What I Read, Watched and Enjoyed in June
Featuring romantasy, way too much TV and Ann Patchett!
I can’t believe it’s already July, the summer is flying by!
Every year around this time, I feel hopeful. Last weekend I celebrated my birthday with my family and will see more family on the Fourth of July in Wisconsin. Both Gracie and I will be amply dosed for firework-noise anxiety, and after the holiday, it is ON with Draft 7 of my novel. Beta reader feedback has been processed and sorted, and I’m excited to tighten and bring this draft alive.
This newsletter covers everything I read and watched last month, along with two author events I particularly enjoyed. This is my first summer to celebrate an Ann Patchett pub day as an aspiring novelist and getting to see her in-real-life was the highlight of the month (and the best birthday gift from my sister)!
Books
This was, quite inadvertently, a month of books written by current and former attorneys!
Amy and Isabelle- Elizabeth Strout. Did you know she was a former attorney? After reading her most recent (and super short) novel, The Things We Never Say (about a midlife male crisis), I went back to her debut. Like my work-in-progress novel, it is set in mill town and follows a secretary and her teenage daughter as they spend one hot summer circling the secrets they’re each keeping from the other. A satisfying 320 pages (compared to her too-short last novel clocking in at 200 something).
Caller Unknown- Gillian McAllister. Another former attorney! This was the May 2026 Read with Jenna pick: a British mother and daughter’s vacation in the Texas desert goes sideways when the daughter vanishes and an anonymous caller starts issuing instructions. I’m not usually a thriller reader but this one really stuck with me and the writing is beautiful. Great length at 345-pages.
The Midnight Train — Matt Haig has never been an attorney, as far as I can tell, but that’s okay. This is the companion novel to The Midnight Library and feels very similar. At 255-pages, it’s a very quick read. An elderly bookshop owner boards a train that lets him revisit the pivotal moments of the life he actually lived (as opposed to the Midnight Library’s parade of lives not lived). It’s sweet.
Theo of Golden — Allen Levi, an attorney/probate judge and at almost 70 — a debut novelist! This is a word-of-mouth phenomenon (thank you to my DC Lawyer Ladies Group Chat for the rec!), currently #1 on Amazon. A mysterious, elderly stranger arrives in a small Georgia town and starts buying back portraits of its residents from the local coffeehouse, asking only for their story in return. This is the type of heartwarming sweetness the world needs right now and at 399-pages, perfect length.
A Court of Thorns and Roses — Sarah J. Maas who, according to Britannica, was raised by a judge and attorney! A well-read friend recommended this TikTok book to me back in 2022 but I’ve never been drawn to romantasy. However, I felt like I needed a palate cleanser for all the Book Club/ literary fiction I’ve consumed as of late and umm. . . I get why this author has sold +70 million copies. In book one, a 19-year-old huntress named Feyre kills a wolf in the woods and is dragged into the realm of immortals as payment to a fairy lord-beast named Tamlin. Reading it felt like my brain was eating Taco Bell and I mean that in the best way possible.!
A Court of Mist and Fury — Sarah J. Maas. Book two of the series. The relationship between beauty and the beast pivots and the protagonist joins a different court entirely led by the High Lord of the Night Court, who is a sexy motha and you will not regret reading about him. All I want to do is finish the available books in the series this summer - and I can’t wait!
Shows
This may seem like an insane amount of TV for a single month but I had a weird June. It kicked off with a early-morning house evacuation due to an elderly neighbor’s near-explosive gas leak, and after 7 hours with Gemma in her carrier and Gracie in my arms (special thanks to my Mom for rescuing all three of us!), we were allowed back home. After that totally scary event, I got sick and real cozy with my couch—and watched all of TV.
Hacks — Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder on HBO Max. I’ve loved this sweet show about the intergenerational work-friendship between comedian Deborah and writer Ava since it debuted. Season 5, the final, was amongst the best seasons. I love shows about ambitious women and their work, so this one has always hit the spot. I enjoyed the official podcast, too!
