{"id":8594,"date":"2026-06-24T17:13:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T21:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/?p=8594"},"modified":"2026-06-24T17:13:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T21:13:44","slug":"books-of-note-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/2026\/06\/books-of-note-june-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Books of Note – June, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there are no paragraph separations in this article, please double-click on the title and they will appear.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As many of you are aware, I am a judge\/reader for a major American book award. All the books I am sent were published during the previous year. My scores are based on seven criteria, such as plot, dialogue, setting, etc. I send in my results, along with comments explaining my scores. This basic method is used by all award groups with outside judges.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed like a fun idea to reveal a sample comparison standard to which I hold all the books I am given<\/strong> in these categories: Sci-fi, Rom-Com, Women\u2019s Fiction, and Mystery. I have scored\u00a0 other categories as well (fantasy, horror, military fiction, YA, and more, with several page-turners among them). If the books I review for NBR\/Kerrian\u2019s Notebook,<\/em> (or for the awards), aren\u2019t as good as these, you\u2019ll never hear about them from me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are four really great reads, listed in alphabetical order by author, with BUY links in BOLD<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI Like You Just Fine When You\u2019re Not Around\u201d by Ann Garvin<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Every once in a while, we read a novel that deals with a life event we have lived through ourselves. \u201cI Like You Just Fine When You\u2019re Not Around\u201d had been on my TBR (To Be Read) stack for a few months, but I was reluctant to start it, not because I am unfamiliar with the author, but in fact, just the opposite. I was certain her honesty, wisdom, superb writing, and gut-wrenching truths would bring up old sadness. Now, I wish I\u2019d read it while Mom was still alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

We enter the in-your-face world of an aging parent who develops Alzheimer\u2019s, while the daughter\/caregiver simultaneously tries to live her own life. Primary caregivers know this truth: the parent\u2019s situation usually takes precedence over anything and everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Garvin delivers her story with kindness, love, and a blinding reality check for the daughter who really doesn\u2019t want her Mom to move into a nursing home. She is sure that her Mom could come home again and the world could go back to the way it was. The surprises, laughs, and tears keep the pages turning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garvin\u2019s most recent book: \u201cBummer Camp: A Novel\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Coincidence of Coconut Cake\u201d<\/a> by Amy E. Reichert <\/strong>Chef Lou Johnson is living her dream at her restaurant, Luella\u2019s,<\/em> in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She\u2019s engaged to Devlin, a prominent attorney. Life is good and getting better.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Lou bakes a coconut cake for Devlin\u2019s birthday and takes it to his apartment, his intern is there, barely dressed. It appears that Devlin is cheating on her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Al Waters, food critic, sometimes plays fast and loose with the facts and publishes a scathing review of Lou\u2019s restaurant on the very night of the intern sighting. Groan. Business drops waaaaay off as a result and the time is ripe for Lou to completely redo her life. What follows is a series of meetings with both Al and Lou keeping their real identities secret. Deception? Evasion? Attraction? What could go wrong in this tale of love\u2019s beginnings and endings and new beginnings?<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy E. Reichert has written a delightful novel about the way fate can intervene when we are blindsided by events that run contrary to our Grand Plan. The reader is in on the secrets early on, but Reichert\u2019s clever plot keeps us laughing as the main players stay in the dark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reichert reveals the dynamics of running a restaurant with just enough info to provide authenticity, supplying the perfect flavor to \u201cThe Coincidence of Coconut Cake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Reichert\u2019s most recent book: \u201cOnce Upon A December<\/a>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLake of Fire\u201d<\/a> by Mark Stevens <\/strong>Allison Coil, big game hunting guide and occasional investigator in the mountains of Colorado, returns in \u201cLake of Fire.\u201d Stevens continues the environmental theme of his award-winning series, and focuses on a monster fire that threatens to consume Alison’s beloved Flat Top Wilderness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Against the backdrop of the loss of hundreds of homes, Allison works to solve a gruesome murder. She and her friends must contend with a dangerous anti-government group whose leaders don\u2019t care about the fallout, only that they be heard. Stevens\u2019 complex core ensemble characters have developed in each book, with subplots intertwining until reaching their unexpected conclusions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Stevens creates frightening fire scenes as the flames alternately surround Allison on horseback and later approach a friend\u2019s family ranch. He takes a sobering look at how the fires are prioritized when little can be done. \u201cLake of Fire\u201d touches on some very real political and environmental issues facing Colorado, while delivering a chilling murder mystery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stevens\u2019 most recent book: \u201cTwo Truths and A Lie\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Martian\u201d<\/a> by Andy Weir <\/strong>has received loads of positive hype since it was first published in 2011, and it\u2019s all well deserved. Instead of being a boring, techy tome (sorry, some science-fiction bogs down in the science and forgets to entertain), it is a riveting, barnburner of a story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Watney is an astronaut accidentally left behind on Mars when seriously injured during a sandstorm. Everyone thinks he is dead, and the crew is ordered to return to Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

The best sci-fi throws real people into a strange world where they use skills from their own world to cope\/deal with the new. When Weir (a scientist and software engineer) wrote \u201cThe Martian,\u201d he worked out planet positions and shuttle orbits to support his storyline. If the science wasn\u2019t right, it didn\u2019t go onto the pages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watney must manage food and other supplies to last four years until he can be rescued. Duct tape (that heavy, cloth backed, silver<\/em> tape that plumbers and electricians use) plays a great role in the book. Gotta love that a low-tech item could save expensive equipment from complete failure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weir\u2019s most recent book:\u00a0 \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy!\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

great reads for 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