A not-so-happy June just ended with the horrific news of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Devastating news for women’s rights. I find I’m unable to care about much else right now, so there is not much of a cheery update for June.
I am still collaging though. Creative work is a balm to the angry soul.
And the garden is giving us more blooms as we head toward mid-July, when it’s at its best. Here, interestingly, is some lettuce I allowed to bolt (didn’t harvest it, then it bloomed). I’d never seen lettuce flower before and the blooms are so pretty.
On to the books!
What Shannon Read in June
Photo galleries continue to be somewhat wonky in WordPress. Sorry about that. 
Some Notes:
I read five great books this month, including one reread, which I’m counting for the Read Harder Challenge. Here are my thoughts, none of them all that coherent…
That Kind of Mother:
This was…interesting. I enjoy reading about experiences of motherhood that give you the gritty side of things. As other moms know, motherhood isn’t all kittens and roses and this book was written from the perspective of a woman who devoted her life to her children when they were born…and had some qualms. I appreciate that kind of honesty.
I admit that I trusted the main character’s point of view less when I opened the back cover and saw that it was written by a man. May be my own bias, but I couldn’t trust a man’s view of motherhood as much as that of a woman who’d actually been a mother.
At any rate, I really enjoyed the style of Alam’s writing. It gave a weird sort of distancing effect. I felt involved in this family’s life, but also like I couldn’t quite get close enough to the details. He reminded me of Laurie Colwin’s writing, if that means anything to you.
I haven’t said anything about what the book is about, but read the Goodreads synopsis. It’s a pretty interesting storyline.
Greenwich Park:
I love a British mystery. This one features a not-totally-reliable narrator. It’s set in contemporary London and revolves around a circle of friends and siblings, a few of which have dark secrets…my favorite kind of secrets. The writing was solid and the mystery was good enough to keep me reading.
The House of Mirth:
This is my fourth or fifth reread of this classic by Edith Wharton. I’m counting it for the Read Harder Challenge category: Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!. The category is “Re-read a favorite.”
I like to read Wharton in the summer, but I think that’s just because I started reading Wharton one summer and it was, like, the best summer of reading I’d had in a while. It’s now become a tradition.
This, of course, is Wharton’s classic novel about protagonist Lily Bart set around the 1880s. Bart is a New York society woman who is ousted by her friends. She’s “past her prime” as far as marriagability and therefore in some danger. Having been raised in a society that sets only the goal of marriage for women, Bart’s fight to support herself becomes her main struggle. It has a tragic ending. Essentially, I think this is a book about what happens when women are raised to be men’s ornaments rather than given the independence they need and deserve.
Silver Sparrow:
This is the fascinating story of a woman whose father is a bigamist. Dana is the daughter of James. James is married to Dana’s mother, but he is also married to Laverne. He has daughters with both women and married them in different states. So, this is Dana’s story, but also the story of her disjointed family. It’s complicated because James’ first wife and daughter know nothing about Dana and her mother.
Highly recommend this one. It’s great writing and an in-depth, character-driven story about family.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan:
I am late to the party on this one, but finally read it. It was excellent. Check out the Goodreads synopsis here. It was an interesting look into 19th-century China, but I’m sorry to tell you that the most memorable part for me was arguably the most disturbing. Since foot-binding was still a thing, there is a somewhat excruciating description of that process as the girls in the book suffer through it. *shudder*
And that’s what I read this June. How about you? Got any recommendations? I’m especially interested in reading more for the Read Harder Challenge, including these categories:
Read a political thriller by a marginalized author (BIPOC, or LGBTQIA+).
Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character.
Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary.
Read a “Best _ Writing of the year” book for a topic and year of your choice.
Read a horror novel by a BIPOC author.
Let me know if you think of anything!
Pillow Fort 