Welcome to Quick Lit, where we share short and sweet reviews of what we’ve been reading lately on the 15th of the month. (Or, when the 15th falls on a weekend, near the 15th of the month.)
Two things have heavily influenced my reading this past month. You’re probably familiar with the first one: The 12th annual MMD Summer Reading Guide came out on May 18 (still available and relevant, grab your copy any time if you haven’t yet). Every year I read TONS—as in, portions of hundreds—of new releases while vetting titles for the guide. I love it. But to keep my reading life in balance, every year I swing hard toward backlist during the first half of summer.
The second thing is travel: my husband Will and I just got back from a trip to Europe with our four kids. We originally planned this adventure for 2020, but in a too-familiar tale, the pandemic made that trip impossible. Because our kids are a little older now, I was afraid college and jobs and internships would prevent this trip from ever happening; it feels like such a gift that the six of us got to travel together this summer. We visited London, Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid, and to prepare, I read a slew of books set in those cities and their countries.
Will and I talk more about our actual trip—and our trip reading—in tomorrow’s new episode of What Should I Read Next. We cover lots of titles (and bookstores) from England, France, and Spain. Literary tourism lovers: make sure you tune in!
Here’s what you’ll find in this month’s new edition: three new-for-2023 spring and summer releases that are not in the Summer Reading Guide (that’s Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood, Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, and Terah Shelton Harris’s One Summer in Savannah), a book I quickly described in a recent team meeting as being about an “Italian psychopath vacation” (Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley), a big-hearted backlist family novel and horse story (Aryn Kyle’s The God of Animals), an expat memoir-with-recipes about Paris life and real estate (David Lebovitz’sL’Appart), a campus novel that took me by surprise (Sara Nović’s True Biz), and a contemporary tale of grief and hope I’m glad I finally got around to (Ethan Joella’s A Quiet Life).
I also listened to several great audiobooks this month. You’ll see those highlighted below.
As always, I’m tracking my reading in the My Reading Life book journal, which makes it easy to see and share what I’ve been reading lately.
I hope you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR on this list (and in these comments!), and I look forward to browsing your recent reads below. Thanks in advance for sharing your short and sweet book reviews with us here!
P.S. I snapped that top photo featuring hardback new fiction on our trip: I snapped it at Hatchards in London. You’ll hear more about this bookshop in tomorrow’s new WSIRN episode!
We just announced this 2022 campus novel as our September Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club selection! This story unfolds at Ohio's River Valley School for the Deaf, a boarding school where students come to learn and can count on the cultural richness of the deaf community being celebrated. When Charlie enrolls as a new student, she's never met another deaf student; her parents had kept her in traditional school for far too long, hoping her issues with hearing would simply disappear once they got her cochlear implants dialed in. Charlie knew that would never happen, and quickly makes herself at home in her new school setting, not knowing the school's very existence is actively being threatened. I knew little about deafness and the deaf community prior to reading this book, and ate up all the details about various facets of the deaf experience deaf author Nović wove into the story. I especially loved the audiobook narrated by Lisa Flanagan and Kaleo Griffith, with the sound of signing over the speech when ASL was being used. (Though I'm already planning my reread in print, because of the visual ASL component included in that format.) More info →
This was a fun romp! This adorable tea shop murder mystery has serious Only Murders in the Building vibes (I can't be the only one who is counting down to season 3 on August 8) and boasts a pleasantly large cast of (mostly) likeable characters. When the titular 60-year old widow awakes one morning to find a dead body clutching a flash drive on the floor of her tea shop, she calls in the authorities. (She doesn't want to, but her son convinces her she has to). But, unimpressed by their approach to the case and unconvinced they can get to the truth of what happened, she takes matters into her own hands, with delightful and chaotic results and a feel-good ending I didn't expect. This was a wonderful palate cleanser after a string of serious reads. More info →
I knew going in that this would be a tough read content-wise, but was compelled by debut author Harris's framing of her story as one that challenges readers on the definition of forgiveness and what it truly means to forgive. (When I discovered she's a librarian and a bookstore features prominently in the story, that didn't hurt!) Eight years ago, following a horrifying sexual assault, Sara fled her hometown of Savannah to seek shelter in a small Maine town so remote the closest airport is four hours away. She's been living there ever since, writing poetry and raising her daughter, who was conceived during that encounter. But when she learns her father is ill and only has a few months to live, she returns home—and thus returns to the scene of the assault. What she doesn't know is that her assailant's identical twin has also just returned home, and that their paths are about to collide, with consequences neither could ever have foreseen. Harris's story is undeniably ambitious: while the plot points didn't always sit well, I appreciate her willingness to engage terribly difficult subjects and her graceful prose. I'll be keeping an eye out for more from this author. More info →
