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Books in June - Book Recommendations
- The Little Bookshop
- 37 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Hello Book Dragons, well I can start about all the books I’m looking forward to BUT there’s one I am super super excited about… What a treat! Another book by Leigh Bardugo and this year also the third one in the Alex Stern series. Such a fantastic year! This month we also selected a bit more queer books than usual. We already have quite some at the shop, of course, but for Pride month we do need to have more ;) Well, let’s take a look at the June books?
Contemporary/Fantasy/Thriller/Sci-fi adults
The Shapeshifter's Daughter by Sally Magnusson (4 June)
Because we love mythologies all over the world!
Before she was a hideous monster, the queen of the underworld was simply Hel. But cast as a girl out of lofty Asgard, realm of the gods, by Odin the Allfather, Hel's fate as the terrible goddess of death is sealed. Half beauty, half crone, she has reigned for aeons in the starless darkness of Niflheim, grimly welcoming the most pitiful of death's travellers to her ice-locked prison. Until one day a memory shifts, and she is forced to seek out the sun in Midgard, where humans have made their home. Faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Helen Firth makes the impulsive decision to return to Orkney after forty years to make peace with her past. Under the wintering solstice sun, she reconnects with the ungainly but affable Thorfinn Coffin, who helps her address the real reason she has returned to the islands to die. As Helen draws closer to death and ever closer to Thorfinn, Hel in turn is intrigued by Helen. She, too, has a past to confront and a lesson to learn: that perhaps who she thinks she is isn't who she is really meant to be.
The House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill (4 June)
Because it’s Pride month!
Harlowe could use a break. With his academic future over, just like his relationship with his long-term boyfriend Jackson, a suspiciously cheap summer rental on the Cape feels like just the escape he needs. But when he arrives at the picturesque seaside cottage, he’s alarmed to find his discouraging former professor in the living room. His father making coffee in the kitchen. And a handsome young repairman fixing things in the bedroom. Worst of all, Jackson is in the bathroom. None of them will leave. No one else can see them. And they won’t leave him alone. The house isn’t magic only for Harlowe, and as the summer grows hot and thick with tourists, old wounds and fresh secrets—both in and outside its walls—begin to transform him. It’s clear the house is trying to tell him something, and he’s sure it has to do with the mysterious repairman who suddenly seems to be everywhere he looks… But can Harlowe let go of the past long enough to listen?
Slow Gods by Claire North (9 June)
Because we like to add more to our Science Fiction section and this sounds like a great addition
In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind. Here is one truth: out there in deep space, in the pilot's chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me. This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I've lived since I died for the first time. Are you listening?
Here Comes Summer by Georgie Kain (18 June)
Because it’s Pride month!
When social media influencer Brady Jones is asked to be a global travel ambassador, he’s thrilled. What could be better than traveling around the world for free? And it might just help heal his broken heart after breaking up with his fiancé, medical student, Hayes Crest, nine months ago. None of his followers know about the break-up as he’s relied on a backlog of photos of the couple to keep up posting… only problem is, the travel company want both of them. Hayes Crest has given up on Brady and social media altogether, turning his pain over the breakup into motivation for medical school. But school is expensive, so when Brady calls with the proposition that will pay his fees, he accepts - as long as they promise to keep their relationship platonic. But after a hot summer travelling the major European cities, will this couple find their fake dating turning to real love?
YA Book Recommendations
Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni (4 June)
Because this looked amazing as duology
The city of Aravell is in peril, plagued by a deadly blackmist that kills all it touches, and reapers who roam the streets, stealing magic from innocent children in their thirst for power. Seventeen-year-old Viridia Solace has trained for years to hunt these reapers but their ranks keep growing, led by the man who murdered her parents: the Reaper Priest. When the Priest's most loyal follower, Reeve Ashton, is captured, he offers Viri a chance to avenge her parents… for a price. She knows better than to bargain with a reaper, let alone this reaper, but his offer is too good to resist. Soon she's breaking him out of prison, colluding with his crew of magic thieves, and following him deep into the blackmist forest in search of an ancient legend, all so they can stop the Reaper Priest’s plot to doom the city. Viri is staking her life on Reeve's plan, but how can she trust a silver-tongued criminal to keep his word? And how can she trust her own heart when a buried secret could shatter everything.
