Reading Wrap-Up: July 2026

An odd reading month with some new release winners, backlist surprises, and an unpopular opinion or two. Here's a recap of the seven books I finished in July.

For me, July felt weird, challenging, lovely, odd. And I must admit my reading throughout the month felt similarly. Books I expected to love, I didn’t; a reread (which I rarely do) inspired me more than I imagined; and a couple of brand-new releases saved the day.

I read seven books in July, five fiction and two nonfiction, with quite mixed results and opinions. As always, I’m happy to answer questions and discuss any of the books more in depth in the comment section below. And while you’re there, let me know if you’ve read any of these as well as your top book of the month!

August Book Club:

Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

If your work involves other people in any way, shape, or form - particularly in some type of service setting - I definitely recommend giving Unreasonable Hospitality a read! It’s exciting to follow Guidara’s quest to have his restaurant awarded among the best in the industry, with all the ups and downs along the way, but even more so it’s inspiring how much care and energy they put into serving others and the difference it makes.

We’ll be discussing this online and in person later in August. You can find details for the Reading And Purpose Nonfiction Book Club here, and watch for the members’ only Reading + Reflection Guide to come out next week!

July Reading Wrap-Up

Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan

We’re starting with my final read of the month, and ultimately my favorite fiction of the month as well. I am usually not a huge romance reader, barring a few exceptions, but I have read all five of Monaghan’s books and have thoroughly enjoyed all five, too! Dolly All The Time is both fun and touching, providing a peek into an extremely wealthy lifestyle (think yachts and private helicopters) while remaining relatable and understandable (think relationship challenges and issues with anxiety). The setup of this fake dating story felt believable - not always an easy mark to hit - and I loved the transformation of nearly all the characters by the end. Monaghan wins for me every time!

“The way he caught my eye in the kitchen…like he’d been waiting his whole life to do me a huge favor.” - Annabel Monaghan

How To Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) by Barbara Kingsolver

Is there anything Barbara Kingsolver cannot write? I think not. While attempting to put her upcoming novel, Partita (coming out in October and I cannot wait), on early hold at the library, I discovered she had written this poetry collection back in 2020 and had to check it out as well. Overall this was lovely; I especially enjoyed her nature focus within many of these poems and was often reminded of Mary Oliver’s gorgeous writing while reading. I tabbed several lines as well as a few entire poems for future reference, and while I’ve never met Kingsolver, I feel like I know her a little better now through her poetry.

“Always we walk each other home. // And always we walk some of it alone.” - Barbara Kingsolver

The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams

I checked this one out of the library when it was announced as a pick for one of the book clubs in which I am a member. Published in 2017, this is the first in a small-town mystery series (not sure I would describe it as ‘cozy’ though, as some of it was quite dark) that now includes nine books and counting. I won’t go into too much detail here since our book club discussion hasn’t occurred yet, but I can (probably confusingly) sum it up by saying I both read it very quickly and also don’t plan to continue the series. Sometimes book club discussions change my mind on this, however, so we shall see.

North Woods by Daniel Mason

Possibly the most unpopular opinion ever, based on the thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of glowing reviews for this book, but this one just did not resonate with me. Mason’s clever and uniquely-styled writing definitely kept me going; while I fairly easily DNF (Do Not Finish - or consciously decide to put a book down, even if I’m many pages into it), I did not want/feel compelled to DNF this one - but I also just didn’t love my reading experience with it. After completing the book and writing my own mini-book report (I always try to capture my own thoughts before seeing what others say), I read and listened to several deep dives and still did not feel any shift in my initial opinions. Either I completely missed something that everyone else seemed to get, including those who read similarly to me, or this book simply was not for me. If you’ve read North Woods, I’d love to hear your thoughts below - I feel I am definitely in the minority here!

An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton

Much of what I wrote about Annabel Monaghan above applies to Chanel Cleeton as well - I believe this is my ninth book of hers and I consistently enjoy them. She always writes strong female characters, gripping storylines, and provides unique takes on topics or places about which I often know very little. An Infinite Love Story felt like a bit of a departure for her, focusing around space travel and even (maybe?) a bit of sci-fi, which I wasn’t expecting. Interestingly, after not reading space-related books for possibly decades, this is my third in recent memory (Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere last year and Cecile Pin’s Celestial Lights a few months ago), and I have found value in all three of them. I truly enjoy Cleeton’s writing and consider her a favorite author.

The English Teacher by Lily King

This book marks further progress made on one of my four reading intentions of 2026, so that feels satisfying! And while I adore Lily King’s writing, this book proved a bit challenging for me; it’s over 20 years old and one of her first published novels, so I take that into consideration when reflecting on my thoughts. I absolutely flew through Heart The Lover last year, same with Writers And Lovers a few years prior (and which remains an all-time favorite), so the fact that The English Teacher took me two weeks to read tells me a lot. Even so, I will still read anything and everything King publishes, and I also still found many beautiful gems of writing within this one, too.

“She was soothed again by the sensation she’d had in her kitchen the day he proposed, that this was practice, and that the real event, the one that counted, the one that would be graded and put in the book, would happen later, when she had studied harder and knew her lines.” - Lily King

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel

Unless they are picks for the Reading And Purpose Nonfiction Book Club, I rarely reread books in their entirety, so my complete (re)immersion in Murakami’s took me by surprise! I found this as an ‘available now’ audiobook on Libby and it hit the spot. Written (and read by me the first time) over 15 years ago, this book offers a wonderful collection of thoughts about life as a writer and long-distance runner; I loved the unique connections he made between the two. He offered some surprisingly poignant points along the way, such as the bond you can develop with other runners you see on the trails every day even if you never actually have a full-on conversation with them. I have never read any of Murakami’s fiction (please let me know below if you have any recommendations!) but I felt really inspired and encouraged by this piece of nonfiction.

“Running every day is a kind of lifeline for me, so I’m not going to lay off or quit just because I’m busy. If I used being busy as an excuse not to run, I’d never run again. I have only a few reasons to keep on running, and a truckload of them to quit. All I can do is keep those few reasons nicely polished.” - Haruki Murakami

June was an absolutely stellar reading month with some favorites of the year appearing; July was surprising in all kinds of ways. I can’t wait to see what August reading will bring!

In the meantime, be sure to share your thoughts, favorites, and what you’re currently reading below - I’d love to hear!

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