A Postcard from June

The first month of summer has come to an end. It is always bittersweet. On one hand, it means I am one step closer to my vacation. On the other, it means that one-third of summer has already passed.

I have not planned much for my vacation, and that is exactly how I want it. I long for days that are entirely my own. No obligations, no deadlines, no trains to catch, no morning meetings or agendas. Just a blank page.

Maybe I will go for a swim in the mornings. Maybe I will spend time in the garden. Maybe I will sit outside with a book, or take the car and make spontaneous stops along the way.

One thing I do know is that I want to make a serious dent in my to-be-read pile this summer. Not necessarily finish every book, but read as many as I feel like. I want to take it slow. I want to remember that I read that book during the summer of ‘26.

My stack is not enormous, but if all goes well, I would love to read:

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Charleston by Zelda Fitzgerald

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

• The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

Another thing I would like to focus on this summer is The Classics List. I want to give it a fresh look, maybe experiment with the layout, change the fonts, and create templates that make publishing smoother. I love being creative, and I would love for the newsletter itself to reflect that.

Here is everything I consumed in June:

Eating

My favorite thing about summer is that my taste buds get to experience flavor in a whole new way after nine months of winter food. Suddenly, a simple salad with tomatoes and cucumbers tastes incredible.

My favorite things to eat during summer:

• Tomatoes. Not only for the taste but also for the smell.

• Nectarines, especially when they are perfectly ripe.

• Cherries, the dark red ones.

• Strawberries. The sweeter, the better.

• Radishes, especially when they make that satisfying cracking sound when you bite into them.

Watching

Abbott Elementary
The latest season was finally released on Disney+ in Europe, so of course I dove right in. I love the characters, the banter, and the comedic timing. It is one of those shows that never fails to make me smile.

Virgin River
This show is my guilty pleasure. It is so Hallmark-esque and occasionally cringe-worthy, but I am completely invested in Mel’s story. I keep rooting for her to finally become a mother, and sometimes the writers drive me crazy because they just will not let her catch a break. The scenery is also gorgeous. The mountains, the lakes, the small-town atmosphere. It makes me want to move somewhere rural myself.

Everwood
I remember when this show premiered in Sweden in the early 2000s. I was completely invested in the first season, but somehow lost track of it after that. Now that it is on Netflix, I plan to watch it from start to finish. Also, I still cannot believe this was Chris Pratt’s first (acting) job.

Reading

After finally finishing War and Peace, I suddenly had a lot more reading time available. Here is everything I read in June.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
A story about Cyrus Shams, a queer Iranian American poet living in Indiana. Cyrus is recovering from addiction while trying to find purpose and meaning in life. While working on a book about martyrs, he becomes fascinated by an artist in New York who has turned her terminal illness into an art installation. Convinced that he needs to meet her, he sets off in search of answers.

Life for Sale by Yukio Mishima
This novel was nothing like I expected. Published in 1968, it follows Hanio Yamada, a 27-year-old copywriter who decides to end his life. When the attempt fails, he places an advertisement in a Tokyo newspaper offering his life for sale. Soon, he finds himself entangled with all sorts of strange and dangerous people, including, at one point, a vampire. Absurd, funny, and surprisingly entertaining.

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur
This was another surprise. Longlisted for the International Booker Prize, the novel follows five women who escape the narrow confines of family and society in search of freedom. The book was banned in Iran after its publication in the 1980s, which only increased its popularity. Parsipur blends social commentary with magical realism to create something both unsettling and hopeful.

A Girl’s Story by Annie Ernaux
In this memoir, Ernaux revisits the summer of 1958, when she was seventeen and working at a summer camp. For the first time, she is away from her parents. It is also the summer she loses her virginity to an older camp instructor. The older Ernaux observes her younger self with remarkable honesty as she navigates heartbreak, shame, desire, and what it means to be a young woman in a world shaped by men.

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Sofia travels with her mother, Rose, from the UK to Almería, Spain, hoping to find a cure for Rose's mysterious, undiagnosed illness. As her mother's caretaker, Sofia has spent years putting her own life on hold. Set against the blistering Spanish summer, the novel follows her as she encounters a cast of eccentric characters and begins to question the life she has built around her mother's needs. Atmospheric, strange, and simmering with tension, Hot Milk is ultimately a story about identity, freedom, and the complicated bond between a mother and daughter.

In Other News

• The Guardian released a list of the 100 greatest novels written in English, voted on by authors, critics, and academics around the world. After receiving criticism for its selections, the newspaper also published a readers’ list of the 100 greatest novels of all time.

• If you played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998, you will be happy to know that Nintendo is bringing the game to the Nintendo Switch 2.

• Gaudí’s Sagrada Família was finally completed after 144 years.

• British artist David Hockney, best known for his painting A Bigger Splash, passed away at the age of 88.

• Kazuo Ishiguro is releasing a new novel next year called Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger. It will be a 1930s spy novel, which sounds like a fascinating departure from his previous work.

• Speaking of Ishiguro, the trailer for the film adaptation of Klara and the Sun was released, and it looks like it could be a wonderful watch. The film is directed by Taika Waititi and stars Jenna Ortega as Klara, alongside Amy Adams, Natasha Lyonne, and Steve Buscemi. It arrives in theaters this October, and I will definitely be there.

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