Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne (audiobook)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
booksbydorothea - June 2025 - Monthly Wrap-up
Hi, book blog friends!!
June 2025 is in the books! It was another busy and fun month for our family! My husband’s cousin celebrated his 90th birthday, my husband celebrated HIS birthday and Father’s Day, along with lunches with friends, movies, and school break for our daughter, and it is getting hot in Southern California (with high fire danger, already).
As you probably know from reading my blog, since November 2024, I have been living in a bubble by avoiding the news and social media (except book-related accounts). However, due to the chaos in my beloved city of Los Angeles, I was using my personal Instagram account, but I am tapering off again. I am still not watching the news or using Facebook (as it doesn’t work for me anymore). My best advice is to use social media judiciously, as it is a time vampire and a mental health destroyer.
June was a fabulous reading month with seventeen books (audiobooks and ebooks; no physical books).
In June, there were eight five-star books: seven ebooks, one audiobook, and no physical books.
BEST BOOKS FOR JUNE 2025 (plus previous months)
ebooks 2025
JANUARY (10)
The Love Elixir of Augusta
Stern by Lynda Cohen
Loigman
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
What Happened to the
McCrays? by Tracey Lange
More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova
Paris Undercover by Matthew Goodman
The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman
Come Fly with Me by Camille Di Maio
The Memory of Cotton by Ann K. Howley
The Secret History of
Audrey Jones by Heather Marshall
Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall
FEBRUARY (4)
The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse
The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly
MARCH (4)
This One Life by Amanda Prowse
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Isola by Allegra
Goodman
The Book Club for
Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
APRIL (7)
The Wandering Season by Aimie K. Runyan
The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris
Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe
Marsha by Tourmaline
Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding by Lian Dolan
The True Happiness Company by Veena Dinavahi
The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly
MAY (7)
The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper
Homeseeking by
Karissa Chen
These Heathens by Mia McKenzie
Before
Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor
Wayward
Girls by Susan Wiggs
The
Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman
Under the
Stars by Beatriz Williams
Abscond by Abraham Verghese
Lightening
in a Mason Jar by Catherine Mann
The Eights by Joanna Miller
Smoke on
the Wind by Kelli Estes
The Names by Florence Knapp
A
Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman
YTD TOTAL: 39
Audiobooks 2025
JANUARY (2)
Me by Elton John
Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
FEBRUARY (3)
Never by Rick Astley
Unlovable by Darren Hayes
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't
Want to Come by Jessica Pan
MARCH (0)
-NONE-
APRIL (4)
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
The Next
Day by
Melinda French Gates
Time to
Thank by Steve
Guttenberg
Change
the Recipe by José
Andrés
MAY (3)
Medicine
River by
Mary Annette Pember
Read This
to Get Smarter by
Blair Imani
Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish
Boat Baby by Vicky Nguyen
Physical books
JANUARY-FEBRUARY; APRIL-JUNE (0)
MARCH
(1)
This
One Life by
Amanda Prowse
YTD TOTAL: 1
2025 READING GOAL
My goal is to read 101
books in 2025. As of June 30th, I have read 93 books, or 92.0% of my goal.
JUNE 2025 STATISTICS
17 total books
12 ebooks; 5 audiobooks; 0
physical books
4 books - ARC (Advanced
Reader Copy)
13 books - Library
0 books – Purchased
1 book - Amazon First
Reads
2 books - Book Club Girl
0 books – author gifted
0 books – friend gifted
JUNE 2025 BOOK RATINGS
with BOOK COVERS
ebooks 2025
5.0-star ebooks
Abscond by Abraham Verghese LINK
Lightening in a Mason Jar by Catherine Mann LINK
The Eights by Joanna Miller LINK
Smoke on the Wind by Kelli Estes LINK
The Names by Florence Knapp LINK
A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan LINK
The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman LINK
3.5-star ebooks
The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson LINK
The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin LINK
The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick LINK
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig LINK
3.0-star ebooks
25 Alive by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
*PLEASE NOTE: There were no 4.5 or 4.0-star ebooks this month.
Audiobooks 2025
5.0-star audiobooks
Boat Baby by Vicky Nguyen LINK
4.5-star audiobooks
We Might Just Make It After All by Elyce Arons LINK
4.0-star audiobooks
The Parisian Chapter by Janet Skeslien Charles LINK
3.5-star audiobooks
Eternal Flame by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike LINK
*PLEASE NOTE: There were no 3.0-star audiobooks this month.
Physical books 2025
There were no physical books read this month.
