July 2026
Welcome to The Book List!
Hello!
Have you ever spent more time thinking about books and reading than actually reading? Yeah, me too.
June has been the month of Book Daydreaming. Yes, I've read. Thirteen books! But I've also been thinking about an entire day to read since my days off are gone in the summer, and I miss them terribly. I've been thinking about a Book Crawl, an idea being popularized on many corners of the internet, where you choose specific locations that are nice to hang out in (bookstores, parks, coffee shops), and you read a certain amount at each location. Like a pub crawl, but the point is finishing the book. I think that's super cute. I'm also jealous of a friend who is going away with her husband for five days and will likely just read and thrift the whole time. Please take me with yoooouuuuuu. I think I'm feeling the push-pull of summer freedom and summer oppression, of both heat and children. A few days just reading sounds like the greatest thing of all time.
Also, you might have noticed that there have been virtually no nonfiction books in the last couple of months. I'm surprised, too! I used to read nonfiction all the time, but the numbers have dwindled to practically nothing. I think I'm okay with that, especially in warmer months. Nonfiction feels more appropriate for fall or winter. I'm not sure I want to learn anything when I'm either sweaty or eating ice cream. Weird or not, it's the way it's been, and I won't fight it too hard.
This Month’s Books
Book Reviews
The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content warnings: alcohol abuse, enabling by a partner
Casting: I realize I'm a broken record, but there are a handful of actors that just destroy romantic stories. It's my fault. So I have once again chosen Florence Pugh and Jamie Dornan. I don't always put them together, but this time I did and it was great.
Book words: tender, dramatic but not melodramatic, layered and relationally complex, funny
It's old news that I love Abby Jimenez. She writes classic love stories that happen to regular people. I mean, sure, they're all probably hot, but other than that, totally normal.
This one is such an interesting premise. A woman meets two best friends at a concert and has to choose which one will give her a ride home. Fast-forward a few months, and she's dating the one she chose. But what if she chose wrong?
Because it's a classic love story, you essentially know how it ends, but this one, I truly did not understand how.
To me, it was tender, sweet, and weirdly interesting even though not a lot happens. I was fully invested.
Also the ending, not the romantic one, was one of my favorites of all Abby endings. She's so good at writing relationships that transcend the central one. I loved it
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content warnings: witchcraft, animal violence, not for sensitive readers
Casting: none
Book words: atmospheric, dark, twisted, slow burn narrative
I love Melissa Albert. The Hazel Wood remains one of my favorite books ever. And it was her debut! Insanity. I knew I was going to read her most recent book, The Children (more on that below), and remembered I still had Our Crooked Hearts on my shelf unread. Diabolical, Kendra.
I liked it for sure. She's a tremendous writer and creates a vibe like no other. This story is a dual timeline. A teenager girl comes across a pale, mysterious woman in the woods who somehow knows the girl's name. We learn simultaneously that the girl's mother became involved with this same pale woman when she was a teenager. Lots of creepy occult stuff, super mysterious, and pretty dark.
I didn't like it nearly as much as The Hazel Wood or The Children, mostly because the darkness didn't have a balance. With Hazel, you had fairy stories to temper the darkness (even though they were twisted stories). In The Children, the woods and art galleries create a tonal juxtaposition that makes the story feel less dark. It's like my Dinner Bowl episode from this week. You need one flavor to punch but a contrasting one to punch back. Our Crooked Hearts had a great darkness punch but nothing that punched back enough to make it feel like a pleasant read. Still great though, especially if you like dark fantasy slash horror. She's super talented.
The Children by Melissa Albert
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Content warnings: child abuse and neglect
Casting: weirdly none... I think the atmosphere always takes the top casting placement in Melissa Albert books
Book words: creepy, slow burn, a specific kind of family saga
This is such a dark slow burn. It's hard to give a novel that feels this emptying five stars because do I really like how I feel after? But I couldn't stop thinking about it for days. I still do. It was so weird and so weirdly good.
