Welcome to Quick Lit: June 2026 Edition, where I share books I chose for my own reading enjoyment in a mini-review format. These are not books I received for review, but books I’ve wanted to read or that have caught my attention. Most of them have been talked about ad nauseam or have been on my to-read list for a long time, so they don’t really need a full review. But I’d still like to give them some space here on the blog, so instead, I’m offering mini-reviews of the books that won’t get full-page space here on the blog.
I’ll be sharing with Modern Mrs. Darcy and her monthly Quick Lit post. Be sure to head over to see others share their Quick Lit posts in her comments.
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Did you know I also regularly review children’s books? Check them out HERE.
I’m currently reading LITTLE PIECES OF HOPE as part of my Read the Gifts Challenge. I’m also reading JUNE BABY on my Kindle for review and HELLO, SUMMER for book club.
I recently reviewed MAD MABEL. My Summer-Read-to-Learn series is back, full of great children’s books to keep kids reading and learning all summer.
What I’ve been watching lately: Project Hail Mary (Excellent!), Remarkably Bright Creatures (So wonderful!), and Michael (Wow! So good!). I loved that Hannah won American Idol and the Survivor winner Aubrey. Her win was well-deserved, even though Jonathan was my favorite. Pat and I are still watching Modern Family together. We are now into Season 5 and it is still making me laugh out loud.
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BAYLIE: A True Story
A Life Shattered, A Promise Kept, A Secret Revealed
By: Shawnee Baker
Published: April 3, 2025
Publisher: BRG Books
Memoir
Format: eBook for Review
I received this for review, and it took me a while to read it, mostly due to the format it was sent to me in. I couldn’t read it on my Kindle because the particular format wouldn’t let me enlarge the print, and it was TINY. So, I had to read it on my phone and enlarge each page as I read it, which was tedious. Rather than sharing this book in its own review post, I’m choosing to share it here because it wasn’t one I’d really recommend.
I felt compelled to read this horrific story of the author’s daughter’s accident while she was away at college. As a mom of a college-aged daughter, I sympathized with the author and the tragic situation her family went through. Unfortunately, this was not what I found the story to be about. Yes, the author talks about her daughter’s accident, her coma and extended hospital stay, and the need to be your adult child’s medical advocate while at college, but the author also talks about herself….a LOT. This 458-page book should have been 258 pages.
The mom felt very narcissistic to me, and there was a lot of unnecessary information shared that didn’t feel related to her daughter’s tragedy…which is how the book is presented. I wanted to read about her daughter and the push to advocate for our college-aged adult children, and the difficulties she faced fighting for her daughter. Instead, I read about Shawnee’s failed relationships, her billionaire-wealthy new husband, his boats, their trips abroad, and her desire to have a new baby at a much later age.
While the loss of her daughter affected me greatly, by the time I got to that part of the story, I was so annoyed with the mom that I didn’t really care anymore. If anything, though, it did encourage me to have a conversation with our adult children about their wishes if anything were to happen to them.
FAMILY TREASURES: LOST AND FOUND
By: Karen A Frenckel
Published: March 10, 2025
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Memoir
Format: Paperback for Review
I typically love true Holocaust stories, but I just could not get into this one. At nearly 400 pages, I think this could have used some editing. The author digs deep into genealogy and finds a secret about her father, which leads her on another path to find out more about her family’s history. There are a lot of details and names to keep track of, as well as places.
Obviously, her family went through horrific situations, and I appreciate the author sharing their stories. However, I felt like you had to know this family or be invested to really stay interested in the details. I tried this book on audio and as a physical copy and just couldn’t get into it.
HEART LIFE MUSIC
By: Kenny Chesney
Narrated by: Kenny Chesney
Published: November 4, 2025
Publisher: William Morrow
Memoir
Format: Audiobook
I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of Kenny Chesney, but I do enjoy listening to his music. I didn’t realize until after listening to the book that he has his own SiriusXM channel called No Shoes Nation. So, I have been listening to that station while driving, as it is a mix of Kenny’s music, some of his favorite music, and other island favorites.
Kenny narrates the audiobook, which I love when reading a celebrity memoir. I feel like it offers a much more personal touch. I even noticed a hint of emotion while listening to him talk about the devastation of Hurricane Irma or when his beloved dog died. After going to a Barnes and Noble to look at a physical copy, I was surprised to see numerous photos throughout the whole book. So, if you are a true fan, I think you’d prefer reading a physical copy.
Kenny shares about growing up in Tennessee, going to college, and discovering his love of songwriting and performing. It wasn’t an easy road for him to make music full-time, and some of his biggest hits were ones he had to convince the record companies to record. But he knows his stuff, is passionate about his friends, the island life, and his music. I loved the stories behind some of the songs, especially The Boys of Fall. That song is played at our high school football games just as he hoped it would be. Kenny lives life to the fullest, takes care of the people he loves, and generally is a happy guy.
THE COLLECTED REGRETS OF CLOVER
By: Mikki Brammer
Published: May 9, 2023
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Fiction
Format: Hardcover for Book Club
This was our book club choice for May. I absolutely loved the story and especially Clover. Clover spent much of her childhood alone. Her parents took many trips and left her to be cared for by others. Until, on one of the trips, her parents didn’t return. Clover went to live with her Grandpa in New York City and was raised by him. Their relationship was so special, including their Sunday ritual of breakfast out and a trip to the bookstore where they would languish for hours.
