Three Books I'm Reading Now, 6/22/26 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

It's Green Books time!

I'm reading the wonderful Lex Croucher's grown-up magical school tale, The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones; I'm listening to Jessica Guerrieri's story of sisters trying to find their way back to their childhood closeness in the midst of a local woman's disappearance, Both Things Can Be True; and I'm reading Marjan Kamali's story of class, politics, and enduring friendship in Tehran and New York, The Lion Women of Tehran.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher

Briar and Sebastian are childhood best friends, but when Sebastian is accepted into the renowned nearby magic school at age 11 and Briar is not, the two have a heartbreaking, fraught split.

Briar works his way into a temporary maintenance job at the school and soon realizes that his old friend has become one of the most feared, powerful, cold students on campus. And he also discovers that the school is hiding dark secrets with unimaginable potential repercussions for the world.

So far, The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones is the type of book I had hoped Lev Grossman's (for me, grim) The Magicians would be: dark, edgy, yet also warm, with mature magic-focused plot points, deep friendships, romance, intriguing adventure and strategizing, plus opportunities for redemption.

I'm listening to this novel as an audiobook courtesy of Libro.fm and Harper Voyager.

Lex Croucher is also the author of the wonderful Not for the Faint of Heart and Gwen & Art Are Not in Love.

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02 Both Can Be True by Jessica Guerrieri

In Northern California, grown sisters Mere and Frankie have been circling each other for years, often bristling, brewing resentment, and holding their tongues about each other's lives and families, while trying to find a way to become close like they were when they were young.

Then a woman in Frankie's social circle goes missing, and the disappearance serves as a catalyst for examinations of past trauma, relapses in behavior, and an erasure of verbal filters, so that ugly truths are voiced and are unable to be ignored. Only time will tell whether the crisis will usher in a new era of honesty and support.

I'm listening to an audiobook version of this title courtesy of Libro.fm and Harper Muse.

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03 The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

I feel as though I've been hearing rave reviews of this book for so long, it must have been published five years ago. (It actually came out in August 2025.)

This is historical fiction that begins in 1950s Tehran, where young Ellie lives in opulence with her mother and father. But after her father's untimely death, daughter and mother quickly face the hard reality of women's inability to own property or assert rights. Ellie and her mother must move to a poor section of town, where Ellie's mom stews with resentment at her loss of status and comfort.

Ellie turns to a new local girl for companionship, and their deep, volatile friendship shapes the novel.