

Taylor Adams presents a pulse-pounding story perfect for outdoor enthusiasts. At first, I thought the investigation piece was unnecessarily slowing the story down until Adams used it in a very clever way. I loved all the twists and turns and found the story a quick fun read. If you are willing to put realism aside, this crazy unputdownable read was a perfect summer thriller.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 17 February 2026
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In the trial of the century, beloved tv star Anna Finbow accuses her daughter Mary’s therapist, Jean Guest, of brainwashing her daughter for profit. Jean claims that Mary’s is traumatized by her upbringing and her time at an art school in Rome. As the trial goes on, the keys to unravel the web of deceit lies with Anna’s seeming insignificant employee, Gus Bird. But with a questionable past, Gus must decide if she is willing to speak up.

A Reese Witherspoon book club pick, In Her Defense was the perfect quick read for a cross-country flight. Instead of a classic courtroom drama, the story mostly unfolds through Gus’s flashbacks – with Mary at school, working for heartbroken Anna, and then as the key witness in the trial. As you try to figure out if Gus is a reliable narrator, In Her Defense delves you into the power of obsession and cult of personality in a mystery that is more of a character study than a high action thriller.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 3 February 2026
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On the surface, Dan and Tamma couldn’t be more different. Dan’s a golden child and Tamma’s a mouthy burnout. But the two form a strong bond climbing boulders on cold desert nights, both dreaming of adventure after high school. Yet as their high school graduation looms, their options seem to dwindle and their decisions become more consequential until something has to give.

Crux was a highly anticipated read for me that had some promise but didn’t live up to my expectations. Gabriel Tallent writes top-notch rock climbing scenes that powerfully drew me, though it may be less accessible to non-climbers. Unfortunately, the dialogue was so unbearable that I made it less than 100 pages before I started skimming the book. Tamma’s juvenile vulgarity was just too annoying to read, though at least she had some charm. On the other hand, Dan’s indecisive personality fell completely flat. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 20 January 2026
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After her bestselling memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy is ready to try her hand at fiction. In her debut novel, Waldo is a naive, lonely, impulsive teenager who sets her sights on Mr. Korgy, her married creative writing teacher. Obsessed with her middle age teacher, Waldo is willing to go to any lengths and try to overcome any obstacles to get what she wants. 

Half His Age is an extremely hard book to review; I had to read the story in small pieces because it easily overwhelmed me its blunt vulgarity. Jennette McCurdy will make you uncomfortable the entire time with her hypersexual depiction of Waldo who is yet still a child. You will have no sympathy for the teacher who made his choices and kept allowing lines to be crossed. Yet despite its high shock factor, McCurdy’s writing is sharp with biting commentary throughout. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 20 January 2026
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Sybil Van Antwerp has been a diligent correspondent her entire life, writing letters to family, friends, and favorite authors every day. When Sybil receives a letter from her someone in her past, she reexamines the most painful points in her life in hopes that she might one day be forgiven. A mother, grandmother, divorcee, lawyer and friend, Sybil’s full life is brilliantly told exclusively through letters.The Correspondent captures your heart as you fall in love with the stubborn, cranky Sybil through her correspondence. Even though Sybil doesn’t always make the best choices, you can’t help but root for her. Evans pens nuanced and complicated characters you felt very real. Delving into relationships and interconnectedness, The Correspondent discusses the grief of hidden mistakes that can plague our life for decades. A darling read, The Correspondent is one that may not work as well on audiobook, though I may be wrong.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 29 April 2025
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On a beautiful spring day, an elderly Portuguese gentleman arrives for New York City to the quiet Southern town of Golden. When he visits the local coffee shop, Theo is enthralled by a collection of portraits of local individuals. Thinking the masterpieces should be cherished, Theo begins buying the portraits and gifting them to the local townspeople, drawing out their stories and changing their lives on at a time in his quiet patient way.