I've thoroughly enjoyed David Lebovitz's writings about Parisian expat life since falling in love with The Sweet Life in Paris nearly ten years ago. When Will and I began planning our trip to Paris, I planned to read Lebovitz to get in the mood. This 2018 memoir with recipes details his arduous journey to find, purchase, and renovate his very own Parisian apartment. I thoroughly enjoyed mapping each and every location mentioned in the book and noting which markets and shops I wanted to visit on our own trip. As someone who used to work in the field of property law, I was fascinated by his descriptions of how one searches for and acquires real estate works in Paris. But I struggled to read about the massively time-consuming and expensive renovations: Lebovitz is a wonderful writer, but his experiences verged on heartbreaking! Nevertheless I'm glad I picked it up, and thankful this book prompted me to revisit his blog and peruse his wonderful archives. More info →
Eco-thriller meets Shakespearean tragedy in this new release from Booker winner Catton. I think my husband Will would love it and I wish you could have heard me describing it to him over morning coffee! Birnam Wood is the Shakespeare-inspired name of an idealistic activist group focused on guerilla gardening efforts. When their pragmatic leader crosses paths with a powerful American billionaire, he persuades her to enter into an unlikely but perhaps mutually beneficial partnership pertaining to land adjoining a national park. But neither party is willing to acknowledge its true aims, and the consequences could be deadly. This high-stakes, action-packed tale features environmental rights, big egos, privacy concerns, politics, and more. Fans of compulsively readable literary fiction: this one's for you. The jaw-dropping ending also makes this an excellent pick for book clubs: there's so much to talk about! More info →
My recent conversation with What Should I Read Next guest Corin Cook about her summer of European reading (Episode #385) inspired me to revisit this 1955 classic that introduces us to one of literature's best known and deeply influential psychopaths. The book has serious staying power, remaining readable and relevant even all these years later, and continues to influence and inspire new works of contemporary fiction. When we meet Tom Ripley, he's engaged in a bit of petty crime in NYC. But then a chance meeting changes the course of his life, and he soon departs for Italy with the task of persuading an old friend to return home to work in the family business and see his ailing mother. At first Ripley admires his old friend, then envies him ... and before long he decides he wants to become him. Pick this up if you want to read a true crime classic, enjoy a quick masterclass in writerly perspective, or vicariously travel to 1950s Italy and Paris. (WSIRN patrons: don't miss my One Great Book-style bonus episode on Ripley!More info →
Funny thing: this year I've found myself frequently recommending horse-related books, every time prefacing my rec with "I don't usually like horse books, but ..." Well. When Amy Jo Burns cited this as a top-5 favorite in our recent WSIRN episode about juicy, big-hearted family novels (#383), I added it to my list immediately! And I loved it, and I think that means it's the book that has finally forced me to realize that I love a good horse book. Kyle's 2007 debut coming-of-age tale is set over the course of a blazing hot summer on a Colorado horse farm. 12-year-old Alice's world was upended when her older sister (named Nona, my grandmother's name, which I've only encountered once before in fiction) ran off with a rodeo cowboy. Now Alice feels like she's been left all alone to deal with the death of a classmate, her mother's ongoing depression, and her father's stress about the farm's finances. But when a new student starts taking riding lessons at the farm, that's when things really begin to change. Kyle draws beautiful and subtle parallels between life and horses as she shows us how Alice endures and changes over the course of one tumultuous summer. More info →
In Joella's sentimental yet comforting sophomore novel, three people navigating different kinds of heartbreak find each other in small-town Pennsylvania. 70-something Chuck is grieving the recent death of his wife, 20-something Kirsten is mourning the loss of her beloved father to gun violence, and Ella fears she'll never see her young child again after she was was kidnapped months ago by her ex-husband. While some will no doubt find this story maudlin, I appreciated Joella's tender and empathetic portrayal of his three protagonists as they suffer and struggle and, ultimately, find their way to each other: I rooted so hard for these characters! If you enjoyed this book or are tempted to start it, don't miss Joella's little behind-the-writing essay that appeared in LitHub just days after I finished the book: How Taylor Swift Saved My Writing. I imagine this has more to do with my mood than with the actual book, but while I started this on audio, the story didn't sweep me away until I switched to print. 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.
