From the savannas of West Africa to the canals of Italy, families are the glue that tie people’s lives together. Such relationships shape our understanding of the world and form the backdrop of our triumphs and defeats.
From fiction to biography, the generational imprint is clear in many of the Monitor’s 10 best books of June.
Why We Wrote This
If you’re looking for lively reads to tuck into your suitcase this summer, we have you covered. The Monitor’s 10 best books of June, from biographies to family sagas, are sure to keep you turning pages.
Our picks this month include a stirring novel about Frederick Douglass. The book, which includes the voices of his wife, Anna, and their children, paints a picture of a complex and exacting man. Another novel gives a portrait of Jackie Kennedy, exploring her resilient spirit amid a life streaked with tragedy.
And Tracey Chevalier’s “The Glassmaker” follows five generations of a family in Murano, Italy. The book glitters with artistic prose and enticing characters.
Frederick Douglass, by Sidney Morrison
Frederick Douglass roars from the pages of this meticulous novel, thanks to the voices of his steadfast wife, Anna, and their children, plus confidants, paramours, and even enslavers. A complex man emerges. Proud and persistent, fickle and flawed, he’s inseparable from the era’s tumult and hard-fought triumphs.
Shanghai, by Joseph Kanon
Why We Wrote This
If you’re looking for lively reads to tuck into your suitcase this summer, we have you covered. The Monitor’s 10 best books of June, from biographies to family sagas, are sure to keep you turning pages.
European refugees adrift in Shanghai face few options at the dawn of World War II. As Jewish spy Daniel Lohr and his flame, Leah, ping-pong between local gangs, Western opportunists, Japanese occupiers, and his crime-boss uncle, they’re drawn down morally murky paths. The threats, narrow misses, and one-liners pack a punch in this tale of loyalty and survival.
How To Age Disgracefully, by Clare Pooley
An eclectic bunch of West London locals bands together to save a community center. All wrestle with shame and regret. Each needs a boost. Madcap schemes, snappy banter, and insights on rebooting one’s joy make Clare Pooley’s latest novel go down smoothly.
Shelterwood, by Lisa Wingate
Lisa Wingate interweaves two stories of courage set in Oklahoma. In 1909, two girls – one white and one Choctaw – subsist in the woods after fleeing abuse. In 1990, a park ranger investigates missing bones and a mysterious death. The novel is a page-turner.
The Glassmaker, by Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Chevalier’s exceptional novel hopscotches through five centuries of a glassblowing family in Murano, Italy. Time moves forward, but the characters age very little. Chevalier’s descriptive prose on glassmaking artistry, together with her delightful characters, creates an entrancing tale.
Jackie, by Dawn Tripp
Dawn Tripp’s fictional portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis captures her imagined emotional life, including her marriage to John F. Kennedy, her grief after his assassination, and her complicated marriage to Aristotle Onassis. These weave a through line that’s a testimony to Kennedy Onassis’ resilience.
Godwin, by Joseph O’Neill
Lured by his dodgy, fortune-seeking, soccer agent half brother, Mark Wolfe finds himself in West Africa searching for a teenage soccer prodigy. Bouncing from office politics to families, from global capitalism to colonialism, the novel delivers storytelling with wit and depth.
David Rowland: 40/4 Chair, by Erwin Rowland and Laura Schenone
Is it possible to reinvent the chair? David Rowland did. His 40/4 design was the first stackable chair – 40 can nestle together like matryoshka dolls. This beautifully illustrated book chronicles the industrial designer’s extraordinary creativity.
A Paradise of Small Houses, by Max Podemski
The Philadelphia row house. The Boston triple-decker. The New Orleans shotgun house. These types of homes evolved over decades, serving low- and middle-income residents. Such urban dwellings offer a template for addressing the housing shortage.
Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell, by Ann Powers
“Traveling” isn’t a conventional biography of Joni Mitchell. Ann Powers deconstructs Mitchell’s life into thematic chapters – from feminism to fusion jazz. Powers also shares how the songs resonate with her own life.
