This month closed out HRCYED 2.0 for me and also was the end of my 2-month personal curriculum on the Silk Road. July will kick off HRCYED 3.0, with my Law of Fives Bingo continuing thru the end of the year. Additionally, I’ll be focusing on Oceanography for my July/August 2026 personal curriculum topic. More to come on all of those but let’s get into June’s titles.

The Silk Road by Valerie Hansen: A good overview of the history of the Silk Road (which, spoiler alert, was never called that until the late 19th century, when it was given that name by a German historian), its peoples and how trade moved along from oasis to oasis on the southern route, and how the military bought and traded horses (mostly) along the northern route.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan: A beautifully illustrated nonfiction diary of sorts, written by the fiction writer. She is also an amazing artist and I loved hearing her daily musings and observations (mostly during COVID shutdown) and seeing the birds who frequented her backyard.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews: This was my fantasy book box title from May and it was such a fun romp. I think it’s the 1st in a series of two? Three? Coming from this author, who is one of my favorites. I zoomed through this one and thoroughly enjoyed the main character and her personality as she navigates the world of her favorite fantasy series when she wakes up in the reality of it one morning.

Marco Polo: The Journey That Changed the World by John Man: Billed as the “best book on Marco Polo”, I have to say it was NOT that. OR if it is the best book, then there is space on the shelves for better. Part personal travelogue and part historical biography, this one really fell flat for me. There wasn’t enough about Polo himself to suit me and while I understand there is a lack of primary sources available from this time period in this culture, this one rambled and was just a confusing read IMHO. I guess they based the Netflix series off this (although I only saw part of the first episode and turned it off because there wasn’t much history in it that I could find), so perhaps that should have been a clue. Anyway…. No.

Life Along the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield: This was the sleeper book of the month. I was glad I had read the more general Silk Road history first but this one took individual stories based on the actual history of a person from various walks of life (such as a Mongol princess, a scribe, a monk, a farmer, a trader) and created a story around them that brought the mix of cultures and trade to life. (Now this one WOULD be a good Netflix special!) This had a Canterbury Tales feel to it and I loved how accessible the author made the history for me.