JustintheStacks

June 2025 Reading Wrap Up

This is late, but my June reading turned out much better than May, where I only managed to finish reading two books.

I like to think it's because I managed to cut YouTube out of my life and have since been focusing on the things that truly matter to me (I'll follow up with a post on that later). I continued a favorite series. I read an author I have enjoyed in the past and broke into some new reading territory too. If you want to follow along as I progress through a month of reading, be sure to check out my StoryGraph page @justinthestacks.

Just go read it. DCC is the greatest thing since the last greatest thing. I've been trying to limit myself to one DCC book a month until I finish the series and it has been so hard not to just buy them all and plow through them in a week long binge session.

It's fairly safe to say that I'm a Cal Newport fanboy. I've read several of his books and have found them all helpful, well researched and well written. Deep Work is no exception. I did not enjoy this one as much as his more recent book, Slow Productivity, but it was still chock full of solid, easy to implement suggestions on increasing one's ability to produce quality work by eliminating unnecessary distractions. It even helped me finally kick some of my bad habits.

This was an interesting little book. I heard an interview with the author on NPR and it piqued my interest enough that I had the library purchase the ebook. The premise is a cookbook for us worn-out, depressed, stressed or overworked individuals. Some of the recipes are quite questionable, such as pineapple and mayonnaise sandwiches, but others seem like something I could quickly slap together with what's on hand, feed it to my family, and not feel guilty about it afterwards. The author has great practical tips on cutting corners in the kitchen to save time and energy. Short, but packed with great ideas.

I love all good nature journal and this one was pretty decent. It was not entirely what I expected it to be when I started, but Hanson does a good job on relating ways people can get involved with Citizen Science from their own backyards. If that sounds interesting to you, pick this one up. It's a pretty quick read.

I've just started this web series this month. I have only progressed a few chapters in but I am enjoying it so far. I'm not sure if it is even possible to catch up with the story, as it is some 14 million words long at the time of writing this.

For those that don't know, The Wandering Inn is a lit-rpg story that follows Erin Solstice as she is transported to another world and becomes an Inn keeper. If you're into DCC or anime, like Solo Leveling, you may like this. I'm getting slightly cozy-er vibes from this than the two I just mentioned, but I am very early in the series and the tone may change. I'm not opposed to a good cozy fantasy though.

This is not my usual reading. I typically like my books a bit more grim. This book didn't even have a single swordfight in it. Welcome to Hyunam-dong Bookshop is a Korean slice-of-life style novel that follows Yeongju, a burnt out professional, who decides to leave that life behind and open a Bookshop. I think I enjoyed it so much because a lot of what she goes through in operating the bookshop is what I do in operating a library. Selecting books, organizing programs, author interviews, etc… This is an insanely quotable book. It is littered throughout with gems like:

“Books are not meant to remain in your mind, but in your heart. Maybe they exist in your mind too, but as something more than memories. At a crossroads in life, a forgotten sentence or a story from years ago can come back to offer an invisible hand and guide you to a decision.” and

“If more people read, I think the world would be a better place.”

These quotable snippets often come in little philosophical conversations between the characters. A nice change of pace from my usual reading habits.

Back to my regularly scheduled programming with this one. Cosby writes what I like to call southern noir. I love it. Next to fantasy or historical fiction this has quickly become my go to genre and Cosby is one of the greats in this realm. This is, I think, the third book of his I've read. Good ‘ol gritty realism with characters who are just trying to make the best life with the hand they're dealt. Sometimes that life means selling drugs, or poaching your dinner. Oftentimes it means going after those that hurt your family. This story follows a brother and sister as they work to bail their baby brother out of a bad situation with some local drug dealers. It's dark. It’s violent. I couldn't put it down. The ending was just…damn.

I loved this book. I will be adding it to my re-read pile and reading it again soon. I borrowed the audiobook from my library. Arun Gandhi, the author, read it and it felt like I was listening to a moral story from my own grandfather albeit the accents are decidedly different. I really enjoyed how his stories highlight that Mahatma Gandhi was not perfect, but spent his life trying to be a better person. Powerful lessons on living a more peaceful life.

I stumbled across this book in an academic article published in the journal of Library Leadership and Management. It intrigued me so I borrowed it from my library. I have not read Rubin prior to this and I must say her Four Tendencies Framework has merit. Apparently I am an Obliger. Her description of this “tendency” of mine explains my behavior better than the myriad of other personality/management/leadership quizzes I have taken over the years. I am having my employees take the quiz. I'm confident I could pin down most of their tendencies already, but I could be off on a few. Stay tuned as I am planning on diving deeper into this topic.