Clover continues to live a lonely life as an adult. Her career as a death doula doesn’t allow for many friendships. But she finds that being part of her patients’ final journeys is fulfilling enough. Until, one day, a new resident moves into the apartment building and thankfully, Sylvie doesn’t let up, determined to be Clover’s best friend, inviting her to coffee, yoga, and more.
“Shepherding a dying person through the last days of their life is a privilege–especially when you’re the only thing they have to hold on to.”
Clover keeps journals on all her clients and their Regrets, their Advice, and their Confessions. Yet, as Clover records all these items, she doesn’t take their advice…until people and events start to change the way Clover sees her life and the one she has yet to live.
“But the secret to a beautiful death is to live a beautiful life. Putting your heart out there. Letting it get broken. Taking chances. Making mistakes.”
I appreciated all the reflections on grief, the quiet moments Clover shared with those who were dying, and watching Clover slowly emerge from her cocoon. This was a lovely story.
“Grief plays tricks on you that way–a familiar whiff of cologne or a potential sighting of your person in a crowd, and all the knots you’ve tied inside yourself to manage the pain of losing them suddenly unravel.”
THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M LION
VOLUME 2
By: Beth Brower
Narrated by: Genevieve Gaunt
Published: November 2, 2019
Historical Fiction/Novella
Format: Audiobook
In this volume, Emma and the Tenant begin a correspondence of notes back and forth between their shared wall. The witty prose and sharp banter continue, and I became even more invested in this story. Since these novellas are so short, they are the perfect palate cleanser between heavier novels. I can’t wait to continue Emma’s story.
WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS
By: Catherine Newman
Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
Published: November 8, 2022
Publisher: Harper
Fiction
Format: Audiobook
“Loss lurks around every corner, and how do we prepare?”
My cousin recommended this as she read it recently. I enjoyed Newman’s SANDWICH and WRECK. In this story, Edi and Ash have been best friends forever. But Edi is dying, and Ash is trying to be strong for her best friend while also making really bad choices in her real life.
“Am I judging you for sleeping with my hospice physician? When you have this perfect life, you’re just pissing on? Yes, yes, I am judging you.”
This is a friendship story and a goodbye story. Edi wants Ash to get her life together, and Ash wants to ignore the fact that Edi is really dying while also caring for her.
“I have never been so sad and happy in my entire life. The whole time Edi’s been here, I’ve thought, live like you’re dying. Who would do that? Dying sucks. Now I see it, though. I do want to live like this.”
Newman writes this from her own personal experiences with loss and grief and the messiness of it. I found it realistic yet also off-putting. Ash wasn’t a character I respected, but she did love her friend and cared for her til her very last breath. Yet, I related to a lot of her feelings while she was in the thick of it during Edi’s final days.
“It’s occurring to me only now that the dying and the loss are actually two different burdens. And each must be born individually, one after the other. It’s like after a grueling delivery when they hand it to you, and you’re like ‘Oh, the baby’, because your focus had become so narrow and personal during the birth, but now here was the actual end point, which you’d always known but then forgotten in all the incarnated drama and suffering. It’s been so arduous, Edi’s dying. It’s like we’ve all been digging and digging and shoveling out a hole, and we can finally stop. Only now there is this hole here.”
SURVIVOR: FORGED BY FIRE
25 Years 50 Seasons
By: Jeff Probst
Published: February 24, 2026
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover
As a huge Survivor fan, I was excited for this book, but was a bit disappointed when I finally had a chance to look through all of it. I’d say it’s 90% photos (many grainy screenshots from video) with some behind-the-scenes shots during the filming of all 50 seasons of Survivor. Jeff Probst has kept a journal since starting Survivor, and there are a few of his journal pages, as well as a select few pages of thoughts or memories from particular seasons or events. I wanted more of that and less of the photos. But huge fans will still enjoy reminiscing through the photos and remembering certain players and seasons. Not sure it would be worth a purchase though.
THE DEAD ROMANTICS
By: Ashley Poston
Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
Published: June 28, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
Romance
Format: Audiobook
I’m not sure where I initially heard about this book, but at the time, I thought it sounded fun. Florence Day is a ghostwriter for a best-selling author. When a new editor is assigned to Florence, of course, he is drop-dead gorgeous. But she can’t tell him she is the ghostwriter, and he won’t give her an extension. Just when she thinks she is going to lose her job, a family emergency forces her to return home.
When Florence returns home to her family’s funeral home, one she hasn’t been back to in years, a lot of unresolved feelings emerge as well as ghosts. Florence can see ghosts, just like her dad. They were the only two people in her family with this particular gift, and a certain ghost is causing Florence to rethink everything she had planned.
This is quirky and sweet as well as sad and wistful. It wasn’t a phenomenal read, but it was enjoyable and had a couple of nice twists that helped me stay interested.
“Some things you just couldn’t tell even the people you loved the most. Some things no one would ever understand. Could never understand.”
