Welcome to Quick Lit, where I share short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately on (or around) the 15th of the month, and invite you to do the same.

I’ve read some magnificent books lately. I’ve enjoyed spending my morning reading time in slow and careful reading of dense literary texts. I’ve visited or revisited back list titles I’ve been meaning to devote attention to for ages. And I’ve enjoyed listening to some plain good stories in my ears.

This month’s edition of Quick Lit is unusual in that it includes both a coffee table book (Art for Everyone) and a script (John Proctor Is the Villain), alongside more typical (for me) selections like excellent audiobooks (The Calamity Club and Searching for Terry Punchout) and literary backlist (The Singer’s Gun). The publication date range on these titles runs from 2010 to May 5 of this year.

I hope you enjoy this month’s selections, and that you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR here. And, as always, I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been reading lately!

Thanks in advance for sharing your short and sweet book reviews with us!

Welcome to August Quick Lit

The Singer’s Gun

Author: Emily St. John Mandel

It wasn't until I got to Mandel's author's note at the end of her forthcoming book Exit Party that I learned of the connection between the two books, and decided to go back and read this, her second novel. When shortly thereafter I learned a community read of The Singer's Gun was starting in MMD Book Club, I jumped on it. This book is about a family whose business is crime, primarily stolen goods and forged documents. Anton is now in his twenties and desperately wants to go straight, but when his cousin (incidentally, the protagonist of Exit Party) begs for his help to complete one last job (for him) and enter into a new and promising industry (for her), his family strong-arms him into obliging her request. I tore through this, and then went on to complete my sole remaining unread Mandel novel: you'll hear about that soon in our completist series! More info →

Art for Everyone: How to Collect Art & Personalize Your Space on Any Budget

Author: Liz Lidgett

My interest in art has grown these past few years, so this coffee table book caught my eye online. I checked out the ebook from the library (I've found cookbooks and coffee table books render decently on a laptop or iPad) but decided almost immediately to buy the physical copy so I could have it on my coffee table: I suspect it's one I'll want to keep coming back to! This friendly how-to guide by a Des Moines gallerist and art advisor is at once joyful and practical. If you want, the book can function as plain and simple eye candy. But Lidgett also offers plain-spoken guidelines on acquiring, displaying, and caring for art. I've warned Will that now I want to paint every room in the house (she has wall color suggestions, including the coral shade that kicked off my own painting spree!) and put nail holes everywhere in a quest to put her guidance to good use. More info →

The Calamity Club

Author: Kathryn Stockett

I started the egalley of this new summer release back when I was vetting books for the Summer Reading Guide and the narrator's voice just didn't grab me. At a whopping 656 pages, I wasn't inclined to stick it out, and put it down. But this summer MMD Book Clubbers kept telling me how much they enjoyed this book on audio, and advised I be patient until I meet both main characters on the page. I'm so glad I gave it a second chance because I LOVED my listening experience! The story is set in 1933: the first-person narrators are Meg, an eleven-year-old resident of Oxford, Mississippi's orphanage who is convinced her mother didn't mean to leave her, and Birdie, a not-so-old old maid who travels from the rural family home to Oxford to visit her well-married sister, but really, to beg for money to carry the family through the hard times. But what she finds .. is NOT what she expected. And then Birdie's story intersects with Meg's and the hijinx really begin. This was a walk-another-mile audiobook; I felt like I was in good hands from beginning to end, in no small part thanks to Jenna Lamia and January LaVoy's narration. More info →

Searching for Terry Punchout

Author: Tyler Hellard

This debut novel came to me via WSIRN guest Danielle, who shared it in her recent episode (WSIRN Ep. 537: Tackling a tower of unread ebooks) as one of her recent reads by Canadian authors she really enjoyed. This one came to her via the annual Canada Reads competition. The book is about a struggling sportswriter named Adam who, in an effort to revive a career that never took off the way he'd hoped, decides out of desperation to play the one card he promised himself he'd never play: he'll write a Sports Illustrated profile about the notorious and reclusive hockey star Terry Punchout. The thing is, Terry is Adam's estranged father. And so Adam returns to his small Nova Scotia hometown, where he finds his dad but also reconnects with friends he'd left behind (and possibly hadn't been kind enough in the leaving). While set in the world of hockey, the focus is the relationships, not the game. I listened to the audio, narrated by Chai Valladares. More info →