Two siblings grow up with eccentric artist parents in a remote sprawling house on the edge of a forest. While in that house on the creepy and off-limits third floor, the mother writes a bestselling children's fantasy series that features her two real-life children. Fast-forward to when the kids are adults, was their childhood as idyllic as it seemed? (Spoiler: absolutely it wasn't.)
If you've been around for a while, you've heard me say how I don't like novels with a heavy-handed message. Just let me get there on my own. The Children did exactly that. Without directly acknowledging the impacts of mothers on kids, what makes a good parent, and how much we are willing to exchange for the power of creativity, the story had me thinking about all of those things. That's a feat.
Remember the tunnel in the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka movie where everything is trippy and dark and you're like "is this fun?" and you don't want to stop the movie but you want to get out of the tunnel but also maybe something cool is about to happen in there? That's what this book felt like. And I loved it.
Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
⭐️⭐️½
Content warnings: violent but almost in a comical way, also some pretty raunchy innuendo from what I remember
Casting: Since Robert was already cast in the movie, that's who I went with.
Book words: a relaxed character with a frenetic storytelling approach, outer spacey, scientific, detailed but about the things I didn't care about (translation for me: clunky)
I really wanted to like this. The premise is spectacular. On a moon colony, a guy named Mickey is essentially indestructible. If he dies, he can be regenerated by a machine because his genetic mapping has been saved. But then when the seventh version of himself - Mickey 7 - is in danger, his friends assume he dies and request a Mickey 8. But Mickey 7 isn't dead. Fun, right?
But it wasn't. I think it was the writing for me. The first person narration would share these exciting plot twists and then stop the action and be like, "Now I know what you're thinking. How could we possibly generate enough power to do blah blah blah?" And I was like NO I WAS NOT THINKING THAT GET BACK TO THE STORY. It just got on my nerves. Plus the story felt more like a fever dream than anything coherent.
I felt like there was so much potential here, and I think the movie adapters felt the same. I haven't seen the version with Robert Pattinson, but when I looked up characters and the plot, a lot of what's in the book was changed. Frankly, that makes sense. It's like the author had a pantry of amazing ingredients, and the meal that came out of it was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on pumpernickel with shrimp on the side. Just... weird.
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Content warnings: none
Casting: none
Book words: humorous, satirical, absurd
This is absurdly delightful. A tiny little book that had me laughing out loud.
The book centers around Professor von Ingelfeld, a German academic whose greatest contribution to the canon of literature is his enormous work, Portugeuse Irregular Verbs. Poor guy just wants the notoriety he believes he deserves.
Due to circumstances beyond his control, he finds himself in a couple of awkward positions, one of which is accidentally becoming the President of Columbia during a military coup. Just a normal day for Mr. von Ingelfeld.
It's so silly and smartly written, and I loved it.
The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Content warnings: It's emotionally heavy. Tough on the imagination when people you love get kidnapped. Also some sex.
Casting: Greta Lee as Carrie, Tom Everett Scott as Robin, Jamie Dornan as Johan (I'm sorry, okay?!?!?)
Book words: slow burn, mysterious, character-driven, drops you off a cliff at the end
Carrie marries Johan on a beach in Thailand, and as they enjoy their first dance as husband and wife, a police vehicle drives up and drags Johan away.
Twelve years later, Carrie has married Robin. They have twins, and she's ready to get back into being a top-tier surgeon. But then she stumbles upon the photo of someone who looks exactly like Johan... because IT IS. He's out of the Thai prison where he was supposed to spend the rest of his life, and she wants answers.
I expected this to be fast-paced and plot-driven, and it definitely wasn't. It was way more character-focused, slowly revealing itself layer after layer, like a very melodramatic onion. I actually loved that once I realized the kind of book I was reading.
And then the last eighty pages are like a bullet train of plot. I stayed up until 2 am to finish it. An excellent sign of a good book.
How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content warnings: partner gaslighting and manipulation but very lightly handled
Casting: Florence Pugh and Theo James they are perfect leave me alone
Book words: funny, sharp, lighthearted, mysterious with zero stakes
This was such fun.
