On Book: A Little Light Reading (5 Picks for June)
Funny, sharp, and a little heated, these books are the perfect start to the summer. Here are five great fast reads for June.
Spent
Alison Bechdel
Who can draw when the world is burning?
Fun Home and Dykes to Watch Out For merge beautifully in Bechdel’s brew of exaggerated realism, as the iconic queer graphic novelist tries to reconcile a crunchy activist heart with commercial success.
Spent finds (the slightly fictionalized) “Alison” languishing in dire headlines, grounding herself in community amidst disorientation, and satirizing her own standing: bemoaning lack of creative control on the TV show “Death & Taxidermy” (like Fun Home, it’s based on a musical that’s based on a graphic memoir); agonizing over whether to sell out to “Megalopub” (never really a question of if, but how); and cohabitating with seemingly endless numbers of cats and about as many goats.
But the book’s biggest triumph is in hauling out all the beloved characters from Dykes to Watch Out For (here, “Lesbian PETA Members to Watch Out For”) as core players in the story. Blending graphic novel, parody, and (inspired-by) memoir, at once fresh and nostalgic, Spent is Bechdel at her best.
Release date: 5/20/2025, from Mariner Books (HarperCollins). Book info here.
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)
Jesse Q. Sutanto
If there’s anyone who could make a young person pick up their phone,
it would be this surprisingly terrifying old lady in front of him.
Jesse Sutanto has always had a knack for writing wonderfully messy, meddling characters — the title elders in the Aunties series, the title snooper in Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice — but this iteration feels noticeably more mature: her writing more developed, her humor sharper, her plot lines more connected to the real world, sinister side and all.
But Vera is still Vera, and her uncanny ability to self-promote her way around fear, to be the center of attention to stave off irrelevance, and to pull in a great set of strangers like some powerful magnet — those are the heart and thrust of her story. I can’t get enough Vera. Don’t be surprised if you burst out laughing in public while reading along on her ridiculous crusades and, as with the best of inside jokes, wind up totally incapable of explaining yourself.
Release date: 4/1/2025, from Berkley (Penguin Random House); book info here.
Winging It With You
Chip Pons
Sometimes, a life detour comes along when you least expect it.
It all starts with fried cheese.
When off-duty pilot Theo approaches despondent traveler Asher in the airport bar and tries to pilfer his mozzarella sticks (the last order of the night), the last thing he expects is to wind up on the losing side of a wager — and the newest contestant on The Epic Trek, paired with this cranky guy he just met. But with Asher dumped unceremoniously at the airport check-in, now down a partner in both romance and TV competition, and Theo just grounded for working too much, what does either one of them have to lose? A faux-boyfriends, globetrotting rom-com ensues.
Winging It With You is at its finest when the drama reaches max altitude; Asher ripping into his ex is on par with the best of sitcom breakup throwdowns. But the tenderness is equally lovely. This chance duo has just the right combination of baggage to coax out the best in each other.
The book is probably 100 pages longer than it needs to be — there’s a whole lot of “oh, just do it already!” here — but this surly rom-com flies fast and is undeniably sweet. And between the competition’s other cast members and this sprouting relationship, it seems like there’s some juicy sequel potential here, too.
Upcoming release date: 6/10/2025, from Putnam (Penguin Random House); book info here.
The Busybody Book Club
Freya Sampson
People rarely noticed her these days, unless she was complaining about something.
Phyllis, old stick in the mud that she is, could really use a Vera Wong in her life. (I’d watch that dynamic elder duo for sure.) Lacking that, however, she at least needs a good mystery to put her Miss Marple aspirations to work. Preferably one that actually amounts to something, so the cops will take her rumbles seriously for once.
The grouchy and imaginative senior finally gets something to chase one eventful night, when a strange man visits the community center’s sparse book club, the roof repair money goes missing, someone winds up dead, and the kindly but forgetful new hire is left to shoulder at least some of the blame. New to town, soon to be married, and still reeling from a parent’s death, Nova can’t seem to get anything right. Arthur, a caretaker for his ailing spouse, and Ash, a surly and shy teenager, are easy recruits to the misfit band of sleuths. When the missing money turns into a murder mystery, Phyllis, an Agatha Christie devotee despite her secret loathing for that show-off Poirot, is thrilled to be on the trail. But will they crack the case before the suspect cracks them?
On the heels of her Nosy Neighbors, Sampson creates an intergenerational cast of characters who are, indeed, quite the characters. The Busybody Book Club is surprisingly tender and a blast to read.
Release date: 5/27/2025, from Berkley (Penguin Random House); book info here.
All the Other Mothers Hate Me
Sarah Harman
Appearances matter now. Especially if the police come back.
Florence Grimes has never blended in. She didn’t as a member of the girl band that flopped (before its rebound), and she certainly isn’t going to now, as a single parent at the posh school her son’s dad insisted he attend (no matter how little his parental interest otherwise).
But suddenly she’s wishing that she, and especially her son, could draw a lot less attention. Because a magnate’s bratty offspring has disappeared and, as a bully to Florence’s son and in a case of wrong place/wrong time, her son has become a prime suspect. As the police start eyeing them more and the suspicious circumstances pile up, she realizes she’s the only one who will protect her son — and whether that means covering for him or finding the real culprit, she’s going to have to get her hands dirty. When she finds an unlikely ally in another mom at the school, a workaholic lawyer who could use a diversion, the two set out to see what they can dig up.
The mystery is satisfying enough, but the real winner is Harman’s standout writing and the sharp characters and absurd scenes she whips up. All the Other Mothers Hate Me packs plenty of attitude in a fast and fun read.
Release date: 3/11/2025, from Putnam (Penguin Random House); book info here.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.