Everything I read in June
On reinvention, creativity, and art
Summer has finally arrived, even in London, and with it, my insatiable longing for long lazy afternoons by the water reading classics and light-hearted page turners without distraction. But that will have to wait.
I haven’t had much time to share my writing here lately either, and I’ve missed it more than I expected. But there are so many ideas and half-sentences piling up in my Notes app, and I’m hoping to carve out a few slower days in August to rest, and maybe even get some words down.
In the meantime, on Friday afternoon I finally visited the Courtauld Gallery, which I’d been meaning to do for a while. I don’t think I’d ever seen before as many impressionist paintings so up close and in such a quiet and beautifully lit space. I feel like that alone was worth the commute to central London in the boiling-hot tube.
Afterwards, I wandered around Covent Garden and Soho. Hungry from all the walking, I escaped the heat in an air conditioned supermarket in Charing Cross where I picked up some really tasty peanut mochi. Then, I finished my book in a café over an icy drink. The day ended with a fun pizza dinner in Bloomsbury with Ed to celebrate our anniversary.
As I type this it’s Saturday, the record player is spinning a collection of ’60s psychedelic tunes, and I’ve just finished eating a popsicle as I wait for a friend I haven’t seen in months to come and stay for the weekend. This morning, I left the house only to pick up a bottle of pét-nat cider, alongside snacks and dips for tonight’s picnic dinner in the park.
All this to say: I’m so glad the sun is out again.
When it came to reading, June was a quite spontaneous month since I wasn’t ready to commit to any of the books on my list. So instead, I followed my mood and finished these. I hope you enjoy!
Fiction
Per Dieci Minuti by Chiara Gamberale
Chiara Gamberale is a celebrated Italian author, and last winter, while I was in Turin, I decided to finally pick up one of her novels. I didn’t get around to reading it until early June, during our Wales holiday. After a long stretch of intense writing, my brain was feeling a little mushy and this short book turned out to be the perfect antidote.
The story follows Chiara, a writer living in Rome, where her ex convinced her to move… just before leaving her suddenly and moving abroad to “find himself”. Now recently divorced, and replaced in her magazine column by a bubbly reality TV contestant, she finds herself isolated and adrift in a city where she has no real friends. So her therapist gives her a simple but unusual assignment: for ten minutes every day, for an entire month, she must try something new. From this premise, the story unfolds, filled with small but life-changing moments, unexpected encounters, and everyday adventures.
I really enjoyed this novel. It’s at times sad, uplifting, funny, surprising—and very realistic. It has that tender, reflective quality that fans of Japanese “healing fiction” might especially appreciate.
Non-Fiction
Dear Writer by Maggie Smith
As often happens for me, I discovered this author while listening to a podcast. Maggie Smith has published several books of poetry and prose, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and more.
This book is a collection of letters and essays addressed to students of writing—mostly poetry, but not exclusively. While much of the advice focuses on how to write and share poems, there are insights and encouragements that apply to writers of all kinds. It’s one of those books I’ll keep on my shelf and return to often.
The tone feels like a gentle pep talk, woven with practical writing prompts and clever tips that I found genuinely inspiring. Poetry can feel like a world governed by rigid rules and traditions and this book encourages exploration and experimentation, making the writing process feel approachable rather than intimidating.
It definitely made me want to read more of her work—and write, of course.
“We don’t know exactly where the ideas come from, and we don’t know where they’re going. The creation doesn’t care about your plans or intentions. It’s just trying to be born, it doesn’t have an agenda” Maggie Smith
Lost Japan by Alex Kerr
Alex Kerr is an American author who moved to Japan as a child and has spent most of his life living, studying, and working across various regions of the country. In each chapter of this classic memoir, written in the 1970s, he explores the state of a particular art form while also tracing broader cultural shifts happening throughout Japan.
I loved reading this memoir at night, even when I was tired, because it’s written in a very poetic way and quite hypnotising. What I especially enjoyed were the mesmerising descriptions and vivid anecdotes he’s gathered over the years—Kerr seems to know everyone who’s anyone.
The one aspect I found a bit off-putting was his repeated insistence that Japan is no longer what it once was—that its traditions are disappearing and locals no longer seem to care. After a while, these complaints felt somewhat patronising. Still, bearing in my that the book was written in the 70s, I stuck with it and appreciated how he ultimately admitted how that period of mid-century stagnation created an opportunity for fresh beginning.
“The end of the summer brings typhoons and autumn’s crimson maple leaves, yellow ginko, ruby nandina berries and, at the end, hanging out onto the bare branches of winter, orange persimmon fruit. On winter days, frost descends on the garden, and each blade of grass sparkles like diamonds in the morning sun” Alex Kerr
Comfort Zones by various authors
Another secondhand book find, I picked this book because I liked the cover and was intrigued by the subtitle, which promised stories by “women tackling unfamiliar ground.”
Reading this collection of raw, heartfelt essays feels a lot like spending an afternoon with your favourite Substack newsletters. Each essay is written by a different author and explores, through intimate stories and journal-style reflections, various facets of life where they had to step outside their comfort zones—covering relationships, life lessons, writing, food, and more.
Like Substack, these essays offer a glimpse into the more private sides of writers, some well-known, others less so, while revealing fresh insights into their creative processes and life beyond their more widely shared work.
Thank you for reading ♡
Stefania
What an interesting collection of books you have given us! Per Dieci Minuti by Chiara Gamberale sounds especially intriguing to me…I will seek it out. Thank you!
Not only had I not heard of any of these books, but they all sound so compelling! I'm especially curious about Comfort Zones and Dear Writer for rather obvious reasons, I suppose :) Here’s to more reading in the sun this summer!