If you want to read my full review of any of these books, there are individual review links for each ebook or audiobook next to the book title and author (under JUNE 2025 BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS just above). Click on the specific book link to get to that book review.
What are the books you are reading by the pool, or audiobooks you are listening to on your vacation drive, or physical books you are reading at the beach? Please share!
Happy reading!
Dorothea 💜
P.S. For
additional helpful tools on my blog, check out:
Book Rating Legend: LINK
Glossary: LINK
booksbydorothea social media:
Monday, June 30, 2025
My next eARC/ebook is ...
These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma (eARC/ebook)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
REVIEW - The Year of Magical Thinking (audiobook)
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
This is my first and last book by Joan Didion. Honestly, I do understand why she is so revered, as I found her writing to be boring, self-important, and self-aggrandizing.
Apparently, she was part of the New Journalism literary trend in the 1960s and 1970s. I didn't like any of the other authors that I am aware of in this trend. Interesting.
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.0 stars
Writing: 2.5 stars
Joan's writing is just not for me. It is the lack of description, repetition, and sparseness. She writes like a journalist, and I don't read books for that - I read the newspaper.
Additionally, the place-dropping, name-dropping, and event-dropping were tedious and overdone. For me, I didn't have a clue who these people were, so it was unnecessary.
Narration: 3.0 stars
The narration was not done by Joan, which is what I prefer.
I felt that the narration was emotionless and flat, considering the subject matter of death and grief.
Character development: 3.0 stars
The main characters are Joan (the author), John (her husband), and Quintana (her daughter).
The secondary characters are Gerry (Quintana's husband), friends and family of the Didion/Dunn family, and the medical professionals.
The tertiary character is death and grief.
There is a huge cast of "famous" friends, but I really didn't know who they all were and really didn't care.
The character development was poor. The three main characters seemed shallow, boring, and self-important.
Memorable: 3.0 stars
What I remember from this book is that money doesn't buy happiness. Also, death and grief affect everyone in different ways. Joan wrote this book as a way to process her personal grief, but her writing about it didn't work for me.
Entertaining/Educational: 2.5 stars
There really wasn't anything entertaining or educational.
Book cover: 3.0 stars
Spare and boring like the book.
Book title: 4.0 stars
The best part of the book.
Lukewarm recommend
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow: audiobook
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
5 hours, 5 minutes
HughBridge
Release date: 9/30/2005
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Death, grief, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness.
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Sunday, June 29, 2025
REVIEW - The Matchmaker's Gift (ebook)
The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman (ebook)
OVERVIEW
This is my second book by Lynda, and somehow, with the pandemic ending, I missed reading it!
This is the most beautiful and lovely book. It was what my heart needed, with the current chaos in the country. I loved it!
As someone who is married to an ABC (American Born Chinese), it was surprising to discover so many similarities with match-making in the two cultures. The ABC in the United States does not have an equivalent to a shadchan (male matchmaker) or a shadchanteh (female matchmaker). Interestingly, my Chinese-born in-laws had an arranged marriage, as did some of my husband's Chinese-born cousins.
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
Lynda writes so well that it is almost as if you are IN the story! She adds gorgeous descriptive details, sprinkles Yiddish throughout, and shares Jewish traditions, which I love!
Character development: 5.0 stars
The two main characters are Sara (a first-generation immigrant from Kalarash and a matchmaker) and Abby (Sara's granddaughter and a divorce attorney). They are at the polar opposites of marriage!
The secondary characters are all of the matches that Sara has made over her eighty years of matchmaking.
The tertiary characters are Sara and Abby's family and friends, the Lower East Side Jewish community, and Abby's boss and clients.
The character development was excellent, especially as Sara had to fight to be a female matchmaker and Abby learned to be herself in her career. It was done so very well!
Storyline: 5.0 stars
There are two storylines, but they do intersect. The first storyline is Sara's, 1910-1994, and the second is Abby's, 1994-1995, with flashbacks in both.
The main location was New York City.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
This was a beautiful education about the intricacies of Jewish culture. It was a fantastic learning experience!
Book cover: 5.0 stars
So pretty!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
Highly recommend
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow: ebook
The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman
320 pages
St. Martin's Press
Release date: 9/20/2022
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Alcohol, death of a parent, grief, infidelity, misogyny, anti-semitism, domestic violence, pregnancy.
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Friday, June 27, 2025
REVIEW - The Midnight Library (ebook)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
This book was originally published in 2020, and was on many "recommended book lists", and won multiple awards. So I had very high expectations.
