Chelsey's June 2026 Reads | 15 Books
THREE five-star fiction reads! A personal record for 2026
Hello, friends. It’s been a long time. June has been an absolutely insane month. I counted last night and I was out of town or away from home for almost half of the month. Five out of town trips and a beach day, plus prepping for and recovering from all those trips, plus keeping my house running when I was home, plus my job meant that Substack got the short end of the stick.
Thankfully, though, my reading life continued and was even better than last month (in terms of books read). This month, I read several books that will probably make it onto my end-of-the-year list across several categories. There were also several books that would make it into a “worst books of the year” list, were I to make one.
Every month I choose my top book in each category—fiction, nonfiction, and spiritual—because I usually read at least a few books in each category. This month had multiple contenders in fiction and spiritual, but these came out on top.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise that my favorite fiction book this month was not written within this century but rather more than 80 years ago. While the world wasn’t any less sinful 80 years ago, what was accepted in literature was much more restricted, which meant authors had to rely on something other than sex in order to attract readers. This book tugged every heartstring I had, and when I finished I felt like I too had grown up in the Nolan family. This will end up being one of my favorite books of the year.
The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy by Jeffrey Toobin
This is the fifth book I’ve read by Toobin, and I have loved every single one. I knew very little about Watergate and the end of Nixon’s presidency going into this book. About half the book covers Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon, and the rest of the book traces how pardons have been used by presidents up until the present day. It might not seem like it would be that interesting, but I found it fascinating.
Stay Salt by Rebecca Manley Pippert
This is a follow-up to Pippert’s book Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life, published in 1979. This is the best book on evangelism that I have ever read. I can’t commend it highly enough.
The fact that I had three five-star fiction reads this month was incredible.
Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami
I borrowed this audiobook on a whim and I am so glad I did. The description said it was for fans of Hello, Beautiful and The Blue Sisters, two books I loved, so I felt like I would probably like this one. It is a book about three sisters who are half-Japanese, half-British. The youngest sister is the star of a popular Japanese musical group, but when she finds herself in the spotlight for bad reasons, her two older sisters come and take her to their hometown, a remote coastal village. This is not a thriller or a fast-moving book. It’s just about three sisters and their relationships with each other. I finished it up while I was at the beach myself and it was the perfect setting for this book.
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
This was my first Elizabeth Strout book, but it won’t be my last. This is her newest book, and the premise of a teacher who is questioning his purpose in life was interesting to me. I loved this book because the people in it act like real people. They are conflicted and make poor choices and don’t always impute the best motives to others. Most of all, the main character in this book reminded me of some of my favorite high school teachers who had a profound impact on me.
Making Sense of Forgiveness: Moving From Hurt Toward Hope by Brad Hambrick
Until I read this book, I would have said the best book on forgiveness I’ve ever read was Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds by Chris Braun. However, Brad Hambrick has won out over that book because this book is shorter and more concise. I still love Unpacking Forgiveness, but as a book to recommend to others, I’d choose this one. This book explains forgiveness from a biblical perspective and offers hope for those who have been hurt by others.
Another good fiction book! What is happening?
The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne by Chris Sweeney
Love the Ones Who Drive You Crazy: Eight Truths for Pursuing Unity in Your Church by Jamie Dunlop
Don’t worry, though—I also read several fiction books that left a bad taste in my mouth. These are books that I didn’t enjoy, but you might.
It truly feels to me like the newest popular fiction books all abide by some sort of unwritten code that says they must include at least a subplot about abortion and/or a homosexual relationship. Writers have the right to write about whatever they want, but it almost seems like they think that have to include these situations in order to show that they are in line with whatever is seen as the most accepting, progressive view. What bothers me is when it doesn’t add anything to the story, which is how I felt about this book. The book was well-written, so your mileage may vary.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
For my yearly beach trip, I always choose a book from the library that I plan to finish in one binge-reading session on the beach. I recognized the author’s name and checked this one out for this year’s trip. These books are never elevated literature and I never expect them to be. However, this one was entirely too contrived and also seemed to assume readers were complete idiots. For example, let’s say there is a scene where character Jim sees character Mary eating peanuts, after Mary said she was allergic to peanuts. Jim is confused. Five chapters later Jim sees a packet of peanuts in a room where a crime was committed. The chapter concludes, “All Jim could think about was watching Mary eat those peanuts.” It seems to think we have no memory of anything that has already happened. Also, the characters were obnoxious.
Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy
This book was better than both of the previous ones, but it’s still only getting three stars because of the sexual content and a borderline marital affair. The idea of a bunch of rich kids getting kidnapped while on a cruise is interesting, and the plot was propulsive. But I could have done without the sex.
Labor: One Woman’s Work by Mary Fariba Afsari
I love a memoir, and having given birth four times myself, I was interested to read this book about an OB/GYN. Unfortunately, it turned out to be pushing an agenda in a way that ruined the book for me. For a book that does have some controversial aspects but I enjoyed much more, see Womb by Leah Hazard.
It is rare that I have two-star books because usually I abandon books that I’m not enjoying.
Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me by Ron Miscavige
You guys know I love books about cults. I probably should have done a little more research before starting this one. The author of this book is the father of the current leader of Scientology and spent 27 years within the organization. He wrote this book only a few years after leaving, and I think that he should have waited to write it until some more time had passed. What was most curious was how he seemed to still espouse Scientology principles even while criticizing the way the organization is currently run. There was also an extreme amount of name-dropping. The best memoirs are written by people who have a high self-awareness, and that is not what I found in this book.
Healing What’s Within: Coming Home to Yourself--and to God--When You’re Wounded, Weary, and Wandering by Chuck DeGroat
About halfway through this book, I knew it would be no more than a three-star read. Three-quarters of the way through, I began to get angry and wasn’t sure if I would even be able to finish it. I did, though, so that I could say with a clean conscience that this is not a book anyone should read. There are some helpful principles, but the incorrect and incomplete truths represented far outweigh any benefit the book might have. It is not a Christian book, despite the mentions of God and Bible verses within its pages.
Avid Reader: A Life by Robert Gottlieb
I saw this on a Kindle deals site and snatched it up because it combines two things I love: memoirs and a book about books.
The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott Swain
Our church is reading through this book together over the summer. I picked it up on Kindle because I’ve been traveling so much I wasn’t able to share the print copy we have at home with my husband and teenagers.
Nerve Damage by Annakeara Stinson
Like many other books I abandon, this one got ditched for all the sexual content in the first chapter. It was so distracting and gratuitous that I wasn’t willing to stick around.
52 Weeks in the Word: A Companion for Reading Through the Bible in a Year by Trillia Newbell—part of my (mostly) daily Bible reading
1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart by Dale Ralph Davis—reading a chapter as my husband and I work through the book of 1 Samuel together
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren—a book I have been trying to finish for almost a year
North, or Be Eaten! by Andrew Peterson—book 2 of The Wingfeather Saga! I’m reading this aloud to my kids (ages 9 and 6) several nights a week. There are 60+ chapters and we only read 2-3 chapters a night, which means it might take us all summer to finish.
This is Happiness by Niall Williams—I’ve been working on this one for several months, and it just isn’t a book to race through. I hope to finish it in July.
The Stories We Tell: How TV and Movies Long for and Echo the Truth by Mike Cosper—This is my morning devotional read, although it’s a bit of a stretch for a devotional. I am making a long list of movies I want to watch!
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout—This is my current Kindle fiction read. I purchased this book for $1.99 last year and am excited to read another book by this author!
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand—I started this on my yearly beach trip and will hopefully have it finished before I return
It feels really good to be back with you again after what has felt like years of writing and thinking about what I’ve been reading. I hope to be back soon with a mammoth post compiling all the book series you all recommended in my post about my favorite book series. See you soon!
Good to see you back! This might tip me toward reading some more Elizabeth strout.
Nice to have you back.