Winter is well and truly here with foggy mornings and chilly evenings, it’s the perfect excuse to stay indoors and get cosy with a great read. June for me was a mix of a past Booker Prize winning read, a recent 2026 release that everyone seems to be talking about and some upcoming releases that I’m looking forward to coming out later in the year.
June started off with my Book Club read, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. This one packed a punch right from the start! The book is a reimagining of the attempted assasination of Bob Marley, it involves a whole host of characters, some of which are some what based on people who where involved at the time. It's set in hot, gritty Jamaica in the 1970s. The book is mainly written in Jamaican Patois which for some readers may take some getting used to at first however it really immerses you in the story. A warning that this book is not a comfort read, it's very gritty and graphic so definitely not for the faint-hearted. While reading I was imagining this to be similar to The Wire or Narcos with hint of The Sopranos. Marlon did extensive research over a 4 year period to write this novel and I can see how he earned himself the 2015 Booker Prize with this one. If you're in for a gripping ride then grab a copy, Marlon also has an upcoming book coming out later this year, The Disappearers which I'm looking forward to.
I was lucky enough to be given an ARC copy from Harper Collins of Rebecca Kuang’s upcoming novel Taipei Story.
Ever since the announcement of this one I’ve been so eager to read it. I’m a fan of her style of writing and just always amazed at how she can so easily write across different genres.
When she came to visit Book Hero while in Aotearoa for the Auckland Writer’s Festival she mentioned that it’s just so fun to jump across different genres. Once I picked this one up, I couldn’t put it down!
Check out my review and thoughts below....
Taipei Story did not disappoint, I was hooked from the start and devoured this book in less than 24 hours. The story follows Lily Chen who arrives in Taipei to study Mandarin as a Yale student. The moment she arrives and meets her friend Anna, her stay becomes nothing like she imagined it would be.
I really connected with Lily on her journey trying to get closer to her culture and language, it's something I have struggled with throughout my life. Like Lily, as I've gotten older, I have tried to grasp on to more and more of my own Malay culture as I can through food, books, movies and music.
When I was studying Te Reo Māori, one of my lecturers would constantly repeat the whakatauki Nau mai te hapa - Welcome the mistakes. This was one of the main things I took away from this book and was what Lily learned along her language journey. Her constantly trying to be perfect was holding her back, mistakes are how you learn and grow.
Lily's story felt deeply personal for me and will stay with me for a long time. If you have ever felt disconnected or struggled to find where you fit in then this book will be for you. Rebecca proves once again that she is a great author and Taipei Story feels like a personal one for her also.
Next up for the month was a book I was presented in a Christmas presentation which really intrigued me, Dodge City by Patrick deWitt. The story is set in 1967 in California and follows Lee Clarke as he receives a draft letter to serve in the Vietnam War. The timing is near the peak of the war when US military troops were increasing their presence in Vietnam as well as an increase in protests and demonstrations against the war. Going into this book I was expecting this to be quite full on and thought the path for Lee would be quite confrontational however what I encountered was the complete opposite.
Lee is a character that grew up in the tiny town of Concrete in Washington and lived a typical life that you would expect of a family in the 50s and 60s. He moves to California to study and you can see throughout the book how the exposure to life outside of Concrete has an effect on him. When he takes a road trip to travel across America to say farewell to his family and face his past, I found each encounter with each member was thoughtful and lovely with a little bit of humour throughout. This was just such a beautiful read, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when it releases at the end of September. Dodge City is available for pre-order now.
Lastly, I finally read Belle Burden’s memoir Strangers and wow what a book to end the month on! There have been so many must-read books this year, we’ve been spoilt for choice, however I definitely feel like this is one that you absolutely need to read. Strangers is the story of Belle Burden’s marriage which was so perfect until her husband decided out of nowhere that he wanted a divorce just as the Covid pandemic hit America. I’m in awe of Belle being able to share her story and her journey in trying to understand why this happened, searching for any signs during their time together. This will be one that you will find hard to put down as you also find yourself trying to look out for red flags as to how this could happen to Belle. Lizzy also recently read this and loved it. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Strangers today!