After an initial run as a self-published book, Atria republished Theo of Golden in the fall and suddenly it seemed to be everywhere. Levi presents a heartwarming message about the goodness of people that is Hallmark movie sweet, though I felt like it was trying to hard. If only we were all just extremely wealth with infinite time on our hands, we might be just as patient and thoughtful as Theo. I’m likely being too harsh. If you love sunshine and rainbows, then this could be the most adorable book for you. If you have a fondness for literature with sad endings, you may roll your eyes a little too often. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 3 October 2025
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Jen and Brandon Hatmaker made a name for themselves in the Christian community as bestselling authors, television personalities and faith leaders. After 26 years of marriage, Jen woke up one night to hear her husband on the phone in bed talking to another woman. In the ensuing divorce, Jen felt completely lost, questioning not only her marriage but also the religious and social systems that influenced her entire life.

Even though I’ve never fallen in Hatmaker’s target evangelical audience, I have read a few of her books so I was intrigued by her divorce memoir. My millennial self is all about midlife discovery memoirs and Hatmaker writes compellingly about deconstructing your life, marriage and religion after an event rocks your whole world. I enjoyed how she added nuance to her situation, not just blaming him (even though he shoulders a ton of the blame) but examining her part in her marriage. Instead of deconstructing Christianity, Hatmaker’s focus is on analyzing how purity culture and the patriarchy aspects of her religion affected her, her marriage, and even her kids. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 23 September 2025
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Alice Law has sacrificed everything to become one of the best in the fields of Magick and to study under Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge. When the professor dies in a magical accident, Alice decides even Hell won’t stop her from her goal. Even though she doesn’t like the man, she needs his academic recommendation. As she sets off to recover him from Hell, Peter Murdoch, her academic rival, has come to the same conclusion and sets off with her.

Katabasis is one of the most academic novels I’ve ever read. You can tell R. F. Kuang has a graduate degree in philosophy. Full of literary and philosophical references to hell, Katabasis jumped right into the plot. It took me a long time to warm up to Alice and Peter. Although I found the story interesting, I was never riveted. The book stays at a very high academic level throughout and would be a terrible choice for casual fiction readers.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 26 August 2025
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When Samantha meets Xavier, a gorgeous veterinarian with the body of a Greek god, she’s smitten. Until he opens his mouth. But the disastrous first impression aside, Samantha and Xavier end up on the perfect first date that seems to last forever. Except afterward, Samantha begs Xavier to forget about her because she’s moving across the country to help take care of her mother. But can the two make a long-distance relationship work even when everything seems stacked against them?

Jimenez delivers a heartful romance that is heavy on the family drama and light on steamy sex scenes. Although marketed as a beach read like her other books, Say You’ll Remember Me has much deeper themes and is far from light-hearted. While Samantha deals with her mother’s dementia, Xavier works himself to death to afford plane tickets. Instead of drama between the couple, Samantha and Xavier must overcome the everyday realities of distance, money and family needs in a realistic way.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 1 April 2025
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As the host of a popular Baltimore radio romance hotline, Aiden Thomas has a problem: he’s become disenchanted with love. When Maya calls in for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral. Suddenly Lucie Stone finds her love life thrust into the center of a media firestorm. When the radio show decides to help Lucie find her match, she finds sparks flying with Aiden instead.

Borison starts with a Sleepless in Seattle premise that evolves into a Grumpy x Sunshine romance. Lucie and Aiden are both charming although I often just wanted to smack them over the head to tell them to communicate their feelings. A lighthearted read that bordered on cheesy, First-Time Caller is perfect for the hopeless romantic who wants a cute read even if it’s not very deep.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 11 February 2025
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Robin Wall Kimmerer, the author of Braiding Sweatgrass, contemplates what the serviceberry tree can teach us about abundance and reciprocity. In an age where hoarding of resources has become a norm, Kimmerer points to the serviceberry tree which abundantly gives to better its community. The Indigenous scientist ponders what the natural world can teach us about our value system.

The Serviceberry is an extremely short book; I listened to the entire 2-hour audiobook while strolling through the National Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C. Kimmerer’s message felt overly simplistic and naive. Let’s give up capitalism and go back to an exchange economy. I love the idea of this approach in the small scale “Let’s Build Community” sense but it quickly becomes less realistic at a large scale. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 19 November 2024
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To gain access to subsidized college housing, Anna married Liam West and she thought she’d signed the divorce papers at graduation. Being the heir to a major corporation, Liam needs to remain married for at least five years to receive his inheritance. With pressure from his family to meet his mysterious wife, Liam must introduce his unpolished not-so-ex-wife to his upper-class family. But Anna’s pure heart makes Liam begin to question if the payout is worth ruining what might be true love.

