Book Lovers Chat - June 2025

“I guess there are never enough books.” - John Steinbeck

This voiceover is an audio version of my Book Lovers Chat below. It is unedited, so may have some stutters, imperfections, and background noise. I hope you enjoy listening to it anyway!

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Welcome back to another Slow Sunday Letter! I hope you have had a slow and gentle week.

In this month’s Book Lover’s Chat, I talk about how I determine and give out my star ratings, with some pivots on recent reviews! Along with a round up of the books I read in May, alongside my next ‘from my bookshelf’ book pick!

What have you been reading and enjoying this month?

Please do drop a comment at the bottom of this post to share what you are currently reading, I know myself and others get so many brilliant recommendations here from you!

I hope you are sitting comfortably, grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s settle down for a read together…

Please note - this post is jam packed and so will be too long to read in your email, do click through to read on your browser or read in the Substack app.

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My ‘should be’ Five Star List!

I am holding my hands up - I have been TOO harsh with my star ratings - particularly when giving out five stars.

This is how I determine my star ratings :

1 star - would be a DNF, a book I didn’t enjoy and one I would not recommend.

2 stars - readable, but not a book I would recommend.

3 stars - enjoyable, good and engaging. I would recommend.

4 stars - loved it, great book and I highly recommend.

5 stars - perfection, spoke to my soul, hit me in the feels, a must read!

For me, a five star book has to cut through to the heart of me, they are books that I get lost in, that change me, books I can’t stop thinking about. I wait for that moment when reading a four star book - for it to just tick over into goosebump territory, and then I know, I have found a five star book. It is a feeling, so I wait for the feeling to arrive.

However, since finishing, rating and sending out my reviews here on Book Lovers Chat - there have been books I CANNOT stop thinking about. Books I realised, absolutely were five star reads, I was just too stingy to give them!

So here are my newly appointed five star reads from 2025 !

This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (previous rating 4 stars )

Our Wives Under The Sea - Julia Armfield (previous rating 4.5 stars)

Homeseeking - Karissa Chen (previous rating 4.5 stars)

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My May Reads

(all my summaries and reviews will be spoiler free)

Of Thorn & Briar: A Year with the West Country Hedgelayer - Paul Lamb

5 STARS !

Paul Lamb is a hedgelayer. From the end of summer until the birds nest in the spring, he maintains the ancient boundaries of the British countryside. He lives in his wagon, as many itinerant farm workers used to, and travels the south-west corner of England, restoring an important but often forgotten part of our country.

Hedgerows are a living structure, woven into the fabric of rural life, a vital aspect of man’s partnership with nature. As traditional management techniques are lost to modernisation, hedges have declined dramatically. Paul works alone and by hand to rejuvenate these linear woodlands, saving the homes of the wildlife that rely on them and bringing many other ecological benefits.

Following the rhythm of the seasons, Of Thorn & Briar describes Paul’s life on the road and the practical aspects of his job. It is about practising a craft with skill, preserving our heritage for future generations and celebrating the glory of the landscape he’s spent his life caring for.

My Thoughts:

I loved my time with this book, being guided by Paul through a year in his life as a hedgelayer. Each chapter is a month of the year, beginning in July and concluding in August. Paul leads us month by month through the farmlands where he is employed as an itinerant worker. There was such a comfort in reading through the seasons, and a lovely reminder of the gentle wisdom and comfort of the cyclical turning through the year. Paul’s gentle storytelling, alongside technical accounts of hedgelaying and the history of the craft is a joy. I particularly loved reading about his life living off grid in his wagon, and appreciated the constant references to cosy cups of tea, roaring fires, rain storms, lunches under the cover of trees, bird song and gentle mornings waking to changing seasons and views as he travels all over the west country. Paul’s telling of the work, people, ritual and legacy involved in the maintaining of our ancient hedgerows is so beautiful, and so inspiring. A beautiful book.

The Quiet American - Graham Greene

3 STARS

Into the intrigue and violence of 1950s Saigon comes CIA agent Alden Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious 'Third Force'.

