“I think books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them.” – Emma Thompson
This is going to be a quick post. I am currently reading a couple of books at the same time. I don’t usually do that but one of the books is over 500 pages and will take me a while to complete. I really don’t read as fast as you might think. The two books I am reading are – Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell. Demon Copperhead has been awarded the Pulitzer. I loved her novel Poisonwood Bible so decided to jump in and read this one. Most of her books are large. I think that is why I haven’t read all of them. Shirley is a novel about Shirley Jackson, the author who wrote House on Haunted Hill and the famous short story – The Lottery. More will come about these when I complete them.
For now, I wanted to share four books that are new releases this month. There are many more, but these are from authors I am familiar with and think you might enjoy reading too.

Release date is June 20, 2023
A thriller about a woman in a race to prove her innocence and solve the murder of her husband. The description on Goodreads says it is a cross between Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Fugitive.
I haven’t read all of Ruth Ware’s books, but I want to begin, so I may start with her backlist and work my way up to this one.

Release date is June 7, 2023
This is the second book in -The Agathas series.
Iris and Alice get involved in another Castle Cove Mystery. Iris and Alice are teenagers who were unwilling companions in the previous book. Iris was hired to tutor Alice, who was part of the in-crowd. Iris lived with her single mother and had a hard time accepting Alice who appeared to have everything. While solving the murder, they became good friends.
This is the sequel to – The Agathas, a young adult book I read recently. You can find my full review listed in the Young Adult Category. I would like to pick this one up soon.

Release date is June 20, 2023
Riley Sager takes the Lizzie Borden story and adds his own twist. A Maine coastal town is shocked by the murder of the Hope family in 1929. Everyone dies except 17-year-old Lenora. She has never talked about it. Now it is 1983 and she has a home health aide to help her toward the end of her life and though Lenora is unable to speak because of a stroke, she offers to type out her story. Does she tell her everything?
I have only read one Riley Sager so far, but most BookTubers really like his stuff. Like Ruth Ware, I will start reading his back list and work my way to this one.

Release date June 27, 2023
Two veteran homicide detectives work together to catch a serial killer in New Orleans.
Because I know I will be reading this one, I don’t want to know much more than this. I actually won this book from the Goodreads Giveaway. I am waiting for it to arrive. I will post a review asap.
Are you interested in reading any of the new releases for this month? Are there certain authors you follow? Who are they?
I saw a prompt recently – What is your favorite childhood read?
I plan to respond to that prompt in a post soon. I had to think about it for a while. When I was in grade school, I got hooked on my first series of books. They were – The Cherry Ames Nurse series. They start out with her being a student nurse and they go through her life as she becomes an RN and meets and marries a doctor. It then follows her as she raises a family. Since it has been so many years since I read this series, I ordered the first four books to refresh my memory. So, once I have finished at least the first one, I will post about my thoughts on this topic.
Do you have a favorite childhood read and what is it? I’d really like to know.
Off to bed and a few more chapters.
Virginia