The Paradise Problem is the best Christina Lauren I’ve read so far. I’m not much of a romance fan but I did find the overarching narrative interesting and Anna and Liam’s playful banter entertaining. The Paradise Problem is far from a literary masterpiece. The entire scenario was extremely contrived, the supporting characters were one-dimensional, and the sex scenes became excessive that I started skimming them. If you are looking for an escapist romance with fake marriage and only one bed tropes, The Paradise Problem will be a solid choice for a beach read.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 14 May 2024
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Cambridge professor Emily Wilde may be the world’s foremost expert on faeries but she has never learned how to properly connect with humans. Traveling to the far northern town of Hrafnsvik, Emily Wilde searches for the secrets of the Hidden Ones with as little interaction as possible with the townspeople. When the charming Wendell Bambleby, Emily’s academic rival, arrives in town, Emily finds the key to unlocking the secrets she needs might be to unlock her own heart.

I cannot figure out the popularity of Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series. On the surface, the series seems on par with every other cozy faerie fantasy series. Yet, Emily Wilde is the most annoying, self-centered character I have read in a while. Emily is a complete jerk to the Bambleby, who has his own insufferable personality traits. The academic nature and the character relationships felt force and the entire book was silly. I shall not be finishing this series.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 10 January 2023
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During Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment, historian Heather Cox Richardson started a daily Facebook essay that turned into a newsletter about how America was on the brink of falling into autocracy. In her new book, Richardson explains how a small group of wealthy people have made war on American ideals over the last few decades. Richardson methodically lays out the history of America and what history tells us about our current situation in a calm yet optimistic way.

In Democracy Awakening, Heather Cox Richardson explains America history in a very thought-out way. Richardson illustrates how parties and party leadership have shifted coalitions and swayed their party to gain power, changing values whenever it suited the pursuit of power. I would have given Democracy Awakening four stars except the first two sections methodically built through American history to the present day and then the third section seemed to do it again. Unfortunately, political treatises like this become outdated fast. At under three years since publication, Democracy Awakening felt less relevant and didn’t give a lot of thoughts on how to fix the problems she says are plaguing America.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 26 September 2023
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A year after her husband’s death, Evvie’s life is frozen. She’s behind on her bills and rarely leaves her house. To push her forward, her best friend Andy convinces her to rent a room to his friend Dean, a famous Yankees pitcher who was forced into retirement. At first, Dean and Evvie make a deal: they won’t discuss her marriage or Dean’s baseball career. But as Evvie and Dean become closer, they both must face the trauma of their pasts to move forward.

Linda Holmes’s debut novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over provides a light low-steam romance with decent character development. I enjoyed Evvie’s story – from her troubled marriage to her complicated relationship with her best friend. Dean and Evvie had great chemistry and fun banter. I always enjoy when the romance doesn’t just save people from their troubles; they have to do the work to fix themselves. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 25 June 2019
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One of the classic books soon to be movies is a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Eight years ago, Anne Elliott let herself be persuaded out of an engagement with the poor naval officer Frederick Wentworth, a decision she has long regretted. When Wentworth returns as a rich and successful sea captain, he finds the Elliott family on the brink of financial ruin. Will Anne and Wentworth rekindle their romance or has she missed her chance?

I adore Jane Austen but I have to admit that Persuasion is always a chore for me to read. Frankly, Anne is a terrible protagonist. She’s entirely too passive and I spent the entire book wanting her to do something. There’s a reason that feisty Elizabeth, not angelic Jane, is the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice. Although, Austen does have some clever commentary tucked into the novel, Persuasion lacks the sharp sense of humor of her more popular works.

My Rating:
Publication Date: December 1817
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I always seem to have multiple books going at once. Here’s a peek at what I’m currently reading.

What’s up next for me? Before I let you go, here are a few of the titles I’m hoping to get through this upcoming month.

Be sure to come back next month to see which ones I read.

Which Books Did You Read in June?

What books did you love this month? Which books can you not wait to read? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Book Lists to Enjoy:

• June 2026 Book Releases
• The Best Book Clubs for 2026
• Booklist Queen’s 2026 Reading Challenge

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