Rooster — the new Steve Carell series on HBO Max. A novelist takes a writer-in-residence post at a small New England college to stay close to his daughter, an art history professor navigating her own marriage falling apart. From the Bill Lawrence/Ted Lasso lineage which I needed after finishing a full Scrubs rewatch in May!
Running Point — Mindy Kaling-written, starring Kate Hudson on Netflix. A reformed party girl is handed the presidency of her family’s pro basketball team when her brother (a hilarious Justin Theroux) goes to rehab — loosely inspired by Lakers president Jeanie Buss, who exec-produces. Girlbossing to the extreme with so much Hermes!
The Night Manager — starring Tom Hiddleston (meow-meow) on Prime Video. Season 2 aired nine years after the events of Season 1 and ends on a cliffhanger so now we have to wait for Season 3 for the wrap-up. Still, it was worth the wait. Pine, now living under a new identity inside MI6, gets pulled back into the world he tried to leave behind and must use his lethal charm on his nemesis’ son.
Only Murders in the Building — Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez on Hulu. They investigate. . . another murder, this time presumably tied to the Mafia. Season 5 (the most recent) also features the most wonderful Tea Leoni, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest and Renee Zellweger along with one of my personal faves, Keegan-Michael Key.
Industry — Season 4 on HBO Max. Per the above, I love workplace comedies/dramas - and this one is a drama/thriller with a multitude of shock value scenes (including a nasty one featuring the Mad Men daughter that remains one of the most graphic scenes ever, as forewarned by my brother). That said, I love watching shows about startups and friendships (like my debut novel!) so of course I will continue watching this series until the end.
Euphoria — Zendaya, HBO. After rewatching Seasons 1 and 2 before launching into 3, I agree with the critical consensus that it is a very different show and does not compare to the first two seasons in terms of soundtrack/filmography/vibe. Like Industry, it has many shock-value scenes that add little to the narrative but I still binge-watched it, of course. And Zendaya. Enough said.
Author Events!
In June, I did leave my couch to attend two author events for Meg Waite Clayton (hosted by The Book Loft in Oak Park) and Ann Patchett (hosted by Chicago Humanities Festival downtown).
Unfortunately, my fellow University of Michigan Law and Latham alum Meg Waite Clayton could not make it to the Chicago area in person due to a family emergency, but it was great to meet her on Zoom! If you are a women’s historical fiction lover, check out The Postmistress of Paris (WWII heiress rescues artists from occupied France) or her latest Typewriter Beach (about a Hollywood starlet and blacklisted screenwriter).
If you are not already an Ann fan, PLEASE go read Bel Canto, Truth & Beauty and The Dutch House (those are my favorites but there are many, many others!) Her new novel, Whistler, will be on my TBR list after my Court of Roses series mission per the above. I’ve long admired her workhorse, childfree, dog-loving, bookstore-owning lifestyle, not to mention her Pulitzer-prize nominated writing career and seeing her in person was a joy.
Some writing-related takeaways from these events:
Neither writes under contract or sells their books in advance. They write what they want, when they want, without the pressure of an agent or publisher giving them deadlines or editorial feedback on the process before they’re finished. Ann Patchett even said she gives a perfect draft to the publisher along with the book cover (this is VERY rare and only because she is Ann Patchett, she acknowledged).
Writers are often told to write with an ideal reader in mind and Ann Patchett said her ideal reader is fellow author (and Pulitzer Prize-winner) Elizabeth Strout. Both share a similar style and simplicity, though Patchett said she also loves more flowery/verbose writers too. I love this idea of an idol-writer as your ideal reader.
Meg’s engaging Zoom presentation was full of photos of the real-life inspirations for Typewriter Beach, including photos of the settings in Carmel, California, Alfred Hitchcock’s estate, and the real-life starlets on which she based on one of the main characters and said she wished she could include photos in her novels. It confirmed my Pinterest board and photo collages of settings and characters are all part of the process.
If you are in the Chicago area and looking for author events, check out the amazing LitCircle! Started by the founders of Volumes Bookstore in Wicker Park (RIP), they collate all the literary events hosted by indie bookstores in the Chicago area and post on their website, newsletter and social media. I feel lucky to live in such a literary hotspot!