Well, I liked the book, but didn't love it. I truly thought it was about a library, and "real books" would help the main character find her way again. Boy, was I disappointed!
There was a lot about physics and parallel universes, which would be a great way to really lean into the speculative fiction aspects. It could have been even wilder and included magical realism more heavily. Yes, there was some of both, not enough for my taste. For some reason, while reading this book, I kept thinking of A Wrinkle in Time and how it took speculative fiction to the nth degree.
The last twenty pages or so were the best of the book, and I would have liked that powerful writing throughout the book.
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5 stars.
Writing: 3.0 stars
Matt has written approximately twenty-five books, including fiction, non-fiction, and children's genres.
His writing just didn't do it for me. It wasn't beautiful, descriptive, or elegant.
Character development: 3.5 stars
The main characters are Nora (a young woman) and Mrs. Elm (Nora's former school librarian).
The secondary characters are Joe (Nora's brother), Dan (Nora's friend), and Ash (Nora's friend).
The tertiary characters are all the various people, including friends and family, whom Nora interacts with throughout the book. I cannot say much more, or I will ruin the book for anyone who reads this review.
The character development was okay. It felt as if Nora was led by Mrs. Elm to make the changes, which resulted in her introspection and her growth. I really wanted so much more.
Storyline: 4.0 stars
The storyline about Nora, who has lost her way in her life, finds a library that helps her find her way. I wish that speculative and fiction had been turned up. The storyline was the best part of the book - it was scientific and different. Being purposefully vague here again.
The locations were Bedfordshire, Cambridge, and London, England.
Memorable/Informative: 3.5 stars
There were some powerful quotes, but I have already forgotten them, so that says a lot.
Book cover: 3.0 stars
Meh!
Book title: 3.0 stars
Somewhat misleading.
Recommend
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow: ebook
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
288 pages
Viking
Release date: 8/13/2020
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Alcohol; alcoholism; suicide; death of a parent; grief, strong cursing; cancer; gun violence; medical content
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
My next audiobook is ...
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (audiobook)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
DNF - Better Small Talk (audiobook)
Better Small Talk by Patrick King (audiobook)
Somehow, this was NOT the book that I checked out! How did I do this? There ARE multiple audiobooks with similar names! I have returned the wrong book and will look for another audiobook to listen to tonight!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, June 26, 2025
REVIEW - We Might Just Make It After All (audiobook)
We Might Just Make It After All by Elyce Arons (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
This is a memoir of the personal and professional relationship between Elyce and Kate. They met as undergrads at the University of Kansas in 1981, and their friendship took off from there!
Most of the memoir covers their friendship before Kate Spade New York was sold to Liz Claiborne in 2006. This is a love letter from Elyce to Kate about their friendship. They had a very normal best-friendship, which included the normal difficulties of any relationship.
If you are looking for a tell-all with details about Kate Spade's death by suicide, this is not the book for you.
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
The writing was strong with real and raw anecdotes that are true of any long-term friendship. Elyce was the only person who could have written this book about her best friend.
Narration: 5.0 stars
Elyce does a great job with the narration. I love it when the author narrates the audiobook. Especially as it is her and Kate's lives before, during, and after the loss of her best friend. Elyce was never the "face" of any of the companies with Kate, but she rocks it!
Character development: 4.5 stars
The main characters are Elyce (the author and BFF) and Kate (the eponymous designer and BFF).
The secondary characters are the other partners (both professional and personal), parents, friends, and family.
The tertiary character is Kate Spade New York - the company.
There is a huge cast of characters (especially New York fashion folks), which makes it hard to follow who is who, as I am from Los Angeles.
The character development was good, but most especially for the two main characters. We are let into their entire friendship and backstories.
Memorable: 4.0 stars
Kate and Elyce, along with their partners, create an international and multi-million-dollar empire out of basically nothing. Of course, they make mistakes along the way, but what entrepreneurial spirit during the wild 1990s!!
Entertaining/Educational: 4.0 stars
I had always thought that I had bought Kate Spade during the heyday, but I was wrong! I didn't realize that Kate, Elyce, and their partners sold their final stake in Kate Spade New York in 2006.
Book cover: 4.0 stars
There had to be a better picture!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfection on ALL levels! (Read the book to find out WHY!)
Strong recommend
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow: audiobook
9 hours, 25 minutes
Simon & Schuster Audio
Release date: 6/17/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Moderate cursing, sexism, misogyny, suicide, pregnancy
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
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