My June To Be Read Pile – 2026

My new stretch reading goal for 2026 is 100 books. I think I will make it, because by the end of May, I will have completed 72 books.

I had fourteen books planned for May, but I only read twelve, since I had such a rough month. June looks a little better, so I am planning fifteen books this time. I am keeping the priority tiers so I can focus on the most important books first. If life implodes again, I can readjust if necessary. That may happen. With my father’s recent passing, there’s going to be some important family obligations going forward that could eat into reading time. I am also expecting my novel back from the line editor any day now, so I will also need to dedicate time for that so that I stay on track for publication.

My theme for June is science fiction. Not every book I read will be in the SF genre, but I have about six planned. Science fiction is not a genre I reach for very often, but I do like it. My dad passed away in May and he was an avid science fiction reader. Strangely, I’d already planned several SF books for June already, and now that he’s passed, I’ve added several more. I think it will be very therapeutic and honoring to read a lot of the genre he loved.

So what’s on the Tier One priority list in June? This month I have six books I’d like to finish and one I’d like to at least start. Three are fantasy, three are science fiction, and one is a historical fiction.

I am halfway through Fourth Wing already, and I am having a great time. I didn’t expect that, since it’s considered a Romantasy and that’s not my favorite genre. It reads more like a regular fantasy in the first half. We’ll see if the romantic spice goes off the charts in the second half of the book and changes my opinion, but right now, I am loving it. Even though my book club moved it to July, I’d still like to finish it or make additional progress in June if I can.

Six of Crows has been on my TBR for a long time. It’s time to pick it up because I need a “found family” fantasy for my book club in June. That will make it the highest priority book of the month. This is a classic found family fantasy. It’s billed as, “six dangerous outcasts, one impossible heist.” I love a good heist story, its reputation precedes it, and I enjoyed Shadow and Bone from Leigh Bardugo earlier this year, so I expect I will really like this fantasy.

This is the first of my science fiction picks this month. It is a Chanticleer Cygnus award winner for 2025. I met the author at the Chanticleer Author’s Conference and got to know her, and she’s lovely. We are going to share a table at the Novel Lattes book festival in Sioux Falls in October. In this book, a space pilot sets out to restore a telepathic adolescent to her clan in defiance of the law. I am excited to read it.

  • Dune by Frank Herbert

Just about everyone is familiar with the storyline of Dune. Paul Atreides is the heir to a noble family tasked with ruling Arrakis, where “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness, is found. When his family is betrayed, Paul joins the Fremen and becomes Muad’Dib, fulfilling an epic destiny in this alien world. I read Dune in my twenties, and I’ve been excited to revisit it and watch the films. It’s on my 26 in 2026 list, and part of my SF collection for the month. It is really long, so I will give myself some grace if I can’t get all the way through it and I have to finish next month.

There’s so much buzz about this novel. I’ve been curious about it ever since the movie was announced. I’d like to see the movie, and I’d like to read the book first. The protagonist is the sole survivor on a desperate space mission—and if he fails, humanity is done for. The catch is that he doesn’t know this when he wakes up. The premise is so incredible, I am excited to see how it plays out. It’s supposed to have a lot of hard science. My dad always enjoyed hard science fiction, and my brother recommends the book, so it’s now part of my SF collection this month.

This novel fits a reading prompt for the Goodreads Spring Challenge that ends on June 30. I would like to complete all the prompts in time. Of all the choices, this book looked most appealing because there’s both a cat and an octopus on the cover and because it sounds similar to a book I really enjoyed last year, Electric Blue, Plague Green, by Conor Rennick. In Rennick’s book, the hero dealt with fantastical creatures in Dublin to protect the city. In this new book, the hero works for an organization that manages these creatures in Singapore. I think the contrasts in the creature choices and how the magic works could be interesting. I think I like that type of plot premise.

This is a historical fiction about the Nazi occupation of Norway in WWII. I’d originally wanted to tackle it in March and ran out of time. Historical fiction is not one of my usual genres. But I have heard a lot about this book, because I know the author well. Last fall we went to the Kauai Writers Conference together. Oakley is an award winner and I know it will be excellent. Given that it’s over 500 pages and not my usual genre, I may need to wrap it up in July, but I will count it as a win if I can get it started.

Here’s the graphic with the Tier One Covers.

If I get through all of these books, I move on to Tier Two. Given the stress I’ve been under, reading a whole lot may improve it. And if it doesn’t, these books aren’t as critical to my reading goals this month. If they get to be a burden due to deadlines and obligations, I can move them to another month after all. Tier Two includes five books:

I have this thriller on pre-order and the new release date is June 4. I try to read every DD Black thriller close to the release date. They come out fast and furious and I don’t want to get behind in these series. I think this is book 13. I could really use a popcorn thriller right now with all the stress I have been under. I need an escape. This series focuses on the cases of Thomas Austin, a detective based in Kitsap County in Washington. Given the lack of thrillers on my overall list and the bad experiences I had with thrillers last month, I am looking forward to this one by a familiar author.

In this SF novel, a young telepathic girl on a space colony discovers that the new star they’ve gone to is a threat. I’ve chosen this book to fit a reading prompt for a “nemesis.” I’ve not read a lot of Asimov, but his The Positronic Man was one of my favorite SF novels, so I am hoping this will be pretty good also, and it fits in with the month’s SF theme.

This has been on my wish list and I have just never picked it up. I loved the Blade Runner film with Harrison Ford, so I’ve always meant to read it. Since it’s iconic SF and I recently bought it, I am going to try to read it this month. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter for rogue androids. But the androids fight back.

This is a book that I did a soft DNF on years ago. I didn’t put it down because I didn’t like it. Life just got in the way at the time and I never got back to it because I would have had to start over from the beginning. I recently rebought this with the intention to read it later this year, but because I am focusing on SF this month and it’s also a classic, I moved it up to June. In it, Arthur Dent is plucked off of Earth right before it’s being demolished for a galactic freeway. He gets a tour of the galaxy and the answers to all kinds of questions that stump you.

This short book is more about the art of Charles Wysocki, who paints whimsical cats, than the words. But accompanying the lovely and detailed illustrations are charming little stories about the depicted cats. I collect cat books, and while I have read the vast majority at the time of acquisition, I don’t want favorite books on my shelves to gather dust. If I am keeping them, it’s because I want to reread them from time to time. This won’t take even an hour to enjoy, and I need some whimsical felines this month.

Here’s the graphic with the Tier Two covers.

Tier Three has three books, including one poetry book and two cookbooks.

This book of poetry was written by my mother, who was also a writer and who was very influential in my writing journey. She’s been gone for almost six years. I am always comforted by rereading her work, and this is a month for extra comfort. I am not a poet, at least not yet. But I am trying to read poetry every month to improve my prose, and I am looking for what my mother does well so I can absorb some tips this time around. This is a book of Christian poetry embellishing on stories from the Bible, the second of three that she wrote. It is currently out of print, but I have copies if anyone is intrigued.

These are my cookbook picks this month. I am finding that sheet pan meals are an easy way for me to cook healthy food, so I picked up a couple of books for some more recipe variety. I always need easy meals, but especially right now. Choosing these won’t help me work through the cookbooks I already have, but at least if I cook more sheet pan meals and fewer recipes from other cookbooks, it might be easier to see what books I don’t turn to, and I can unhaul some of the other cookbooks.

Here’s the graphic with the Tier Three covers.

That’s all I have planned to read in June right now.

If you have a favorite read to recommend, or a favorite book challenge for 2026, be sure to comment!

Thanks for reading!

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