Books are literally my favorite things; they’re small universes; affordable and easily carried, filled with mind-expanding possibilities. Through their pages, I explore new experiences and worlds, meet unforgettable characters, and deepen my understanding of…everything.
These are the books I read in June 2026, listed chronologically, and graded by recommendation (highly recommend, recommend, and do not recommend).
The Puttermesser Papers
It’s unfair that I don’t more immediately remember this novel, but it’s only because my first exposure to Ozick was The Shawl, and that’s an emotionally devastating work (iykyk).
Papers is worthy of remembrance, it’s a well-written tale of Jewish magical realism. Ruth Puttermesser creates her very own golem, wins the New York City mayoral race, and turns everything around. Seriously.
Too bad it didn’t last. Read this before Shawl; recommend.
The Women of Brewster Place: A Novel In Seven Stories
Each chapter in Brewster Place beautifully chronicles different inhabitant lives of the titular apartment complex.
These stories intersect, interact, and stack just as…yeah, the different floors of an apartment complex. But these tales are more than personal, they’re political, chronicling the American post-WWII slump (that just “happened” to hit minorities first); highly recommend.
Zigzagging Down A Wild Trail
Each story in this books has its’ own graphic voice, which is striking in and of itself (most collections have 2-3, the rest being mid).
It’s the cherry on top that the stories are also well-written and interesting; recommend.
Cockatrice Eggs
Huh. This book doesn’t come up on Amazon. What a surprise.
This is the scariest, creepiest, most hair-raising-while also being horribly written and nonsensical-book.
I don’t wanna talk about it. Check out my Facebook post about it and help solve the mystery.
Sontag: Later Essays
I’ve never been so simultaneously interested and envious. Susan Sontag is everything I want to be.
These later essays continue to the very end of her life (what she couldn’t write was dictated), mostly about art, cultural movements, films, but some STEM-y subjects as well, like medicine and puppetry tech.
Susan was cultured; I just think I’m cultured. Meanwhile (in Indiana), I’m looking up a third of the artists, directors, writers, dancers, scholars, heirs, etc, she writes about.
Don’t mistake it for name-dropping (though she did have the coolest friends), Susan isn’t as interested in their lives as she is their legacies, highly recommend.
Typical American
I didn’t expect this American Immigration novel to be so funny, but that’s what I get for assuming.
Ralph Chang comes to America right before the Cultural Revolution as an engineering student, ready to do all the things a Chinese son is expected to do.
Same story with his sister and her companion (soon-to-be Ralph’s wife), but life happens. Maybe they’re not as immune to the siren calls of individuality, consumerism, and Free Love as they thought. Maybe they’re the typical Americans (GET IT THAT’S THE TITLE); highly recommend.
The Holder of the World
I’m gonna tell you this now, so you don’t get too attached, like I did: the Salem Bibi is not a real historical figure.
But let’s be inspired by her improbably free and cosmopolitan life, going from good Puritan wife to Favorite Concubine Who Is Also A Surgeon; highly recommend.
Essays in American Colonial History
Confession: I did not finish this book; it’s not for the likes of me.
I wanted something heavier than historical fiction, but not this thickly scholared, using terms outside my understanding in far-too-long sentences printed in teeny type.
So…do not recommend, but it’s not really the collections fault. Hit me with your recommendations of historical books that hit the sweet spot between narrative and case report about this period.
(Sorry that it didn’t link. It’s old. You don’t wanna read it anyway.)
Conclusion
In the quiet company of these June 2026 reads, I found stories and echoes of the human experience: resilience in the face of despair, the enduring power of connection, and timeless wisdom woven into words.
I hope these bite size book reviews open up new literary adventures for you. What are you reading? I’d love to hear!
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Happy reading!
Love,