Anne, I’m so glad that you were able to make a family vacation happen—what a gift to them and to you. I had the opportunity to travel internationally with my family when I was a teen and young adult, and those were such memorable trips.
I have YOU to thank for recommending at least three of the books I read this month (a short story collection, some fantasy, and a sweet romance), and all were winners, so thank you! I also read a backlist title that will be on my list of favorite books of the year; an adorable epistolary middle grade novel; and some nonfiction that sadly did not live up to my expectations.
Kendra, I have similar memories of traveling as a child. Wouldn’t it be fun to compare notes sometime?
I’m so glad you found great books for your reading list here! (I can see you’ve had a busy month, reading-wise!) Thanks for sharing your recent reads with us in Quick Lit.
My summer reading is off to an exciting start! Besides longer days and vacation plans, there is a summer book bingo happening at work. So far my reads have all been so different from each other and what I’ve recently read which is refreshing. https://avikinginla.com/2023/07/what-ive-been-reading-lately-june-2023/
True Biz sounds fascinating. I haven’t ever read a novel with a deaf character.
My reading the last month was pretty excellent but now it has kind of dropped off. We just returned from vacation and I hardly read anything! But, that’s because we were having so much fun with our adult children.
I’m sharing 8 books in my latest post including 4 audiobooks. Two of the books on my list are so far my top 2 books of the year.
True Biz was one of my favorites last year! Another great one if anyone’s interested in books with deaf characters (this time with a deaf-blind character) is A Sign for Home by Blair Fell.
If you enjoyed reading True Biz and learning about the deaf community, I highly recommend the Sign for Home, by Blair Fell. The book is very different, but you get to learn about the deaf/blind community and how people in that community function in the modern world. The characters in the book are fantastic and the story is totally engaging.
Read several five star books! The Covenant of Water was wonderful, and I loved Oprah’s series of interviews with the author in her podcast soul series. Then read the Postcard by Anne Berest. Also very good. Needing a break, I read Funny you should ask by Elissa Sussman and If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook. This book was hilarious and touching at turns…really loved the family dynamic. Then read Yellowface… actually read 100 pages then skimmed to the end … too much like The Plot to me! Read My Murder by Williams next…just ok. Last book read was Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen…light and sweet.
True Biz sounds like a great pick for ‘a book that features 2 languages’ which is a prompt on the reading challenge I am doing.
I know MMD had gotten away from them, but I was struggling to pick my next books every time and the outside prompts help break through that decision paralysis while also helping me step out of the comfortable ruts where I know I’ll like a book even if I know I probably won’t love it.
I am reading Expensive People by Joyce Carol Oates and thoroughly enjoying it. I saw it on my library’s website and thought it would be interesting, and I’m glad I chose something different to read.
Nancy, I was intimidated by the length of Birnam Wood but zipped right through it (thanks in no small part to a good amount of white space in the print version). The “quick” in quick lit reviews to the short and sweet reviews, not necessarily the length of the book. 🙂
Love this list!
I recently finished Where You See Yourself. A lighthearted yet impactful novel about a young person in a wheelchair trying to navigate a world that still isn’t as ADA compliant as it pretends to be.
Have been a non-fiction kick this summer. Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara’s remarkable story of developing NYC’s Eleven Madison Park restaurant into one of the world’s top culinary destinations, caused me to try and book reservations, and I’m far from a foodie. Fans of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential might see similarities, but without the sarcasm. Aso Harrison Scott Key’s How to Stay Married is a page turner. Key continues the laugh-out-loud narrative characteristic of his first two books but throws a curve ball with a poignant and heart-wrenching look inside the life of his family when his wife admitted to being unfaithful.
Thanks for new tbr list. You always have gems. I have one for you. Go as a River by Shelley Read. It was a wonderful story about the coming of age of a young Colorado woman.
