Everything I read in June
On checking out more books than I can handle, focusing on one that really mattered and some
June was a jam-packed month in a strawberry jam sort of way. My family got away to Hazelhurst, Wisc. to stay at some of the oldest cabins on the peninsula. Then I went by myself to stay at an airbnb in Medford, Wisc. followed by a wood-engraving conference in nearby Rhinelander, Wisc.
I escaped day-job reality for nearly two weeks. It was a heady experience for sure. I often forgot what day it was, at least once taking more than too many vitamins because I’d taken my Saturday allotment thinking it was Saturday when it was Friday. I slept in, kayaked, visited my antique shop: Island City Antiques in Minocqua. Bought nothing there, but a book of antique-looking modern Boston themed stamps at the local post office.
Of course, I took a wee bit of Milwaukee’s Public Library with me on the road. Seamus Heaney’s Gifts and Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov, books that I carefully packed to ensure that I would not damage them with food, water or something else entirely. (I still need to write about how I ruined a poetry-writing library book with horseradish. Yes, inglehoffer’s horse radish from the Cheese Castle.)
But the vacation did have its share of difficulties. First, my brother Andy wasn’t there. The guy who organized these annual soirees Up North (as we say here in Wisconsin). He died in April; more than a few family members didn’t come because they were sad. This was communicated via text, of course, so there wasn’t much discussion. I too was sad but I went anyway.
So the Goat’s Nest cabin for the ladies was a little emptier than usual. It was just me and my mom. I slept on the screened-in porch for the day or so and then moved in when my nose got too cold in the April-cold night.
Since my speech comprehension training always continues I found a paperback of A Tale of Two Cities sitting on a shelf in the Goat’s Nest and paired that with the audio version on Libby. That stunned me from the famous first paragraph:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the Season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
That paragraph summed up the vacation, without the usual participants, so perfectly. The woods were a little more silent, the hummingbirds absent and the loons were only seen once on the lake while I kayaked that first day. I barely heard them that week, their haunting calls largely absent to my ears since I take off my processor at night, when they’re most active. From bedtime on, I’m now deaf, I can’t even hear the rumble of thunder anymore.
From the library side of my reading I pulled out Seamus Heaney’s Gifts by Henry Hart. I’ve tried reading Heaney’s book of letters this year but it proved overwhelming and I returned it to the library. But Gifts I found in the writing section of new books and I checked it out on the perchance I might like it. I did. It’s no secret to friends and family that I gravitate to anything about Catholic writers. Now Heaney was a fallen away Catholic, but he wrote often about his faith. He also wrote about Catholic saints; I always gravitate to stories about the suffering saints and it’s one reason I’ve checked out the Birthday Book of Saints at least three times this year already. I read about suffering so I can endure my sorrows. Odd I know but helpful during tough moments at the day job.
I took Pnin along with me because I read the most delightful part from it while at the Wauwatosa Library’s writing group last month. I’ve tossed the page that was copied at the library, but I spent a good amount of reading David Lodge’s introduction. I love reading about 1950s era academia, a good reason why Sylvia Plath's college education continues to fascinate me. The topics she studied, the dresses she wore, her make up, her hair style. She and her peers were the epitome of feminity at Smith College (such a contrast to the women who attend Smith College now; they’re purple-haired and full of rage). So I started Pnin full of hope, but it dragged early on and I abandoned it to finish Gifts in less than two weeks.
Between my daily speech comprehension reading lessons and my inability to focus on one or two library borrows (I put many books on hold and check them out as soon as they arrive because well, I might never have another chance. Or at least that’s my reasoning). That’s my library book reading process: borrow a lot, read a few, renew as much as possible, return only necessary.
📚Books mentioned:
Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens
Pnin —Vladimir Nabokov
Seamus Heaney’s Gifts — Henry Hart
Birthday book of Saints —Sean Kelly and Rosemary Rogers
📚Before, during and after vacation, I focused on Energy 265 spearheaded by the lovely and gracious Dr. Julia DiGangi. She’s really been focused on how we need to embrace uncertainty in our lives. It’s really what I needed to hear given a situation that happened during the Hazelhurst portion of the vacation. It threw me and family for a loop. That’s vague, I know, but I leave it at that for now. Anyhow, I watched DiGangi’s recorded videos and scrawled notes in a notebook that dates to my journalism days of the 1990s.
Here’s what I wrote on June 30:
Power is the expansion of what you can handle.
and this:
Make friends with the energy of uncertainty.
and I highlighted this in yellow:
I will allow uncertainty importance in my life. I will take care of that relationship.
❤️ Favorite books of 2026 so far:
January — Foster —Claire Keegan
February —Joyride— Susan Orlean
March — By My Hands: A Potters Apprenticeship — Florian Gatsby
April — Berlin Shuffle— Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
May — Country Matters—Claire Leighton
June — Seamus Heaney’s Gifts— Henry Hart
Hope you’re all having an incredible summer even if there’s some uncertainty. Embrace it as I have.
Some questions for you:
What books do you bring when you travel?
What kind of reading experience do strive for?
What’s your ideal reading experience?
Finally, I need to mention my YouTube channel where I’m uploading recordings of my open mic moments at the local comedy club. After Andy died, I felt how could I fail after losing so many siblings (four to date since ‘23)? There will be more recordings in the weeks to come. I’ve got so many ideas and performing on the stage feels terrific. I’m a natural comedienne. You’ll see two themes emerge in the weeks and months to come. Follow me please.
As always, thank you for supporting Overdue at the Library. Considering sharing and supporting my library borrowing habits!
