Welcome to Quick Lit, where I share short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately on (or around) the 15th of the month, and invite you to do the same.
It’s feeling like summer in my reading life right now. For me, that means gobs of backlist at the beginning of summer, as the pendulum swings hard in the direction of old after reading scores of brand new titles to weigh for potential inclusion in the MMD 2026 Summer Reading Guide. (Now available!)
(At the same time, after my initial burst of all backlist, all the time, I start reading forthcoming fall releases for our Fall Book Preview. This past week I finished three excellent September releases right in a row and am deep in the middle of a fourth—but that’s not what we’re talking about today.)
Today’s early summer edition of Quick Lit is a backlist bonanza, with titles from 1931 (The Fortnight in September), 2002 (Road Ends), 2005 (The English Teacher), and several from 2025.
I listened to several of these titles on audio, but if you’re on the hunt for more audiobook selections, check out my Quick Lit-style roundup featuring the 8 audiobooks I’ve read this year (so far) that I published last week.
I hope you enjoy this month’s selections, and that you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR here. And, as always, I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been reading lately!
Thanks in advance for sharing your short and sweet book reviews with us!
Welcome to June Quick Lit
The English Teacher
I'm continuing to slowly make my way through Lily King's backlist—maybe she'll become a completist author for me?—and picked up her second novel, published in 2005, on impulse. It's a campus novel, with huge chunks set at a New England prep school. The titular English teacher is Vida, who talked herself into a job at the school fifteen years ago, when she was hugely pregnant and in desperate financial straits that she implied were due to her husband's death, except there never was a husband. She is beloved by her students and coworkers, and has built a quiet but happy enough life there with her son. But when she impulsively accepts a handsome young widower's proposal, she is forced to finally confront everything she fled from long ago. I enjoyed the story, but what really stood out to me was the way Lily King can show a character thinking about and wrestling with a book on the page and make it feel not only utterly fascinating but deeply essential to the plot. (The book that appears most often in these pages is Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles.) I loved this. More info →
The Fortnight in September
British playwright R.C. Sherriff's first novel was originally published in 1931 and subsequently reissued by Persephone (which may give you a strong feel for the tone) and Scribner, who published the gorgeous edition I impulse bought because of the cover. (Can you blame me?) It's been consistently described as lovely and life-affirming, a quiet book that is absorbing despite the fact that not much happens. Those descriptors all sounded great to me! I'm sorry to say I was underwhelmed. In it, a middle-class British family of five travels by train from London to the seaside for their annual two-week holiday. From the day before departure ("Going Away Eve") to the return trip home, we get the points of view of each family member—father, mother, and kids aged 19, 17, and 10—and while much that unfolded was interesting, I just did not enjoy spending time inside these characters' minds. More info →
The Trouble Up North
My introduction to Mulhauser's work came via his April 2026 release Fair Chase, which I loved and included in the 2026 MMD Summer Reading Guide. That book left me longing to read more from the author. I knew Fair Chase to be a standalone sequel to Mulhauser's 2025 sophomore novel The Trouble Up North, so I queued it up for a recent road trip: at 6 hrs 28 mins it was the perfect length for a round trip to Nashville. Here we meet the notorious Sawbrook family, respected and feared bootleggers who've lived in their part of Michigan for generations. When the story begins, the family is in a bad way: various members are ill, addicted, and desperate for cash. When one well-meaning adult child embarks on a dangerous scheme to save them, it goes awry—and the family's escalating attempts to deal with the fallout feel almost Shakespearean in nature. This was riveting on audio, as read by by Lauren Ezzo and Petrea Burchard: I couldn't stop listening. More info →
Road Ends
I've been slowly making my way through Canadian novelist Mary Lawson's backlist for years; in my experience her books are often emotionally brutal but reliably end on a note of redemption. It's been long enough since I read Lawson's 2002 debut Crow Lake that I didn't immediately recognize that Road Ends, published in 2013, takes place in the same story world. Here we meet the dysfunctional Cartwright family—father, mother, and eight children who live in the tiny town of Struan, Ontario. The father grew up in an abusive home and is terrified of terrorizing his own children; the mother dotes on her infants but neglects them once they move on from the baby stage. When the story opens, twenty-one-year-old Megan is about to leave home for London. As the second eldest and firstborn daughter, she's been functionally running the house since she was six years old and has had enough. When an opportunity presents itself for her to travel to London, she takes it. The household falls apart in her absence. The Struan portions are crammed with myriad tragedies, which makes for heart-wrenching reading. But I rooted so hard for Megan as, after a terrifically rocky start, she slowly made her way in London. Lawson is an obvious choice for lovers of a certain kind of literary fiction (me!) but I was delighted to discover this was a hotel story as well. More info →
Bring the House Down