Owl King by Bex Hogan (4 June)
Because this one looked amazing as well, especially to get into fantasy
Long ago, kings and queens of the faery realms exchanged talismans with one another to maintain stability in their world. The Stag King gave up a shard of antler, the Owl King a feather, the Minnow Queen a shimmering, silver scale. But the Owl King has grown restless, and his kingdom has become dangerous as he feeds off the magic of others. Always he hunts for a new bride to sustain him. When devoted sisters, Ilsette and Lyla, are summoned to court, the Owl King's eye soon falls on the beautiful Lyla. Determined to save her sister from a terrible fate, Ilsette sets out on a quest to find the prized feather and change the balance of power. Lyla bewitches the king with her stories, but time is running out. Meanwhile, Ilsette's search leads her to a realm with two moons and scarlet stars. Here she must trick King Locryn into revealing the feather's secret whereabouts, so that she can steal it. She's befriended by a strange magpie and two shadow faeries, but all the while, she faces an impossible truth - to save her sister, she must destroy peace among the realms.
Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie (18 June)
Because it’s Pride month!
Welcome to Blackwood Academy: the legendary school located on the fringes of the afterlife. Once a pupil enters the academy’s arched gates, there is no way out…except the Decennial, a cut-throat magical competition with only one victor. This year, six of the Academy’s top students have been chosen to face the Decennial’s tests. Two academic archrivals, whose strange connection blurs the lines between obsession and hate. One girl driven solely by ambition, and another plagued by memories of the love she lost. And a charming playboy who never cared for anyone—until he met the academy’s newest student. But what none of them know? They aren’t the only ones playing Blackwood’s game. Who will win, and who will fall? Only one thing is for certain: in this game, some fates are worse than death.
Letters from Ketterdam by Leigh Bardugo (20 June)
Because… do I need to say more? It is Leigh Bardugo and Six of Crows LOVE
In the years since the violent upheaval caused bythe auction of Kuwei Yul-Bo, the merchants of Ketterdam have been under attack. Secret businesses exposed. Ships sunk. Slavers hunted as they once hunted their victims. All the work of a mysterious sea captain and her ship, the Wraith. Now, two investigators meet to uncover the truth behind the latest disaster: a massacre on an island off the shores of Ketterdam. Among the evidence collected is private correspondence between notorious crime boss Kaz Brekker and an anonymous sailor aboard the Wraith known only as “I.” DID YOU SEE THERE ARE SOME EXTRA ILLUSTRATIONS?!
Children’s Books
The Old Man And The Penguin by Julie Abery (1 June)
Because I love penguins ^^
Told in rhyming verse, this is the touching true story of an oil-soaked penguin, the man who rescues him and an unlikely friendship. João hears “a sorry screech” as he walks along the shore near his home. It’s from a penguin, whose feathers are soaked in oil. Too tired to swim, too weak to stand, he’s barely moving on the sand. João must save this little guy. Without his help, he’ll surely die. João takes the penguin home. He cleans him, feeds him and nurses him slowly back to health – and the pair develop a special bond. When the penguin is fully recovered, João knows it’s time to return him to the wild where he belongs. But the penguin has other ideas…
Death at the Museum by Janice Hallett (4 June)
Because you’re never too young to start your first thriller
Imagine an old museum with more secrets than anyone could ever guess. A school trip that ends in murder. A crime unsolved for decades. . . But who did it? Now, Ava and Luke are on the case, following the clues left in a new box of murders. Using School workbooks, museum records, secret recordings and letters the siblings start to unravel the mystery of a body in the basement. But can they discover what really happened . . . before the killer strikes again? YOU know the facts. YOU have all the clues. Can YOU solve the mystery before they do?
We Can Be Mermaids by Lanisha Butterfield (4 June)
Because mermaids! And also Summer arrives and swimming is important ;)
Silver has loved swimming since her very first lesson and dreams of one day becoming... a MERMAID! There's just one problem: her dad can't swim. They bake mermaid-tail cupcakes together, build mermaid caves and read underwater stories, but he can't join her in the pool like the other dads. Silver worries she'll have to give up on her dream and quit swimming - how can she possibly leave her dad behind when she's a mermaid?!But one day, Dad has a surprise for her, one that will help Silver to see that she should never give up on her mermaid dreams…
The Fawn Who Chased the Sun by Joanna McInerney (18 June)
Because this looks stunning
There was once a fawn, who thought that the sun was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But when the sun set, the little fawn was sad and afraid. "Mother, where does the sun go?" he asked. Follow one little fawn on his quest in search of the sun, in this lushly illustrated tale. A lyrical story that's a joy to read aloud, this nature-inspired fable delivers a gentle warning against losing sight of the important things in life.
We hope you enjoyed our little list and that it gave you some book inspiration!
Looking to pre-order one of these books? Just follow the path! 👇
This blog post is written by The Little Bookshop, your bookshop for English books in Rennes.
