A selection of quotes and pictures to represent June’s reading:

commonplace book
noun
a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.

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‘When you think about it, everyone’s life’s a prison – of days, sort of. The trick is to get comfortable in it, I reckon. Find your freedom inside whatever your prison is.’

A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman (2026)

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‘It wasn’t only a little she-cat I bought. It was the nobility of all cats, their infinite disinterestedness, their knowledge of how to live, their affinities with the highest type of humans.’

Gigi and The Cat by Colette (1933/1944)

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Anne said, “Common sense is an unkind master.”

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden (2026)

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Just as a novel must contain ideas, so must a painting. A novel devoid of thought was mere entertainment and a painting bereft of ideas no better than caricature.

She Walks at Night by Seishi Yokomizo (1948)

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The loss of the mother and sisters became internalized as a kind of empty space or wound that required filling with near-endless lands, people, and tall tales. The stories must go on forever and crowd out dark gaps. Charlotte wrote of herself, but this could be from Emily, too: “I’m just going to write because I cannot help it.”

This Dark Night by Deborah Lutz (2026)

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Favourite book read in June:

A Far-flung Life

Places visited in my June reading:

Australia, France, Japan, England, Brittany

Authors read for the first time in June:

Colette, Deborah Lutz

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Reading notes: June wasn’t a great reading month for me, for various reasons, and I’m already behind with 20 Books of Summer. I didn’t manage to read my Classics Club Spin book (The Persian Boy by Mary Renault) by the spin deadline either, although I’m more than halfway through and will finish it soon. The good thing is, I enjoyed everything I read, which is more important than the number of books, I think!

This month, Emma of Words and Peace is hosting Paris in July, a celebration of all things French! I have a review ready to post for that and hope to have time to read another suitable book as well. After missing the Read Christie challenge monthly read in June, I’m planning to join in again this month and read The Rose and the Yew Tree. Otherwise, I’ll be concentrating on my 20 Books of Summer list.

How was June for you? Do you have any plans for your July reading?