As Pyle's naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as Fowler intervenes he wonders why: for the greater good, or something altogether more complicated?

My Thoughts:

My first Graham Greene novel, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Greene is a wonderful story teller, for what is essentially a very short novel it is structured in a way that keeps you turning the page, so it was a quick read. The setting in Vietnam at the time of the French war in Indochina was really interesting and I thought the novel was extremely atmospheric throughout. The narrator is a jaded British journalist, who is involved with a young local girl in Saigon. The "quiet American" comes on the scene, shrouded in mystery, and he promptly falls head over heels for the same young woman. It is set against the background of meaningless war casualties and intrigue. I wasn’t entirely gripped by the ‘love triangle’, so the novel didn't really grab me, though I found it very readable and I enjoyed it overall.

Twelve Months of Reading Hamper

This was the ‘May’ book from my Twelve Months of Reading Hamper.

One of the reasons I wanted to try the hamper was to stretch my reading and try books I wouldn't ordinarily pick up. I have set myself the challenge of reading each book from my Twelve Months of Reading Hamper - during the month I receive it. Each book is wrapped up and assigned to a month of the year, so is full of surprises. I hope to find some new favourites and really stretch my reading this year through the hamper. Check back here next month to see what book I receive for June!

Untamed - Glennon Doyle

4 STARS

Who were you before the world told you who to be?

Part inspiration, part memoir, Untamed explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet the expectations of the world, and instead dare to listen to and trust in the voice deep inside us. From the beloved New York Times bestselling author, speaker and activist Glennon Doyle.

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There. She. Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high, but soon she realised they had come to her from within. This was the voice she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions and social conditioning. Glennon decided to let go of the world's expectations of her and reclaim her true untamed self.

Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanising wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is also the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honour our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts.

Untamed shows us how to be brave. And, as Glennon insists, 'The braver we are, the luckier we get.'

My Thoughts

I read untamed as part of the pop up book club created by

Toni Jones

and

Claire Venus ✨

and it was the perfect way to read and enjoy this book. I loved reading it as part of a community, but also more slowly. Reading to targets each week, helped me really absorb myself in the book. I felt part of myself unlocking as I read this book, and many moments nodding fiercely in agreement! I can absolutely see why this book has made such a big difference to so many people’s lives, it really does help you shift perspective, and gives you this deep yearning to truly be yourself, and tap into your power which Glennon helps us see is within us all, waiting to be untamed and set free. A wonderful book, and I am certain I will read it again and again.

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From My Book Shelf

Book shopping at home!

In line with my mindful spending year, and attempt to not buy so many books this year. My old feature ‘new on my bookshelf’ is now ‘from my bookshelf’. Each month I will go book shopping at home, searching through my own bookshelves and boxes of books - and I invite you to do the same!

This month I chose Seeking Slow by Melanie Barnes, which I have read a million times, but I love dipping in and out of it for some gentle inspiration and guidance. I took it off my bookshelf, and onto my desk so I could dive into its pages as often as I like over the next month.

What book did you find to read?

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Next Up on my TBR List:

Emily Wilde’s Map Of The Otherlands - Heather Fawcett (started this in May - but will finish in June!)

The House in the Cerulean Sea - T J Klune

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Bookish Substacks I’ve enjoyed this month…

7 Books for Cozy Living, Gentle Rituals, and Witchy Wonder✨🌿

Sense and Sensibility: the art of adaptation

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I hope you have enjoyed this month’s Book Lovers Chat! This is my favourite post to write - I just love putting it together and thinking and talking about books and reading!

I solemnly promise to be a little bit more giving with my five star ratings from now on! And very pleased to be able to add Paul Lamb’s wonderful Of Thorn & Briar to the group this month!

Have you read any five star books lately? Let me know!

As always, I’d love to know if you have read any of the books we have discussed here, what you are reading now, or if you have enjoyed any books recently you want to shout about! I’ll see you in the comments!

Thank you for being here,

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