
10 books to read in June
Reading is a versatile summer activity: A book can educate you, entertain you and occasionally even do both of those things. Our selections this month include literary fiction about a parent's blurry past, Manhattan diaries from the Reagan era and a politically relevant road-trip novel. All of those and more promise to float your boat — or should we say your beach tote? Happy reading!
Atmosphere: A Love Story By Taylor Jenkins ReidBallantine: 352 pages, $30(June 3)
It's the 1980s and astrophysicist Joan Goodwin is part of a coed NASA group training as astronauts — a process defined by fierce competition and persistent sexism. The narrative moves between Joan's ascent through the ranks, including a love story as explosive as a rocket launch, and a mid-decade disaster reminiscent of the Challenger tragedy. Space nerds and romance fans alike will love it.
Flashlight: A Novel By Susan ChoiFarrar, Straus & Giroux: 464 pages, $30(June 3)
Choi's new book began as a 2020 New Yorker story. Louisa's father Serk is Korean, while mother Anne hails from Ohio. Louisa was just 10 when, in the book's harrowing first chapter, Serk disappears. Unable to connect with Anne, even years later when the latter has developed multiple sclerosis, Louisa is challenging and compelling, much like this thoughtful book about families.
The Slip: A Novel By Lucas SchaeferSimon & Schuster: 496 pages, $30(June 3)
Terry Tucker's Boxing Gym in Austin, Texas, emerges as a vibrant crossroads where people of every age, race and gender meet. When Massachusetts teenager Nathan Rothstein, spending the summer with relatives, disappears, the diverse voices of his fellow gym members — immigrants, an unhoused man, a Playboy bunny-turned-beautician — add depth and intrigue, building toward a wildly original and unexpected conclusion.
So Far Gone: A Novel By Jess WalterHarper: 272 pages, $30(June 10)
Walter ('Beautiful Ruins') matches cadence to drama, channeling the unhinged narration of Rhys Kinnick, an environmental journalist whose anger over the planet's decline sparks a family rift and his retreat to a remote cabin. One morning, Rhys finds his grandchildren left on his doorstep. From there, the plot hurtles forward: kidnappings, frantic road trips, a festival rave and high-stakes showdowns. Wild as things get, humor and heart remain.
Ecstasy: A Novel By Ivy PochodaPutnam: 224 pages, $28(June 17)
Pochoda offers a twisty, modern take on Euripides, set at a luxurious 21st-century Greek resort. King Pentheus becomes Stavros, a wealthy, controlling figure married for decades to Hedy, Lena's best friend. When Hedy invites Lena to the resort's opening, the pair discover an all-female group of bacchanalians dancing and drumming on the beach. They join in, losing touch with their unresolved, everyday problems — and that's how tragedy unfolds.
The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex By Melissa FebosKnopf: 288 pages, $29(June 3)
Febos responds to the question 'What do women want?' with conviction: Women, like everyone else, want pleasure. When she turned 35 and ended a relationship, Febos eschewed her familiar, fall-back comforts of sexual intimacy and instead embraced solitude and celibacy. She discovered that other forms of pleasure — intellectual, sensual and spiritual — were just as meaningful to her as romantic or sexual experiences.
How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir By Molly Jong-FastViking: 256 pages, $28(June 3)
In 2023, Erica Jong's 'Fear of Flying' turned 50. The same year, Jong was diagnosed with dementia, and her daughter turned into her caregiver. Jong-Fast, an acclaimed journalist, was also faced with her husband's cancer diagnosis and her stepfather's worsening Parkinson's disease. In the tradition of the finest memoir writing, the author spares no one, herself least of all, as she untangles the bad from the good while still allowing for some tricky knots.
I'll Tell You When I'm Home: A Memoir By Hala AlyanAvid Reader Press: 272 pages, $29(June 3)
An award-winning Palestinian American writer tackles subjects including home, displacement and gestation in this lyrical memoir that explores the trauma of fractured identity. When Alyan ('Salt Houses') finally becomes pregnant via surrogate, after experiencing five miscarriages, she tries to forge a sense of motherhood as her husband leaves to 'clear his head.' The memoir's shifting timeline mirrors the author's own sense of destabilization.
The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück: How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis in Hitler's All-Female Concentration Camp By Lynne OlsonRandom House: 384 pages, $35(June 3)
Olson's latest centers on four members of the French Resistance — Germaine Tillion, Anise Girard, Geneviève de Gaulle (niece of Charles de Gaulle) and Jacqueline d'Alincourt — all imprisoned in Germany during World War II. Their deep friendship, a source of emotional sustenance, helped them defy the enemy and document atrocities. All survived, forging a sisterhood that endured and resulted in lifelong activism.