I just finished Ghost Forest by Pick-Shuen Fong and absolutely. loved. it! I laughed. I cried. I reflected. I related. It was recommended on a recent WSIRN episode by Amy Jo Burns. I borrowed it from the library, but may need a copy of my own now.
I am in the middle of Maggie Smith’s memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful. Another borrow from the library that I need for my own shelf…and to pass on to the many friends I can’t help but think need to read this too. I love her accountability and her authenticity in describing the beginning, middle and end of a marriage. It’s so beautifully told.
I’m so glad you enjoyed Ghost Forest! I also read You Could Make This Place Beautiful and thought it was so well done … but golly, it was hard to read. Beautifully told and so, so sad.
I loved Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. It was such a fun read! I have not read anything by David Lebovitz. I need to add him to my TBR list. I recently read two five-star reads, so my summer reading has been great. https://fromourbookshelf.com/june-reading-2023/
I recently had some spaciousness in my days–several days devoted almost entirely to reading. The days began with a shopping spree at Once Upon a Crime bookstore in Minneapolis. So much fun. You can read about my reading days here. http://livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/2023/07/13/reading-days/ Thanks Anne for all your reading support.
Anne, what fun for your family to enjoy such an incredible trip! I’ve been itching for a non-cozy mystery, and I’m definitely going to check out Birnamn Wood!
This month, I enjoyed The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry, and I was SO SAD that I didn’t enjoy Sophie Irwin’s A Lady’s Guide to Scandal (because I loved her debut so much). It was also fun to read the first Jack Zulu book, a middle-grade fantasy that S. D. Smith wrote with his son—aweeee!
The God of Animals looks like a book I would enjoy. I read almost exclusively by listening to audiobooks and my Kindle app, and I can’t find this book anywhere but in print. Did you read the paper version?
Also, I just read One Italian Summer and LOVED it! How did it miss being on the 2023 Summer Reading Guide?
Loving all your recommendations!!
I just read Birnham Wood and was quite frustrated with the ending. I first felt it had been a waste of my time however the story has stuck with me. It would definitely be a good book club read.
I hear you! It both felt completely right and not what I wanted, and like you, I KEEP thinking about it! It would be wonderful to talk about all that in a book club setting.
True Biz is one of my favourite reads of the year – a page-turner with a good bit of substance to it. It will make a great book club choice, I definitely wanted to discuss the issues it raised with other people. For a light summer read I thoroughly enjoyed Holly Smale’s book The Cassandra Complex – published in the US under a different title I think – a fun read.
I’m so excited that you chose True Biz for a book club pick. I went to grad school at Gallaudet University, which is the only fully deaf university in America. Grad students can be hearing, which is why I was allowed to go. I was immersed in the Deaf world for 3 years and it’s such a rich and beautiful culture that so few people know about. The book was an excellent representation of a deaf school and community, and the fights over cochlear implants and oral vs ASL education are a very heated reality. Neither of my children are deaf but I felt really good after that experience, that if I did have a deaf child I knew exactly how to raise them.
My favorite book of the summer has been The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, by Marianne Cronin, featuring a 17 year old and 83 year old who meet in a hospital art therapy class and realize that between the two of them, they have lived exactly 100 years. Quirky and loveable characters, beautiful clever writing, and set in Glasgow (my husband and I had just visited in March) this book reaffirms the kindness of humans and is fantastic on audio.
Finished reading The Slow Horse series of books by Mick Herron. I don’t have Apple+ to stream the series, but the books are very good, and while I’m sure I missed some of the British references and humor, they were an engaging read, and I liked that the author wasn’t afraid to kill off some of his characters. My brother, who recommended these books, says it’s the most dangerous place to work in Britain.
The God of Animals sounds AWESOME, and because it’s not new, I was able to snag a hb copy of it free from paperbackswap. I can’t wait!! Anne, since you now admit that you like horse stories and you come from the Kentucky Derby-Thoroughbred Stud Farm–Bluegrass State, I want to recommend, again, HORSE HEAVEN! The title makes it sound silly, but it’s anything but, this is a book by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jane Smiley! But it’s great horse stuff. Audio as well. I inhale every syllable every time I read/listen to it.
