Every month brings a fresh stack of books that promise to help us understand our minds a little better. June's crop is a reminder of just how wide that promise can stretch: from a memoir of relearning who you are after a brain injury, to a workbook built specifically for queer readers navigating minority stress, to an actress's account of a psychiatric hospitalization she didn't see coming. We rounded up four titles released last month, along with what early readers and reviewers are saying about each.
Author: Cinelle Barnes | Publisher: Little A | Published: June 9, 2026 | Rating: 4.13 on Goodreads
Barnes, who wrote the acclaimed memoir Monsoon Mansion, was working on a travelogue about returning to the Philippines after two decades away when a traumatic brain injury wiped out her memory of her husband, her daughter, and her own past. The book follows her as she rebuilds a sense of self from nothing and leans on the Tagalog concept of kapwa, shared humanity, as what carries her through.
What others are saying: Aimee Nezhukumatathil, the bestselling author of World of Wonders, writes that the book reminds readers "the world still offers places... where we can rest and belong." Megha Majumdar, National Book Award finalist for A Guardian and a Thief, calls it simply "a miraculous achievement."
I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World
Author: Sarah Wilson | Publisher: Penguin Life | Published: June 16, 2026 | Rating: 3.95 on Goodreads
From the author of the well-known anxiety memoir First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, this one widens the lens: less about individual anxiety, more about staying psychologically grounded while living through what Wilson frames as systemic collapse, climate, AI, inequality, all at once. Built on 200+ conversations with philosophers and thinkers, it argues for meaning and joy as a deliberate practice, not a naive one.
What others are saying: historian Peter Frankopan called it "a book for dark times that is filled with light." Actor Liam Neeson said it goes "straight to the beating heart of what we all need to hear."
The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness
Author: Hannah Murray | Publisher: The Dial Press | Published: June 23, 2026 | Rating: 4.10 on Goodreads
Murray (known for Skins and Game of Thrones) writes about ceding control of her life to the leader of a wellness group who convinced her magic was real, a slide that ended in a psychiatric ward and a bipolar diagnosis. Reviewers have been clear this reads as a genuine account of mental illness and control, not a wellness or self-help book itself.
What others are saying: The Guardian called it "a frank and often darkly funny exploration" of fame and the self-help industry. Author Dolly Alderton said it's "like nothing I have ever read before."
The LGBTQ+ Mental Health Workbook: Find Emotional Resilience, Self-Love, and Queer Joy with Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Author: Kiki Fehling, PhD | Publisher: New Harbinger Publications | 1 June 2026 | Rating: 5 on Goodreads
Written by a DBT-certified psychologist, this is a practical workbook, not a memoir, walking LGBTQ+ readers through the four core DBT skill sets (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness) as tools specifically for minority stress, trauma, and stigma.
What others are saying: Colleen A. Sloan, PhD, of Boston University, said reading it "feels like working alongside a trusted clinician." Jeffrey M. Cohen, PsyD, of Columbia, said it "empowers LGBTQ+ individuals to build the lives they want."
