🌅 Monthly Miscellany: June Edition

Recent Reads & Favorite Things

Jun 27, 2025

If you’re new here, welcome! This is my monthly recap of things that I love, whether it’s a book, podcast, song, or nail polish color. If I love it, you’re going to hear about it! I love hearing what you’re enjoying as well, so please feel free to leave a comment or hit reply to this email and share your faves with me!

Life Lately

June was a whirlwind of a month. It felt like we spent most of the first couple of weeks at the ballpark, but softball season has finally ended. Charlotte made the high school softball team, though, so there will definitely be more softball in our future, and I’m excited for her!

Ava turned eight this month, and we celebrated in a variety of ways: a “slumberish” party with friends (where we did all kinds of fun things before I took the girls home to sleep at their respective houses); a dinner with grandparents in town; and a lunch and swim party with my parents in Memphis. Ava loves having something to look forward to, and she’d been counting down to her birthday for months. I expect the countdown to 9 to start sometime in mid-July. ;) Her gift from us was getting her ears pierced, and she’s now anxiously awaiting the day when she can change out her earrings for some of the pretty new ones she got for gifts.

This has been a heavy month for me. As I get closer to the one year anniversary of my friend Bethany’s death, I am thinking about her more than ever. It feels like she’s been gone for so long, and yet it also seems impossible that she’s not here. Of course, I’m so thankful she is healed and no longer suffering, and I know that wouldn’t be the case if she were still here. Even so, her absence left a huge hole. The grief I’ve felt has changed me but so too has the depth of my conviction that we were made for a home beyond this one fortified me. Come, Lord Jesus.

Recent Reads

shallow focus photography of books — Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

I ordered Kristen Wetherell’s 20-day devotional, What Makes You Beautiful1, for us to use during our family devotional time, and both girls really like it. I consider it a huge victory if both of them are engaged in a book since they are six years apart, and I love the message of this book in particular. The book is based on a poem Wetherell wrote, and each devotion discusses a few lines of the poem and counters common struggles of girls with gospel truth.

This month I finished two books with very different writing styles: My Friends by Fredrik Backman and Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy2. Backman’s book had wonderfully real depictions of teenage friendship, and I loved what it had to say about the transcendent power of art. Wild Dark Shore is beautifully written, but it is also really depressing, and I didn’t find much hope in it (and it had a very obvious, didactic climate change message). (To be fair, My Friends was also rather depressing, but it ended in a way that felt hopeful.) Overall, they were both very solid reads but not my favorites.

Current book count for the year: 16.

Currently reading: Heartwood by Amity Gage (about a woman who goes missing while hiking the Appalachian Trail). It’s so good, but I really need it to end well!

Favorite Music

“Satisfied (Psalm 63)” by The Worship Initiative.
“The Long Way” by Natalie Layne.
“Desperate” by Jamie MacDonald.
“The Whole Thing” by Ellie Holcomb.
“Who Else” by The Worship Initiative.

I’m still keeping my summer playlist in heavy rotation.

Favorite Podcasts

pink and white wireless headphones — Photo by Ervo Rocks on Unsplash

I live an hour from Memphis (and also grew up there), so I remember well when I heard news of the plane crash that killed several members and staff of Harvest Church. This podcast episode with the sole survivor is powerful and moving.
I really appreciate what the hosts of Writing Off Social are doing to encourage female Christian writers who want to market their writing without (or with limited) social media. They had a whole series about growing your email list, and they have also had interviews with various authors who used other means to market and sell their books (Pinterest, podcasts, Amazon ads, etc.). I highly recommend checking it out if you’re interested in tips for growing your online presence without relying on social media.

Favorite Finds Around the Web

“6 Insidious Lies that Keep Christian Writers from Writing” by Grant Herbel.
“The Mass Trauma of Porn” by Freya India. A sobering, important read.
“The Idol of Popularity” by Tim Challies.
“Words that Lead” by Kristin Couch.
It’s not too late to order Glenna Marshall’s book Known and Loved: Experiencing the Affection of God in Psalm 139 before it releases on July 1. (10ofthose has the book for $12.99, and shipping is just $1!)
I bought these Crocs slides at a Crocs outlet a few months ago, and they are my new favorite summer shoe. They have the comfort of Crocs without looking like Crocs. (They’re sold out on the Crocs site, but Shoe Carnival still has them listed online.)
Favorite summer nail colors: Essie’s “Geranium” and “In the Cab-ana” and Olive and June’s “Grape Soda.”

Recent Writing

I am thrilled to have a poem in the Coffee + Crumbs summer collection! I love this publication and have been reading it for years, so it’s truly a dream come true to be published with them. You can read my poem “True North” here. (Also, this essay cracked me up and this one moved me to tears.)
I also had a guest post on Melissa Kutsche’s Substack, FORTYsomething, discussing my experiences with turning 40 and transitioning into midlife.
ICYMI: My poem “On Getting Older” and reflections on quiet.

That’s it for this month’s miscellany. What are you reading, listening to, or watching lately? Please tell me all the good stuff.