I recently read We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates for my book club, and found that to be to my liking but really tugged on my feelings and made me sad! I also listened to Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau and The Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife on audio and ADORED both books. So, so wholesome, funny, and delightful. I’m almost positive both were made known to me by WSIRN, because, like most others, that’s where a large majority of my reading choices comes from.
Happy continued summer reading! 🙂
Thank you for the suggestions — I updated my TBR 🙂
I just finished You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (LOVED IT!!!), and am starting on Drinking Games by Sarah Levy today.
Earlier this summer I read a novel set in Paris called The Forgotten Bookshop. It bounces back and forth between present day and WWII Paris but centers on the same bookshop. And it involves finding and renovating an apartment! You might like this one, Anne. I also just finished The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern. This one I couldn’t put down.
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57 comments
So glad to learn about A Quiet Life. Thanks, Anne!
One of my favorite books this month was “Imagine Reading This Book.” 🙂 Here are all 9 books I recommend.
https://lisanotes.com/books-i-recommend-june-2023/
My mini reviews include an August new release that everyone should read and a few romance novels I adored!
https://neverenoughnovels.com/2023/07/14/july-2023-mini-book-reviews/
I think I know what my favorite memoir is for 2023. It might be yours, too.
And I have a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card giveaway going on to celebrate a blogging milestone.
http://www.lindastoll.net/2023/07/porch-100-50-barnes-noble-gift-card.html
Anne, I’m so glad that you were able to make a family vacation happen—what a gift to them and to you. I had the opportunity to travel internationally with my family when I was a teen and young adult, and those were such memorable trips.
I have YOU to thank for recommending at least three of the books I read this month (a short story collection, some fantasy, and a sweet romance), and all were winners, so thank you! I also read a backlist title that will be on my list of favorite books of the year; an adorable epistolary middle grade novel; and some nonfiction that sadly did not live up to my expectations.
https://kendranicole.net/july-2023-quick-lit/
Kendra, I have similar memories of traveling as a child. Wouldn’t it be fun to compare notes sometime?
I’m so glad you found great books for your reading list here! (I can see you’ve had a busy month, reading-wise!) Thanks for sharing your recent reads with us in Quick Lit.
My summer reading is off to an exciting start! Besides longer days and vacation plans, there is a summer book bingo happening at work. So far my reads have all been so different from each other and what I’ve recently read which is refreshing.
https://avikinginla.com/2023/07/what-ive-been-reading-lately-june-2023/
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers sounds great! What a brilliant title.
Here’s what I’ve been reading: https://readeatrepeat.net/2023/07/15/books-in-progress-what-ive-been-reading-lately-july-2023/
True Biz sounds fascinating. I haven’t ever read a novel with a deaf character.
My reading the last month was pretty excellent but now it has kind of dropped off. We just returned from vacation and I hardly read anything! But, that’s because we were having so much fun with our adult children.
I’m sharing 8 books in my latest post including 4 audiobooks. Two of the books on my list are so far my top 2 books of the year.
https://www.sincerelystacie.com/2023/07/quick-lit-mini-reviews-of-some-recent-reads-july-2023-edition/
True Biz was one of my favorites last year! Another great one if anyone’s interested in books with deaf characters (this time with a deaf-blind character) is A Sign for Home by Blair Fell.
Here’s what I read last month: https://www.mindjoggle.com/june-2023-book-reviews/
I just made the same comment about The Sign for Home!
The Sign for Home is actually our flight pick to go with True Biz in MMD Book Club! Great suggestion.
I’m not a horse book person typically, but the Flambards series by K M Peyton (written in the 60s but set earlier) is absolutely delightful!
I saw the Flambards series featured on Youtube about a year ago but for the life of me could not remember the name. Thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed Birnam Wood. Very well done. I will say I enjoyed her earlier book The Luminaries more, but they’re very different books.
If you enjoyed reading True Biz and learning about the deaf community, I highly recommend the Sign for Home, by Blair Fell. The book is very different, but you get to learn about the deaf/blind community and how people in that community function in the modern world. The characters in the book are fantastic and the story is totally engaging.
My latest reads, some really good ones!
https://frommycarolinahome.com/2023/06/30/book-reviews-and-a-giveaway/
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers and The God of Animals both sound like books I have to read! Thanks for sharing!
