Quick Lit June 2026 Archives

The English Teacher

by Lily King

If you loved Lily King's release, Writers and Lovers, catch up on her previous works starting with this. From the publisher: "A novel of painful truths and the refuge of fiction set in a New England prep school. Fifteen years ago, English teacher Vida Avery arrived alone and pregnant at the elite Fayer Academy. Living on the campus off the coast of New England, she worked to become a beloved fixture of the school—and to shelter herself and her son, Peter, from a painful secret she left behind. Then she accepts the impulsive marriage proposal of ardent widower Tom Belou, and the prescribed life Vida has constructed begins to come apart. As Peter bonds with Tom and his new stepsiblings, Vida retreats further into the books she teaches. To embrace life and a chance at happiness, she will have to face the nightmares of her former self—and shed the pain she has held onto for far too long." Elle calls this a "domestic drama with the adrenalin-fueled beating heart of a thriller."

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth

by Patrick Radden Keefe

Journalist Radden Keefe’s narrative nonfiction delves into London’s criminal underworld. When Matthew and Rachelle Brettler learned their nineteen-year-old son Zac died by suicide, they were devastated but the story didn’t add up for them. He hadn’t seemed suicidal. They soon learned he had a secret life, one in which he posed as the son of a Russian oligarch and became entangled with a crook and gangster. But Scotland Yard didn’t appear to be pursuing justice for their son and so they continue to seek the truth about what happened to Zac. The ensuing investigation is riveting, as is the exploration of the parent-child relationship. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author.

The Fortnight in September

by R. C. Sherriff

From the publisher: "Meet the Stevens family, as they prepare to embark on their yearly holiday to the coast of England. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens first made the trip to Bognor Regis on their honeymoon, and the tradition has continued ever since. They stay in the same guest house and follow the same carefully honed schedule—now accompanied by their three children, twenty-year-old Mary, seventeen-year-old Dick, and little brother Ernie. Arriving in Bognor they head to Seaview, the guesthouse where they stay every year. It’s a bit shabbier than it once was—the landlord has died and his wife is struggling as the number of guests dwindles every year. But the family finds bliss in booking a slightly bigger cabana, with a balcony, and in their rediscovery of the familiar places they visit every year. Mr. Stevens goes on his annual walk across the downs, reflecting on his life, his worries and disappointments, and returns refreshed. Mrs. Stevens treasures an hour spent sitting alone with her medicinal glass of port. Mary has her first small taste of romance. And Dick pulls himself out of the malaise he’s sunk into since graduation, resolving to work towards a new career. The Stevenses savor every moment of their holiday, aware that things may not be the same next year."

The Trouble Up North

by Travis Mulhauser

From the publisher: "An atmospheric, haunting novel about the Sawbrooks, a family of bootleggers with a troubled history and a deep connection to the Michigan land that binds them. The Sawbrooks have spent decades crisscrossing the waterways and vast forests between Northern Michigan and Canada to make their way as smugglers. Those hidden routes through the border's nooks and crannies are their legacy, but they no longer pay the bills. The world has changed; the resorts, with their fancy clientele, are infringing on their space, and the Sawbrooks find themselves deeply fractured, clutching at their past and the last vestiges of a once close family. Rhoda, the tough-as-nails matriarch, is caring for her dying husband while finding herself disappointed in her three adult grandchildren. The eldest daughter, Lucy, is now a park ranger, working to federally protect the land against her mother’s will, while Buckner, the only boy, is drinking his life away. Jewell, the baby of the family, is her mother’s last hope, but when she tries to save them all in one fell swoop she becomes ensnared in a crime of escalating proportions. The Sawbrooks will have to contend with the old familial ways and the new shifting world, and face each other—and their pain-filled past—to save one of their own."

Road Ends

by Mary Lawson

From the publisher: "Twenty-one-year-old Megan Cartwright has never been outside Struan, Ontario, a small town of deep woods and forbidding winters. The second oldest in a house with seven brothers, Megan is the caregiver, housekeeper, and linchpin of the family, but the day comes when she decides it’s time she had a life of her own. Leaving everything behind, Megan sets out for London. In the wake of her absence, her family begins to unravel. Megan’s parents and brothers withdraw from one another, leading emotionally isolated lives while still under the same roof. Her oldest brother, Tom, reeling from the death of his best friend, rejects a promising future to move back home. Emily, her mother, rarely leaves the room where she dreamily dotes on her newborn son, while Megan’s four-year-old brother, Adam, is desperate for warmth and attention. And as time passes, Megan’s father, Edward, stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that his household is coming undone. Torn between her independence and family ties, Megan must make an impossible choice. Nuanced, compelling, and searingly honest, Road Ends illuminates how we each make peace with the demands of love. Mary Lawson delivers compassion and heartbreak in equal measure in her most stunning novel to date."

Bring the House Down

by Charlotte Runcie

From the publisher: "Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress. Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story."

The Boy from the Sea

by Garrett Carr

From the publisher: "Ireland 1973, a baby boy is found on the beach of a close-knit fishing village. Fisherman Ambrose Bonnar offers to bring the child into his own family: his son, Declan, wife, Christine, and up the lane, Christine's sister and aging father. The townspeople remain fascinated by the baby, now named Brendan, as he grows into a strange yet charismatic young man. The family's fortunes rise and fall over the years—as do the town's, because nothing happens to one family here that doesn't happen to them all—as the forces of a voracious global economy and modernized commercial fishing wreak havoc on their way of life. In the village, Brendan and Declan are wildly different and often wildly at odds; out on the sea, Ambrose worries about his children, but cannot afford to tear his attention from the brutal work that keeps his family afloat. As the world around them keeps changing, the mystery of one boy’s origins pulls them all toward a surprising, stormy fate."

Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant

by Anne Tyler

Anissa Davis raved about Anne Tyler on episode 38 of WSIRN, having read everything Tyler has written, saying that her books are entertaining, but also with a layer of depth. She envelopes what daily life is like - with all the joys, ups and downs, and humor - and is very good at bringing her characters to life.

The Animators

by Kayla Rae Whitaker

Lowest price ever on this novel that was a little dark for my taste, but many MMD readers loved it. Maybe you’ll be one of them? Publishers Weekly calls this “[an] outstanding debut . . . Whitaker skillfully charts the creative process, its lulls and sudden rushes of perfect inspiration. And in the relationship between Mel and Sharon, she has created something wonderful and exceptional: a rich, deep, and emotionally true connection that will certainly steal the hearts of readers.”

Quick Lit June 2026

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