What I Read Last Month (June & July 2025)

Normally I’m a pretty fast reader. It’s helpful in this job, which involves a lot of reading between research books and advance reader copies for blurbs as well as the fun of reading for pleasure. However, sometimes there’s a book that takes me a bit more time to read and slows everything down.

In June, that book was Vanity Fair.

After chatting with my dad, who told me Vanity Fair is one of his favorite books, I decided that it was high time to read the classic. I’m so glad I did. Well, more on that in a second, but it did take me some time which meant that I didn’t have much to report by way of books read in June. Welcome, therefore, to my jam-packed, combined June and July reading wrap-up!

This article will be long, which means that it risks getting cut off if you are reading it via email. If you’d like to read the full version, please open it in your browser or the Substack app.

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery

What a book. I regret not having read Vanity Fair long before I did. Not only is the story of social-climbing Becky Sharpe a sweeping, rollercoaster of a book, it’s a lot funnier than I expected it to be. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend picking it up.

The Black Echo (Bosch #1) by Michael Connelly

I’ve read The Black Echo and a couple other books Harry Bosch books before and have always meant to continue Michael Connelly’s celebrated mystery series but let it slip for too long. After finishing the most recent season of The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix, however, I decided it was time to go back to the beginning and make a project of reading through the long-running series. Suffice it to say the mystery is great and it definitely scratches some of my Los Angeles nostalgia itch all the way out here in the UK.

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

I used to read a lot of romance novels,¹ but it has been a long time since I consistently worked them into my reading rotation. Because I’m pretty out of date, I thought I’d give an Abby Jimenez book a try. This romance is about a vet and a marketing director who go on one perfect date the night before she moves from Minnesota to California to be one of the carers for her mother who is suffering from early-onset dementia. The story follows the two of them as they try to work through the problem of wanting to be together, but feeling—and sometimes physically being—worlds apart.

The Vipers by Katy Hays
(aka Saltwater in the US)

I have love books about complicated families (even better if they involve contested inheritances) as well as thrillers that take place in beautiful, sun-soaked holiday spots. Enter The Vipers, a well-crafted, twisty thriller about two possible murders occurring decades apart that plague a very wealthy American family while on their annual vacation in Capri.

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

I had only read one Lisa Jewell book² before this, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and resolved to read her next as soon as I saw that it would be about a man worming his way into women’s lives before defrauding and destroying them. What I got in Don’t Let Him In was a brilliantly creepy domestic thriller that was truly chilling in parts. Jewell is truly excellent at what she does.

A Deadly Inheritance (Detective Caius Beauchamp #3) by Charlotte Vassell

The third book in a modern mystery series I really enjoy, this follows Detective Caius Beauchamp who, for reasons that are far too complicated to explain here, has suddenly found himself elevated to being the grandson of a baron. That major change in circumstances is happening alongside the robbery and murder of an older woman in her London home. But what seems like a simple case soon spirals out to have far wider reaching implications that touch on the upper crust of British society. I have loved each of Vassell’s books, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that there are more to come.

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

I have read many of Sarah MacLean’s historical romances in the past, so I was intrigued to find out that she was writing a contemporary novel—even more so when I discovered it would involve a wealthy family and an inheritance game. (See my comment about The Vipers and complicated families.) While this book has touches of MacLean’s romances, the bulk of the narrative focuses on the strained relationship between Alice, the black sheep of the family, and her siblings while they are stuck on an isolated Narraganset Bay island for a week following their tycoon father’s funeral.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I have loved many of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books, so the publication of a new one is always an event for me. I will admit, however, that while my sister and brother-in-law are fascinated by space, I am not to the point that it is a running joke in our family. Was it, therefore, a big lift for me to enjoy a book about the 1980s space program? Yes, it was. Did I still think that this book had touching, emotional moments between both Joan and her love interest Vanessa—as well as Joan and her niece—that were worth the read for a non-spacey person like me? Also, yes.

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

I always say that fantasy is not my thing, but apparently I’m proving myself wrong this year by throwing a fantasy novel into the mix every few months. I picked up Voyage of the Damned because it billed itself as a murder mystery set in a fantasy world, which is precisely what it is. In fact, in many ways its a traditional locked room mystery with 12 “blessed” representatives from the 12 provinces of a united country all trapped on a ship together while someone goes around systematically murdering members of their party. The most unlikely hero, a sarcastic, misfit blessed named Ganymedes from one of the least revered provinces, finds himself taking on the task of tracking down the murderer with a slightly ragtag pair of companions.

Want are you reading right now? Leave a comment to share!

1. For those who don’t know, I once wrote historical romances before getting into historical fiction.

2. None of This is True