What I Read Last Month (July 2024)
Better late than never
An entire week to just read. What a dream!
In an attempt to try to get on top of my ever-expanding reading list and also take the time to prioritize some of the research reading that’s difficult to do when I’m writing a first draft, I’ve begun to start taking a reading week once a quarter where all I do is read.1
I took that reading week in the middle of July so, as you can imagine, I have quite a few books to talk about! (Also ramping back up after a week off to read is hard, which is why this newsletter is coming out a bit later than usual…)
The Champagne Letters by Kate Macintosh
I was fortunate enough to score an early read of this dual-timeline historical novel, and I’m so glad I did. Here’s what I had to say about it:
Filled with wit and wisdom in equal measure, The Champagne Letters is an utter delight! This book reminds us about the extraordinary things that can happen when we take charge of our own lives—ideally with a glass of champagne close at hand.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
When I posted that I was reading this book, I received two types of message: those saying that they’d loved the book and those saying it really didn’t work for them. It seems that this one can be a bit Marmite for people, but I found it a largely positive experience reading this. Although the book veers into romance, the parts I enjoyed the most were the beginning when the book got into the process of writing for and producing a weekly late-night sketch show.
Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Meunter
I have been a fan of Olivia Meunter and Becca Freeman’s podcast Bad on Paper for some time, so when I heard that Olivia was writing a thriller I was intrigued. This book follows one of my favorite genre tropes (someone mysteriously disappears and it’s up to the main character to find them and battle their own guilt about something going on in the background), with Hazel looking for her influencer sister Evie who has gone missing after a live stream. Such a Bad Influence has a lot of commentary on influencer culture—and child and family influencers particularly—as well as internet culture that I found fascinating. Also, if anyone else reads this, I am dying to talk about the last chapter.
I will be the first to admit that I am tough on thrillers. There have been some great ones that I’ve loved mostly because they’ve done such a great job at surprising me. Although The Unwedding didn’t have quite that high level of payoff for me in the end, I really enjoyed the setting and premise, and I whipped right through it.
Friends and Traitors by Helen Peters
I continued my exploration of Middle Grade fiction with this upstairs-downstairs World War 2 historical mystery set in an evacuated girls school. The story is charming with some good commentary on class. It would be a great introduction for younger readers to the war.
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
I shouldn’t have been surprised that this mystery—which has my favorite title of the year so far—is a fantastically voicey read! This book is a bit meta with the main character being a mystery novelist desperate to kill off her main character, who is based on a rather pesky ex. However, while on a book trip to Italy with several other authors and that ex, strange (i.e. murdery) things start happening, and she has to figure out who is trying to kill one of their party and why.
What have you recently read and enjoyed? Leave a comment and let me know!
Okay, I also take the time to do little bits of admin that can’t be completely ignored, but you get the idea.
I'm slowly reading The Accidental President about Harry S. Truman after the sudden death of FDR.