June 17, 2026, By Library Staff in Staff Reads.
I’m Deidre—an avid book lover, Adult Programming Librarian for Flathead County Library, and Branch Manager of the Bigfork Library. I love when other people make monthly book plan lists, so I’d thought I’d share mine too!
So far June has been the month with the most books I’m super excited about getting published. In fact, I’ve already read the one I most anticipating, and loved it!
Whistler by Ann Patchett – Ann Patchett is an automatic yes please for me. If you like her books too, definitely get this book on your holds list, because it will likely be long! If you haven’t read her books, Bel Canto is a good place to start.
Land by Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet was a huge deal when it published in 2020, and a lot of people discovered it again this year when the movie adaptation was released and won big at the Oscars. Land is also historical fiction, this time set during the 1865 Great Hunger in Ireland.
Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden – Fantasy has been the genre I’ve loved longest, and some part of me feels like a kid again when I find a good story. Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale was one of those books, though I loved her writing in The Warm Hands of Ghosts as well. At the heart of my childish love of fantasy are the unicorns, so I’m definitely excited to read this one.
The Children by Melissa Albert – This book isn’t really fantasy, but it is about a family where the mother writes an extremely popular fantasy series in which she writes her children in as the main characters. The rest of the story is about the relationship between the brother and sister and the impact their mothers’ writing had on them.
Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer – My daughter is moving to Italy at the end of summer, so a book set in the Italian countryside appeals to me! I also love stories of friendships between people in generations far apart from each other, as well as end of life “coming of age” stories.
I’m trying to do a little more non-fiction reading this year so here’s a few I’ve picked out:
A Resistance History of the United States by Tad Stoermer – this history looks like it includes moments of resistance in our country’s history, including the Bacon’s Rebellion, the Witch Trials, the 1776 Revolution, and the Underground Railroad. The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is a good push to refresh myself on some history!
Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World by Richard Louv – Richard’s Louv’s book “The Last Child in the Woods” was an important book for me, and I love the topic of paying attention to what’s around us and being more nature connected. He uses the term “bioenchantment” and I’m excited to learn more about that!