We’re on the final month of the first half of 2026! Can you believe it? I know I can’t, and it’s making the pressure of getting my dissertation done by the start of August feel really real. I’m still going to be making plenty of time for reading though, so let’s take a look at my reading plans for June.
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First things first, the next instalment of the Imperial Radch Readalong (aka Imperial Radchalong) is happening in June and the focus is going to be reading short stories set in the Imperial Radch world:
They Sink and Are Vanished Away by Ann Leckie
I have genuinely no idea what this is about, all I know is it’s a single, free short story set in the Imperial Radch World, which you can find here.
Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe.
Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower.
Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls.
This contains three short stories set in the Imperial Radch universe, which will be the focus of the readalong, but I’ll probably try and read all the others as well.
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Mi-ja and Young-sook start diving for food as soon as they’re old enough to join the female collective of haenyeo in their village. Despite their love for each other, though, their differences are impossible to ignore and over many decades, forces outside their control push their friendship to the breaking point.
I’m buddy reading this with a friend and we’re set to finish it in the first week or two of May. I’ve read Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See and really enjoyed it, so I have high hopes for this one too.
I also have two ARCs to read in June, one that comes out at the end of the month and one at the beginning of July.
Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky
In a solar-powered future, humans live in luxury, served by artificially enchanced animals. Skotch, freelance racoon investigator, is tasked with finding a fugitive mouse scientist before he breaks Rule One (‘Do Not Bother the Humans’) and shatters their fragile world.
I really enjoyed the Final Architecture series last year, so I’m excited to give one of Tchaikovsky’s standalones a try.
The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance by Chiara Bullen
An ambitious young scholar is sent to document the journeys of adventurers to Mount Vengeance, and ends up finding a new home and going on an adventure of his own.
If you saw this on my TBR for May… no you didn’t. I’m still super excited about this book, it was just fairly low priority in May since it doesn’t come out until July and I just never got around to it. It’s definitely happening in June though.
검을 든 꽃 2 [Flower Holding a Sword 2] by 은소로 [Eun Soro]
[Book 1: Ekinesia is a master swordstress – but her sword controls her, making her kill those she loves. When she gets a chance to go back in time, she’s determined to become a knight and get a new sword.]
I read book one/volume one of this story last month and have been waiting impatiently to visit my mum so that I can pick up my copies of the rest of the series which are currently stored in a box in her spare room. Luckily I’m making the trip south at the beginning of June, so I should have plenty of time to read book 2!
Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuangzi
May, 1938: The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko sails from Japan to Taiwan where her interpreter proffers tantalising glimpses of island life and helps her to taste as much of cuisine as her larger-than-life appetite can bear. A bittersweet love story between two women and an exploration of language, history and power.
I bought this last month and since it recently won the International Booker Prize, I’d like to get to it sooner rather than later.
내가 좋아하는 것들, 차 [The Things I Like, Tea] by 박지혜 [Park Jihye]
A collection of thoughts and recollections about the warmth of the people Park Jihye has met over seven years of loving tea.
I love tea and I’ve been amassing quite the collection of books about tea without actually reading them, so I decided to start tackling the pile with this relatively lightweight and hopefully heart-warming memoir.
Summary
Overall, there are 8 books I definitely want to get to in June (7 if we don’t count that single short story), with a pretty decent mix of genres… something I probably need after such a fantasy-heavy May (check out my May wrap up here.)
I also want to read at least one other nonfiction book that is not related to my dissertation and one that is, but I’ve decided not to specify which one, since I’ve been struggling with sticking to those bits of my TBR the past couple of months.
Finally, I’m going to keep reading the first book in the Formosa Oolong Tea manhua series (異人茶跡 1: 淡水1865). I’m about a quarter through and it would be great if I could finish it in June and tick off my first Chinese-language book of the year. Equally, I’m not going to force it and if it takes me until July, I’m okay with that too.
What books are you planning on reading in June? If you’ve written a TBR, please leave me a comment so I can check it out!
Keira x
Keira's Bookmark 