The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994 By Thomas MallonKnopf: 592 pages, $40(June 3)
Mallon, a distinguished man of letters, moved to Manhattan at 32, holding a PhD from Harvard and a dissertation that became his acclaimed 1984 book, 'A Book of One's Own.' Mallon was openly gay and his diaries capture the atmosphere of a city and community reeling from the AIDS crisis amid the material optimism of Reagan-era America. His writing stands out for its honesty and authenticity, offering a vivid, personal chronicle of a transformative era.
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Boston Globe
8 hours ago
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Today in History: Korean War hostilities end
In 1866, Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe. Advertisement In 1909, during the first official test of the U.S. Army's first airplane, Orville Wright flew himself and a passenger, Lt. Frank Lahm, above Fort Myer, Virginia, for one hour and 12 minutes. In 1940, Billboard magazine published its first 'music popularity chart' listing best-selling retail records. In first place was 'I'll Never Smile Again' recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with featured vocalist Frank Sinatra. In 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting on the Korean peninsula that killed an estimated 4 million people. In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, charging he had personally engaged in a course of conduct designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case. Advertisement In 1980, on day 267 of the Iranian hostage crisis, the deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60. In 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store in Hollywood, Fla., and was later murdered (Adam's father, John Walsh, subsequently became a victims' rights activist and, in 1988, launched and hosted the television show 'America's Most Wanted'). In 1996, terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, directly killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing, exonerating security guard Richard Jewell, who had been wrongly suspected.) In 2012, Britain opened its Olympic Games in a celebration of Old England and new, even cheekily featuring stunt doubles for Queen Elizabeth II and fictional special agent James Bond parachuting into Olympic Stadium. In 2013, security forces and armed men clashed with supporters of Egypt's ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, killing at least 72 people. In 2015, the Boy Scouts of America ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons. Also that year, despite being selected by the US Olympic Committee as its candidate to host the 2024 Summer Games, Boston abandons its bid because of resistance among residents. In 2018, the White House announced that North Korea had returned the remains of what were believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, with a U.S. military plane making a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases of remains. Advertisement In 2020, the world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine study began with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc. In 2021, American gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of the gymnastics team competition at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental well-being, saying she realized following a shaky vault that she wasn't in the right headspace to compete.

Business Insider
a day ago
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Axios
2 days ago
- Axios
Jilli brings San Francisco a taste of Korea's drinking scene
Jilli, the Mission's new spot serving rice wine flights and bold bar snacks, introduces San Francisco to a Korean drinking culture it didn't know it was missing. State of play: The restaurant, with roots in LA, brands itself as a modern sool jib — a communal Korean "drinking house" — by spotlighting makgeolli, a funky, lightly effervescent rice wine with a cloudy appearance and milky texture. The big picture: Jilli's opening reflects a broader trend of Korean cuisine gaining popularity across the U.S. — expanding beyond traditional barbecue and bibimbap to elevating lesser-known specialties like makgeolli and comfort dishes like gukbap and jajangmyeon. Dig in: The low-ABV drink pairs nicely with the rich flavors offered on Jilli's menu, like the gooey tteokbokki ($21), deep-fried shrimp toast ($16), popcorn chicken ($23) and $50 caviar bump — and, yes, it is worth it. Sips to savor: First-timers should begin with the flight, which features four varieties: Sang Takju: Traditional and a great starting point to get your bearings. Nomi Doga Takju: Slightly sweet, creamy and tangy — with a subtle nuttiness and faint fizz. Hana Makgeolli Takju: The funkiest of the flight, made from brown rice with a slightly sour and earthy profile. Hanna Forbidden Takju: Infused with red berries, this version has a slightly sweeter fermented taste. The drink menu also includes a rotating list of natural wines, craft beer and soju. Best bites: Other standouts include gochujang-marinated pork jowl ($35), sous-vide and cooked on a charcoal grill, and rigatoni alla kimchi vodka pasta ($23), topped with house-made burrata. The vibe: Laid back and welcoming, Jilli feels more like a friendly hangout than a bar, with staff who'll chat through the menu, share fun anecdotes and hand out Korean " hangover cure" packets they swear by. Inside, there's '80s hip-hop, Korean animation projected on the walls and neon signs reading "Drink Responsibly Reckless," while the patio twinkles with string lights. My thought bubble: My favorite (and owner Hwanghah Jeong's) was the "Yakju" ($72) from Hana Makgeolli, a small artisanal producer based out of Brooklyn, New York.