June Audiobooks

June was a month of variety for my book selections. I don't read sci-fi or fantasy but I still covered several genres. I did accidentally read something with a little magic, which annoyed me. Even that book was a good story, I just didn't like the genre. My absolutely favorite book of the month was The Women by Kristen Hannah. My favorite non-fiction was The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel. It's an older book but worth searching for at used book stores. Chris liked it too.

What books do you have to recommend this month?
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A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
By Tia Williams, Read By Mela Lee and Preston Butler

I should have never read this book. It showed up on a couple of recommended lists so I picked it up without really looking into what it was about. It's really not my genre. First, it's a romance novel and second, it contains magic. That wasn't really clear in the description. It was billed as Historical Fiction, contemporary, African American and heartfelt.

Ricki Wilde is the youngest of 4 daughters in a powerful Atlanta family. She's the artistic free-spirit that doesn't fit into the family. She decides to move to NYC to open a flower shop. She meets a woman named Ms. Della who invites her to live and open her shop in the bottom floor of her brownstone. 

One late night she's walking in a local garden to clear her mind and she meets mysterious stranger who turns her life upside-down. It's basically a modern fairytale.

I actually liked the characters, especially Ms. Della and I liked the historical references to Harlem, especially the music scene. I think if you like books like Outlander you might like this one.​

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The Nature Fix
By Florence Williams

This is a paperback book that I read a little on vacation and finished while sunbathing at home.

This was an interesting book that does exactly what the cover says. It explains why and how nature makes us healthier, smarter and happier.

Some of the current research into the impact of nature is really fascinating. There's even benefit from looking at nature on screens. 

​I looked back at my records and I tried listening to this book a couple of years ago and I didn't finish it. Now that's I've read the paper version I can see why this wouldn't translate to audio.

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Code Red
By Kyle Mills for Vince Flynn, Read By Steven Weber

This is #22 in the Mitch Rapp series. In this one Mitch owes Damien Losa a favor. Unfortunately Losa is a powerful crime boss who is not to be trusted.

The Syrian government has developed a new, permanently addictable drug and plans to distribute it throughout Europe, in Losa's territory. He sends Rapp to investigate because Rapp is easily expendable.

It turns out that Syria didn't develop the drugs, Russia did.

​It's another fast paced Mitch Rapp novel and, apparently, the last that Kyle Mills will write. I think he did a great job of continuing the Mitch Rapp series after the death of Vince Flynn but I'm glad he's going back to his own books. I'm glad to hear that because I found Mills through his first books and I loved them.

Don Bentley is picking up the Mitch Rapp series next and book #23, Capture or Kill, will be out in September.

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The Women
By Kristen Hannah, Read by Julia Whelan

This book is probably going to be on my top 10 for 2024. I read it in 2 days because I couldn't put it down. In brief, it's the telling of the lives of nurses in Vietnam and the trials of their levies after service. We need more books about the perspective of service people in the Vietnam War.

Francis (Frankie) McGrath comes from a family of war heroes. Her father has installed a "heroes wall" in their home. She's 20 years old and her brother has recently graduated from the Naval Academy and is deploying to Vietnam. When one of his friends tells her that "women can be heroes too" she decides to use er nursing degree to join the Army Nursing Corps and follows her brother to the war. She is not prepared for the devastation and chaos but, with her nursing friends, she becomes an amazing nurse.

After 2 years in country she is surprised to come home to an unwelcoming country and she had trouble getting support from the VA because "women didn't serve in Vietnam". Her adjustment back home is long and difficult.

I think this book will really speak to anyone who knew someone who served in Vietnam and it is a book that was long overdue. Kristen hannah did an amazing job of keeping the story in the period and not overlaying modern mores on the story. If you read it, you will cry.

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The Stranger in the Woods
By Michael Finkel

I'm not sure how I hears about this book. Maybe a recommendation from one of you. Regardless, it was a good one! I picked up a hard copy from Thrift Books and read it on my daily vitamin D sessions outside.

This is the story of Christopher Knight. In 1986 he was 20 years old and had been working a couple of years out of high school. One day he left without telling anyone. He drove to Florida and then back to Maine, near Moosehead Lake. He was running out of gas and money so he ditched the car and set out on foot. He eventually arrived to a wooded area west of Albion on one of the thousands of lakes (ponds) in the state. He stayed there for 27 years.

He lived in a tent, never lit a fire and broke into nearby cottages for food, fuel, clothing and reading material. He took only what he needed and was dubbed the North Pond Hermit. People knew he existed but no one had seen him. 

The author became interested in him after the new of his capture and was eventually able to make contact and build some sort of relationship with him. This is the story of why he left and how he lived. It's really fascinating.

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The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers
By Samuel Burr, Read By Penelope Keith and Russell Tovey

Clayton Stumper is a young man with an old soul. As a baby he was abandoned on the steps of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers where he was raised by an eclectic group of puzzle and game makers. They make crossword puzzles, word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, mazes and any other type of puzzle you can think of. 

Pippa Allsbrook was a master crossword maker and the mother in Clayton's life. When she dies, she leaves him a puzzle trail to help him find his birth mother and also to help him find himself. 

I'd call this a charming story. It's set in modern times with flashbacks to the past 20 years around the time of Clayton's birth and the founding of the Fellowship. It's a nice easy and entertaining read.

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Miss Benson's Beetle
By Rachel Joyce. Read By Juliet Stevenson

It's 1950 in post-war London and Margery Benson lives drudgery life with a teaching job she hates. She's had enough and she impulsively quits her job and place to go halfway around the world to search for a rare beetle, the golden beetle of New Caledonia, that may not exist at all.

She advertises for an assistant and has to settle on the 1950's version of Elle Woods but more of a prostitute than lawyer. Enid Pretty shows up wearing a pink suit and pompom sandals.  It turns out that Enid is incredible resourceful and they make a great team. Their friendship and resourcefulness gets them through some trying and dangerous times on their trip. 

This was a great read. It's a good mix of serious story and humor. I really enjoyed it.

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The Vacancy in Room 10
By Seraphina Nova Glass, Read By Brittany Pressley and Stacey Glemboski

Anna Hartley's husband has an artist retreat studio in a dilapidated hotel-turned-apartment complex. He calls her one day in a panic saying that he's murdered someone.  Something she knows he's incapable of. Later his body is found on the banks of the Rio Grande and everyone assumes it's suicide.

Anna decides to move into his hotel room while their house is being prepared for selling. She thinks it will allow her to get closer to Henry and understand what he was going through. She starts to learn that there's more going on at The Sycamore's than she thought.

The motel/apartment manager, Cass, seems to have her own secrets. She used to live in luxury and wear designer dresses until her partner traded her in for someone younger. She's always had maintenance and building skills so she was able to secure a job at The Sycamores as the handyman and manager. 

It's a unique mystery concept and there are good characters but these 2 women make some of the dumbest girl-like decisions. They annoyed me and I eventually sped up the narration speed so I could get to the end. It's definitely chick-lit focused on "girl-power" so if you like that type of book, you will love this. I just felt that they made some really stupid decisions.  It had nothing but rave reviews on Audible.

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My Planet
By Mary Roach

A friend gave me a couple of Mary Roach books last year. Mary Roach is a science writer  and humor essayist. All of her books, as far as I know, are collections of essays. This one is a collection of observations about everyday life. These were from her Reader's Digest column. It's quite witty and entertaining.

Essays usually aren't what I like to read but these books are great for when I'm sitting in the sun. I can time myself with a certain number of essays on each side. It's also great for passing time in waiting rooms. I don't think I'd enjoy this in audio format.

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