This might look like a pretty short stack of books for a whole month of reading. But wait! June was the month I went on a Baltic cruise with my mom and sis. After much handwringing, I ended up taking seven books with me on the trip, five of which I read in June (the other two in July, on the plane home). But those five books are not in this picture because I passed them on to my cruising companions.
Here’s a list of the 11 books I read in June, along with a few amazing marzipan bon bons I picked up in Kiel, Germany:
PICTURED
Lucia's Progress by E. F. Benson, the second book in Volume Two of the Mapp & Lucia series. I love all these books, with their mix of village charm and catty snark. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Trouble for Lucia, also by E. F. Benson, the last book in the series. I definitely see myself reading all these again some day. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier, which I read with a lively group of women friends on Instagram. Who doesn’t love a sexy pirate? 🌹🌹🌹🌹
Horse by Geraldine Brooks. This was a birthday gift from a friend because I usually don't have brand new hardbacks. I am so glad she gave it to me because it is such an excellent book! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
NOT PICTURED
The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, which my mom, sister, and I all read and loved. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Definitely a highlight. I look forward to the rest of the books in the series. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
The Grave Gourmet by Alexander Campion. Good premise, but I found it oddly off kilter. 🌹🌹🌹
Ms. Demeanor by Elinor Lipman. Laugh out loud funny. My favorite of the trip. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
A Simple Country Murder by Blythe Baker, a surprisingly good WWII cozy. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny. I’m making definite progress with this favorite series. I read this one with my ears because they are such wonderful audiobooks. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Assignment in Brittany by Helen MacInnes, a WWII spy novel published in 1942, which I also read as an audiobook. It has a doppelgänger theme similar to Daphne du Maurier’s 1957 novel, The Scapegoat, although the plots are completely different. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
NOTE
I got behind on posting monthly wrap up posts this year. I'm going back and filling in some missing posts.