Lydia does not come from a noble family, but her family has accumulated enough wealth to make her somewhat interesting to suitors. She, however, is fiercely independent and not interested in any of them. Unfortunately, the noble and highly sought after Lord Ashford has proposed marriage, and because she was so stunned, he and her family took her silence as acceptance.
Now she must attend a house party with Lord Ashford's family and friends, knowing that a grand ball will happen at the end of ten days together where he will announce their engagement. But can she be revolting enough over those ten days to get him to dump her? A man of honor would never, but she has some tricks up her sleeve.
It's a cute romp. No spice. A great time.
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny 🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrated by Robert Bathurst
Content warnings: These are murder mysteries, so there's always some element of violence. Substance abuse is also a common theme.
The next three books are 14-16 in the Inspector Gamache series, my comfort listen these days. I started last December and have steadily enjoyed a couple every month.
This is The One with the New Street Drugs.
Gamache has put himself in a moral pickle. He has let some pretty dangerous drugs get past his department so that he can flush out the dealers. Chaos as always ensues.
A Better Man by Louise Penny 🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrated by Robert Bathurst
Content warnings: Same same
This is The One with the Abusive Ceramic Artist. A woman goes missing, and her artist husband does not seem to care that she's gone. The mystery takes off, trying to figure out if she's dead (she is... they always are) and who killed her.
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny 🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrated by Robert Bathurst
Content warnings: Same same same
And finally, this is The One with Stephen and the Dangerous Magnet.
It's interesting. Most Gamache stories are not melodramatic, but this one felt like it was a bit which brought it down some for me. But it also included some long-awaited relational development with his son, Daniel. All balances out to the typical four stars.
I really do love these books, and I am still very much enjoying Robert Bathurst's narration. He just gets better and better. I wish he caught more of a break. (None of his audiobooks have a wait at the library. Ralph Cashom's all do.)
The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration by Sophie Roberts & Justin Avoth
Content warnings: spousal abuse
Casting: none
Book words: this is hard because I couldn't find the personality of this book
I wanted to like this more than I did. I started on Kindle but couldn't get into it, so I moved to audio. Much better there. But I just couldn't figure out what the story was trying to be. It's about Hannah Cole, a late 18th-century widow running her family's patisserie (and also one of the first people to make ice cream there). Her husband, Jonas, was recently murdered, and the authorities are highly motivated to solve the case.
You have some weird interference from her husband's brother, Daniel, the mysterious appearance of an old friend named William Deveraux, and the inexplicable crime-solving involvement of actual author Henry Fielding.
I wanted it to be either funny or more serious or darker or more romantic. It felt like one of those books that could fit in multiple genres, and because of that, it read muddy. I know a lot of people really love it, and I can see why. I just like a more specific point of view.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower 🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration by Genevieve Guant
Content warnings: none
Casting: none
Book words: very Jane Austen in its wit and female voice
Nothing has been recommended more. Ever. And yes I have begun.
This is dear. Of course it is. I really like Emma and the other characters I'm starting to meet. It doesn't feel as pleasant in the summer. I need the weather to get cooler for some reason, but I can't wait to keep listening.
If you like Jane Austen's sensibility, I cannot imagine you wouldn't enjoy Emma's journals.
The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding 🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Narration by Brittany Wilkerson & Heni Zoutomou
Content warnings: major sexual abuse, pretty dark stuff
Casting: none
Book words: dark, twisty, plot-driven, female power
Lee Gulliver lives in her car after some massive financial problems and the closing of her restaurant. One night while parked on a beach cliff, she hears a woman crying and watches her walk into the ocean with no intention of coming out. The woman is Hazel, an abused socialite wife who is trying to escape her abusive life.
The two women form a bond and then a plan to remove themselves from both of their difficult circumstances.
This was super twisty, lots of surprises, and fast-paced. It's always really dark, so pick other thrillers if you'd rather not go there. I was just so disappointed with the ending. The rest of the book felt smart and thoughtfully plotted, and then it felt like the end just ran out of steam. If this had a better ending, it would've been four stars.