Read several five star books! The Covenant of Water was wonderful, and I loved Oprah’s series of interviews with the author in her podcast soul series. Then read the Postcard by Anne Berest. Also very good. Needing a break, I read Funny you should ask by Elissa Sussman and If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook. This book was hilarious and touching at turns…really loved the family dynamic. Then read Yellowface… actually read 100 pages then skimmed to the end … too much like The Plot to me! Read My Murder by Williams next…just ok. Last book read was Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen…light and sweet.
True Biz sounds like a great pick for ‘a book that features 2 languages’ which is a prompt on the reading challenge I am doing.
I know MMD had gotten away from them, but I was struggling to pick my next books every time and the outside prompts help break through that decision paralysis while also helping me step out of the comfortable ruts where I know I’ll like a book even if I know I probably won’t love it.
I’m happy to hear the challenge is working for you, and that you found a book to fit your prompt!
I am reading Expensive People by Joyce Carol Oates and thoroughly enjoying it. I saw it on my library’s website and thought it would be interesting, and I’m glad I chose something different to read.
Very cool! I’ve never read any JCO. Would you recommend?
What an interesting title—I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far!
One of my book group members suggested Birnam Wood. I was concerned as it has a long page count. How does it belong in Quick Lit?
Nancy, I was intimidated by the length of Birnam Wood but zipped right through it (thanks in no small part to a good amount of white space in the print version). The “quick” in quick lit reviews to the short and sweet reviews, not necessarily the length of the book. 🙂
Love this list!
I recently finished Where You See Yourself. A lighthearted yet impactful novel about a young person in a wheelchair trying to navigate a world that still isn’t as ADA compliant as it pretends to be.
Have been a non-fiction kick this summer. Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara’s remarkable story of developing NYC’s Eleven Madison Park restaurant into one of the world’s top culinary destinations, caused me to try and book reservations, and I’m far from a foodie. Fans of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential might see similarities, but without the sarcasm. Aso Harrison Scott Key’s How to Stay Married is a page turner. Key continues the laugh-out-loud narrative characteristic of his first two books but throws a curve ball with a poignant and heart-wrenching look inside the life of his family when his wife admitted to being unfaithful.
I’m next on the library list for How to Stay Married! And Unreasonable Hospitality sounds intriguing: thanks for sharing!
As usual a lot of books to add to my Libby queue.
Thanks for new tbr list. You always have gems. I have one for you. Go as a River by Shelley Read. It was a wonderful story about the coming of age of a young Colorado woman.
I just finished Ghost Forest by Pick-Shuen Fong and absolutely. loved. it! I laughed. I cried. I reflected. I related. It was recommended on a recent WSIRN episode by Amy Jo Burns. I borrowed it from the library, but may need a copy of my own now.
I am in the middle of Maggie Smith’s memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful. Another borrow from the library that I need for my own shelf…and to pass on to the many friends I can’t help but think need to read this too. I love her accountability and her authenticity in describing the beginning, middle and end of a marriage. It’s so beautifully told.
I should add with Maggie’s memoir, I also laughed, cried, reflected, and related so, so much. She makes me feel seen.
I’m so glad you enjoyed Ghost Forest! I also read You Could Make This Place Beautiful and thought it was so well done … but golly, it was hard to read. Beautifully told and so, so sad.
I loved Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. It was such a fun read! I have not read anything by David Lebovitz. I need to add him to my TBR list. I recently read two five-star reads, so my summer reading has been great. https://fromourbookshelf.com/june-reading-2023/
I had a few great reads this past month!
https://cocoonofbooks.blogspot.com/2023/07/what-ive-been-reading-lately-quick-lit.html
I watched Magpie Murders on PBS! I haven’t read the book but the show was great.
I recently had some spaciousness in my days–several days devoted almost entirely to reading. The days began with a shopping spree at Once Upon a Crime bookstore in Minneapolis. So much fun. You can read about my reading days here. http://livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/2023/07/13/reading-days/ Thanks Anne for all your reading support.
Nancy, that sounds delightful!
Anne, what fun for your family to enjoy such an incredible trip! I’ve been itching for a non-cozy mystery, and I’m definitely going to check out Birnamn Wood!
