What does June mean to you? To me it means: June on the Range! (A Booktube adventure where we all read westerns.) It probably also means hot weather, but let’s not talk about that.
Word of the Month
Persevere
Bible Verse of the Month
My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” – (2 Corinthians 12:8 NLT)
This month’s reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.
My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
⇓ – I did not like it or finish it.
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish.
Finished Reading This Month
✓ Historical Fiction: The Diezmo, by Rick Bass
I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did. Review
✓ Western: True Grit, by Charles Portis
Absolutely wonderful book. Finished June 25. Review
✓ Classic Western: To the Last Man, by Zane Grey
This is fiction about the War of Tonto Basin, aka: The Pleasant Valley War. It was a war between two families. I’m reading this for June on the Range. It will be my Arizona book for my USA Roadtrip Reading Adventure.
Finished June 20. Review
★ Christian Memoir: Beautiful on the Mountain, by Jeannie Light
As of June 1 I’m only a few chapters from the end. The memoir is about a divorced woman moving to a very rural mountain community where she’s asked to reopen the abandoned historic chapel. The book addresses such things as women in the ministry, women leading Bible studies, and lands bordering National Parks.
Update: I finished reading this memoir on June 14 in the wee hours of the morning. Wonderful life story. I’m so happy I read it. Here’s my Goodreads review. This is my Virginia book for my USA Roadtrip Reading Adventure.
✓ Memoir: Lost on Purpose: Adventures of a 21st Century Mountain Man, by Patrick Taylor
This chronicles a man’s wintertime journey over the Bitterroot Mountains in North Idaho. This will be my Idaho book for the USA Roadtrip Reading Adventure. I will also count it as a book for my Summer of Sport reading.
Finished June 12. Wonderful memoir, recommended. Review
✓ Classic Fiction: O Pioneers!, by Willa Cather
This was my first experience reading a novel by Willa Cather. The novel held my interest. It was set in Nebraska. The characters are a second-generation pioneer farming family. They ride horses but have telephones! Willa Cather was raised in Nebraska – I guess she knew what was accurate. I’m guessing the time frame must have been around 1910-1920. Here’s my review at Goodreads. I gave the book five stars. This will count as my Nebraska book for my USA Roadtrip Reading Adventure.
✓ Western: Flint, by Louis L’Amour
An audio book for June on the Range. The “rules” for June on the Range are to read one Louis L’Amour book, one Zane Grey book, and two others. There’s a group read this year: The Mark of Zorro, but since I read that last year I will not be reading it again.
Finished June 5. Not my favorite Western novel. Guns, shootings, etc. Review . . . This will be counted as my New Mexico book for the USA Roadtrip Reading Adventure.
What I’m Reading Now
★ History: Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water, by Vicki Valosic
I’m reading this for the Summer of Sport event, which I’m co-sponsoring on Booktube. This is a nonfiction history of the sport of synchronized swimming.
★ Western: The Ox-Bow Incident, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
I’m reading this for June on the Range and it will be my Nevada book for my USA Roadtrip Reading Adventure. This book shows the folly of a group of men avenging a crime by hunting down and hanging perpetrators without benefit of a court of law.
★ Letters: The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, by Vincent Van Gogh
I’m reading this in a buddy-read situation with three other Booktubers. So far I’m 55 pages into it and am very positively impressed with Vincent as a very young man searching for his place in the world.
★ Christian Nonfiction: The Lord, by Romano Guardini
This is an examination of the life of Jesus Christ. I’m reading this with friends on a theology Discord group.
★ Christian Nonfiction: Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship, by John MacArthur
I’m learning the difference between charismatic, continualist, and cessationist. The author of this book is a cessationist. I’m about halfway through this and think the author is a little over the top by choosing to expose the most fringe-worthy examples of Pentecostal behavior. I’m more interested in the run of the mill humble victims of this false charismatic theology.
★ Christian Classic: On the Incarnation, by Athanasius
This was recommended in my new book, 25 Books Every Christian Should Read. There are 25 books to read and this is the first listed, so I thought I’d start here. It was written when Athanasius was very young, a few years before the Council of Nicea.
★ Classic Fiction: Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo
I may be the slowest reader of Les Miserables in the history of mankind, but I do still occasionally pick it up and when I do, I enjoy reading it.
★ Christian Nonfiction: Mere Christianity, by CS Lewis
Reading slowly with a friend who is making videos about the chapters. In general, this book is too philosophical for me. I’m struggling with the writing style.
My June 2024 Reading Diary
June 1 – I haven’t had much energy lately. Old age is catching up with me. I hope I do better at keeping up to date on this diary this month.
June 5 – Today I posted a video about what I read last month.
June 8 – I’m having a peaceful and happy JUNE so far. I’ve got some lawn mowing to do today. I did the entire front yard lawn yesterday. Sometimes I surprise myself with my perseverance! (Reminder: “persevere” is my word for the month.)
Currently I’m focused on reading the last two chapters of Beautiful on the Mountain by Jeannie Light, and on reading to page 127 in the Van Gogh book. I enjoy reading his letters and am impressed with his dedication to all things art, and his study of the work of other artists.
I’m doing a bit of art myself. My focus is on learning to be a better portrait painter, using acrylic inks. For fun I’m also painting with watercolor, gouache, and more in a little journal I’m calling “Coffee and Books.” Every page is to be focused on either coffee, books, or both. This is using a whimsical, loose painting style.
Last night I finished audio-reading O Pioneers by Willa Cather.
June 12 – I just got home from the clinic. I had to do a “fasting blood test” first thing in the morning. Not fun for me. However, I also wrote my review for Lost on Purpose this morning. That’s what I consider fun. I’m also working on a blog article. I’ve made a tentative decision to write a blog article before each video. It could help me with my speaking presentation. The writing is so much easier for me! I love to write. Strange, there are no cats here this morning so far. I put the food out there anyway.
June 30 – I’m a tired old woman. Today is the 51st anniversary of my first wedding. I was married twice and divorced twice. Long ago. I’m now 71, single, tired, with gently failing health… and I do a lot of reading which keeps me happy. I’m happy with my single life. I like living alone and rarely feel anything approaching loneliness. Since I’m an artist the single lifestyle is best for me. I should never have tried to be married, but I wanted to have children. I did have five children but am now only in contact with three of them. Two daughters think they’re too good to talk to me. I’m happy to let them go their own way. One thing I’ve learned is that there’s no reason to want to be around someone who doesn’t want to be around me. I am grateful to be a Christian and have great joy because of God’s love for me. I’m blessed with a new small (but not tiny) home and have a good standard of living here. That’s because of God’s grace to me. He knows best and He takes care of those who love Him. I count myself as one of the lucky ones.
I admire that you read a lot of books! And such variety!!!
Thank you Gladys! I started my Booktube channel to motivate myself to read more, and it has worked!