My friend Mel mentioned she was enjoying this at the very minute I found myself in need of a good story on audio (picture me racking my brain at an interstate rest stop) and I thought, why not? I'm not sure there's a single likable character in this meta tale of criticism and the arts, but I enjoyed reading about them. The story unfolds over the course of just a few weeks during Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, where two British theater critics have been sent by their paper to review the shows. Alex Lyons has held his post for ages: he's respected and well-known for his extreme reviews; he gives one-stars and five-stars but little in between. On the festival's opening night, he eviscerates a one woman show, and its performer, and justifies his vicious take by saying he didn't make the show bad, he just told the truth. AND YET. Between penning the review and it running in the paper the next morning, he picks up the performer in a bar and sleeps with her in his rented apartment. She discovers her show has been maligned when she sees the paper—with Alex's scathing review—on his kitchen table the next morning. Having been publicly maligned, the performer plots a similarly public revenge that quickly becomes the talk of the festival. The story is narrated by Alex's junior colleague Sophie, and I was kept guessing throughout the book as to her intentions: I didn't know where it was going but enjoyed the ride. This was excellent on audio, as read by Isabelle Farah. More info →
The Boy from the Sea
I've long been intrigued by contemporary novels that feel old-fashioned, and this Irish novel is certainly one of them. It's been on my list since Virginia Evans recommended it in MMD Book Club during our The Correspondent author chat. Because of the other novelists Evans recommended at the time, I assumed it was an older work. WOW was I wrong: it was only upon putting together Quick Lit that I realized this is journalist Carr's debut novel, just published in 2025. I didn't hear about it upon its release, though it was named An Observer Best Debut of 2025, a Sunday Times Best Book of 2025, and was shortlisted for a slew of British prizes. (I listened to the audio narrated by Stanley Townsend; otherwise context clues on a print edition would have clued me in much faster!) The story begins in 1973 in a small Irish village. When a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach, a local fisherman with a son about the same age adopts him and raises him as his own. Because of his mystical-feeling origins, villagers always considered the boy to have a touch of the magical about him—a blessing and curse that dogs him his whole life. I loved the narrative style in this story, it felt like a yarn, unspooled by an elder villager who knows everything about everyone. More info →
What have YOU been reading lately? Tell us about your recent reads—or share the link to a blog or instagram post about them—in comments.
9 comments
I love the description of a contemporary work that feels old-fashioned. I know exactly what you mean!
My “reading rainbow” project has continued to offer up an amazing variety of reads, with an interesting 10 this past month: https://cocoonofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/06/what-ive-been-reading-lately-quick-lit.html
I had a strong reading month, with FOUR books that were 4.5 or 5 stars! My books this month included insightful nonfiction, a hilarious memoir, a book that has been hugely beneficial as I homeschool my children, two FASCINATING historical novels, a thriller that had me flying through the pages, and a compelling sci-fi story. There was also a romance set in a bookstore that others seem to love but that got a rare 2 stars from me.
https://kendranicole.substack.com/p/quick-lit-june-2026
My June reading was full of books that are perfect for summer, including 2 that feature bookstores! Check them out here:
https://neverenoughnovels.com/2026/06/14/june-2026-book-reviews/
It was quite the mix of books for me this month – a couple of powerful, heavy reads with some lighter reading in between. A good balance.
https://avikinginla.com/2026/06/what-ive-been-reading-lately-may-2026/
I love all the backlist books on your list this month! I am adding Mary Lawson to my list of authors to read after reading your review. I recently read two nonfiction books that I really enjoyed. Like, Follow, Subscribe was a five-star nonfiction read for me. It is about influencers, social media, and the cost of childhood online. It was a fascinating yet sad look at the current world of social media and how it is impacting us. https://fromourbookshelf.com/may-reading-2026/
In this month’s LITERARY CHATTER –
A lively conversation featuring 5 historical fiction reads that take place in a library.
https://lindastoll.substack.com/p/library-books-porch-220
I am so glad to hear someone else was underwhelmed by The Fortnight in September! I kept seeing recommendations for it, but I stopped reading it halfway through because I was so underwhelmed.
I love Crow Lake, so I have added Road Ends to my TBR. Thanks for mentioning that it is about the Cartwright family.
I just read and enjoyed two new releases Summer’s Never Over and Whistler. Now I am turning to my backlist and I am currently reading Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins.
I have had a slow start to my summer reading. I have lost the reading mojo but I did find a few gems. Of course, once again, I find more books to add to my ever-growing TBR. Check out what I read and what I quit
https://myviewofthehoneypot.blogspot.com/2026/06/what-i-read-and-what-i-have-dnf-in-june.html
I haven’t read any Lily King yet, but your description of The English Teacher makes me want to pick it up!
My reading this past month includes a recently published romance, a YA fantasy that I unexpectedly loved, and a non-fiction book about child influencers.
https://booksandpickles.substack.com/p/recent-reads-may-jun-26