John Proctor is the Villain

Author: Kimberly Belflower

My own impatience doesn't typically steer me toward singular reading experiences, but that's what happened here. The substance of the play is this: in 2018, in a one-stoplight Georgia town, a high school class close reads The Crucible with their teacher, and the conversation quickly turns from the history explicitly and implicitly in its pages to what is happening in the students' community right now. I heard such good things about the production during its Broadway run, starting with reviews from the theater kids in my life, but then changes in the play's licensing (presumably due to the coming movie) meant the local-ish university production planned for this fall was canned. I resigned myself to reading the script for the time being ... and was unexpectedly charmed by that experience. I so enjoyed pouring over all the putting-it-together details laid out there that I never would have known about had I seen the production cold—the notes on casting, dialect, pace, accents, how to incorporate the Lorde song "Green Light" into the show. I don't read many contemporary scripts but this was such a good and distinctive reading experience I'm eager to read more. (Got any recs? Do tell!) More info →

What have YOU been reading lately? Tell us about your recent reads—or share the link to a blog or instagram post about them—in comments.

P.S. I snapped that picture of top at Louisville’s newest bookstore, Foxing Books, which I finally got to visit this summer.

11 comments

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Rachel @ Never Enough Novels says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:04 am

This month‘s reading roundup includes a 5 star fantasy read plus a bunch of fun romances and a housewife thriller! Check out my reviews below!

https://neverenoughnovels.com/2026/08/17/august-2026-book-reviews/

Jessica @ A Cocoon of Books says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:06 am

My own past reading month has also included a wide-ranging selection of books! Even when they aren’t all winners, it can still be fun to read widely.

https://cocoonofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/what-ive-been-reading-lately-quick-lit.html

Lisa notes says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:07 am

Thanks for the tip on The Calamity Club. I’ll put a hold at my library for the audio version.

This was the I finally got to read Theo of Golden and The Correspondent. They both lived up to the hype. So good!

See all 8 books here that I recommend for August:

https://lisanotes.com/books-i-recommend-august-2026/

Caroline S. Rose says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:22 am

I’ve spent the last few months toggling between two epic westerns (2090 pages total): Lonesome Dove and Tom’s Crossing. So incredibly good.
https://carolinestarrrose.com/quick-lit-two-books-1350-pages/

Michele D Morin says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:36 am

You’re speaking my husband’s love language! I get to experience the cowboy scene in audio book form on long car trips. They do have a compelling storyline!

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Megan says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:26 am

Thanks for the tip about The Calamity Club.

My favorite read as of late is a much-hyped fall release. I truly loved it, which surprised me because I’m often disappointed by overly hyped books. I think it’s for readers looking for a contemporary romance that’s more than just a romance. It’s a fascinating look into the world of literary criticism and the critic/author relationship.

https://ourlittlebookcollection.substack.com/p/late-summer-family-life-and-my-july

Michele D Morin says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:34 am

Lovers of cozy fiction, clean romance, and sweet, small-town settings populated with quirky but memorable characters will be enchanted by the world they find in Chapter One Again by Keelia Clarkson. I don’t get to read much fiction, so this was a sweet treat that carried me through a long flight from Maine to Minnesota. https://michelemorin.net/2026/08/05/how-to-know-when-its-time-to-go-home/

Sandy says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:35 am

I have The Calamity Club on hold at my local library.

Currently, I have just finished Barbara Freethy’s novel “Perilous Trust” in Hoopla, and will start “An Accidental Jewel” today, nonfiction about the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage in northern Wisconsin. I am about halfway through James Patterson’s “Tiger, Tiger” in hardcover.

Ann says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:41 am

I’m reading Little Wonder by Sophie Chen Keller. Liking it, but for whatever reason taking too long to finish. My niece just gifted me a belated book for my birthday. I should have known she was up to something when she asked me what my favorite genre was. She gave me the cutest blind book. All wrapped up with stickers and book marks and other fun things. The book is The Devil Behind The Badge by Rick Jervis. I had not heard of it and started it last night and it is very good! Also have a copy of Whistler I need to get to. I am on a wait list for Exit Party. Thanks for the info.

Kendra Nicole says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:52 am

My reading was a little all over the place this month. In addition to two parenting books and two historical middle-grade novels that I read with my kids, I had a string of mediocre reads including a cozy fantasy, a multicultural romance, a historical ghost story, and a profound novel that was beautiful but a tad too literary for me. Bookending these so-so reads were two that I LOVED, including a creatively constructed thriller and a family saga that is vying for #1 as my favorite read of the year.

https://kendranicole.substack.com/p/quick-lit-august-2026

Tory Evans says:

August 17, 2026 at 9:58 am

Thank you so much for the review of The Calamity Club! Someone I usually trust recommended it, but I was hesitant because I found The Help… off the mark. Audio is my default mode anyway, especially for a book that long, so I’m going to dive in.