This month, I enjoyed The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry, and I was SO SAD that I didn’t enjoy Sophie Irwin’s A Lady’s Guide to Scandal (because I loved her debut so much). It was also fun to read the first Jack Zulu book, a middle-grade fantasy that S. D. Smith wrote with his son—aweeee!
https://bookdevotions.com/book-reviews-june-2023/
The God of Animals looks like a book I would enjoy. I read almost exclusively by listening to audiobooks and my Kindle app, and I can’t find this book anywhere but in print. Did you read the paper version?
Also, I just read One Italian Summer and LOVED it! How did it miss being on the 2023 Summer Reading Guide?
Loving all your recommendations!!
I did read the paper version of The God of Animals. It looks like an audiobook was recorded, but it’s possible it’s only available on cd.
One Italian Summer came out in late winter 2022, so I didn’t consider it for the 2023 Summer Reading Guide.
I just read Birnham Wood and was quite frustrated with the ending. I first felt it had been a waste of my time however the story has stuck with me. It would definitely be a good book club read.
I hear you! It both felt completely right and not what I wanted, and like you, I KEEP thinking about it! It would be wonderful to talk about all that in a book club setting.
True Biz is one of my favourite reads of the year – a page-turner with a good bit of substance to it. It will make a great book club choice, I definitely wanted to discuss the issues it raised with other people. For a light summer read I thoroughly enjoyed Holly Smale’s book The Cassandra Complex – published in the US under a different title I think – a fun read.
It’s been a sloooooow month since the last quick lit. Summer busyness and lack of school reading have me in a bit of a rut.
The Last Ranger 3/5
Kitchens of the Great Midwest 3.5/5
Check out our website for tiny reviews and story summaries:
https://theshoreystories.com
I listened to Kitchens of the Great Midwest and rated it the same.
I’m so excited that you chose True Biz for a book club pick. I went to grad school at Gallaudet University, which is the only fully deaf university in America. Grad students can be hearing, which is why I was allowed to go. I was immersed in the Deaf world for 3 years and it’s such a rich and beautiful culture that so few people know about. The book was an excellent representation of a deaf school and community, and the fights over cochlear implants and oral vs ASL education are a very heated reality. Neither of my children are deaf but I felt really good after that experience, that if I did have a deaf child I knew exactly how to raise them.
I’m so glad you shared from your experience. Thank you, Julie!
My favorite book of the summer has been The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, by Marianne Cronin, featuring a 17 year old and 83 year old who meet in a hospital art therapy class and realize that between the two of them, they have lived exactly 100 years. Quirky and loveable characters, beautiful clever writing, and set in Glasgow (my husband and I had just visited in March) this book reaffirms the kindness of humans and is fantastic on audio.
This sounds great and it’s going on my list. Thank you!
Finished reading The Slow Horse series of books by Mick Herron. I don’t have Apple+ to stream the series, but the books are very good, and while I’m sure I missed some of the British references and humor, they were an engaging read, and I liked that the author wasn’t afraid to kill off some of his characters. My brother, who recommended these books, says it’s the most dangerous place to work in Britain.
The God of Animals sounds AWESOME, and because it’s not new, I was able to snag a hb copy of it free from paperbackswap. I can’t wait!! Anne, since you now admit that you like horse stories and you come from the Kentucky Derby-Thoroughbred Stud Farm–Bluegrass State, I want to recommend, again, HORSE HEAVEN! The title makes it sound silly, but it’s anything but, this is a book by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jane Smiley! But it’s great horse stuff. Audio as well. I inhale every syllable every time I read/listen to it.
Thank you for the recommendation!
I recently read We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates for my book club, and found that to be to my liking but really tugged on my feelings and made me sad! I also listened to Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau and The Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife on audio and ADORED both books. So, so wholesome, funny, and delightful. I’m almost positive both were made known to me by WSIRN, because, like most others, that’s where a large majority of my reading choices comes from.
Happy continued summer reading! 🙂
Thank you for the suggestions — I updated my TBR 🙂
I just finished You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (LOVED IT!!!), and am starting on Drinking Games by Sarah Levy today.
Thank you for sharing this impressive list! I will definitely be adding a few to my list. Happy reading!
Earlier this summer I read a novel set in Paris called The Forgotten Bookshop. It bounces back and forth between present day and WWII Paris but centers on the same bookshop. And it involves finding and renovating an apartment! You might like this one, Anne. I also just finished The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern. This one I couldn’t put down.