Everything I Read in July 2025

July was a great month of reading: well-rounded and very satisfying! I mixed in a little bit of everything: some literary fiction, some contemporary, a few thrillers, and (somewhat surprisingly?) more historical fiction than usual. A nice balance!

Also surprising: the thrillers were my least favorite this month. I gave each of them a B: solid, but not spectacular. Sometimes I worry I’m burning out on thrillers. When you read as much as I do, it’s hard to be surprised. (If you’re curious, head to The Library, select “thrillers,” and filter by grade to see my all-time favorites.) Everything else I read, I’d wholeheartedly recommend. The Names and Finding Grace were particular standouts… I can’t stop thinking about either one! 

As always, I’d love to hear what you’re reading—drop your recs in the comments. I truly shop them every month!

everything i read in july 2025

Contemporary Fiction

The Names, by Florence Knapp

This is a truly special book, one that you will think about long after you finish reading. If you loved The Midnight Library, you’ll love this. The books are very different, but also very similar in terms of that sort of Sliding Doors sort of vibe. Cora is about to register the name of her newborn son. She could name him Gordon as she is expected to do, after a long line of Gordons (none of them – including her abusive, controlling husband, are particularly remarkable or people she wants her newborn son to emulate), or she could go in a different direction. There’s Bear (her daughter Maia’s choice) and there is Julian (her choice). The book explores the next thirty-five years, all depending on whether the baby was named Gordon, Bear, or Julian. The gigantic impact of tiny choices. What happens when you rebel. What happens when you submit and stay in an unhappy marriage. And the ripple effect on everyone else. Based on the names she chose, each version of Cora, Maia, her husband, and the boy all lived such different lives. I found it unputdownable. Some chapters felt like a thriller, others a romance. And it’s such a creative premise. This is, in my humble opinion, one of the best books of summer. Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Romance

Square Waves, by Alexandra Romanaoff

A new book from 831 stories, and this is fun, because it’s from the Big Fan universe. You don’t have to have read that one to enjoy this, but if you did read it, it will be fun. Remember poor Cassidy Weaver, the intern at the center of the political scandal that unraveled Maya’s marriage? She is our protagonist. It’s six years after the scandal and she’s working for an anti-bullying nonprofit. When she is encouraged by her boss to take some time off, she heads home to Berkeley, to camp out at her parents’ house for three weeks and figure out next steps. On her first night back, she runs into her old nemesis, Leon. Sparks fly and they have a sexy night together. It’s supposed to be for just a night, until they find themselves helping the same mutual friend out before her big store opening. Cassidy begins to see Leon in a new light–one of respect and admiration. But Leon’s always been a slacker (and her sworn enemy). Can she trust him? More importantly, can she trust herself? Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Finding Grace, by Loretta Rothschild

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was so creative and unique; very different from what I’ve read. I don’t want to say too much as it would be really easy to give spoilers and I don’t want to: something significant happens right at the beginning of the book that smacks you over the head. We meet Honor and Tom, who have the seemingly perfect life. Their beautiful daughter Chloe, a gorgeous home in London. They are spending the holidays at The Ritz in Paris, when something shocking happens. Years later, Tom makes a controversial decision that will change the course of their family’s life. Old love clashes with new love, and there is (what feels like) an insurmountable moral dilemma. I’ll say no more, but this is quite the page turner. It’s a sweeping love story that reads like a propulsive thriller. With characters you love (that make heartbreaking decisions at times), it’s positively unputdownable. I highly recommend it! Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Historical Fiction

Peggy, by Rebecca Godfrey with Leslie Jamison

This is a fiction book about Peggy Guggenheim that reads like an autobiography or personal memoir. I have mixed emotions! I think it is so well done (I can’t imagine what Godfrey’s research process looked like!), but the book ends just as Peggy is opening her gallery. Frankly, that’s the part of her life that is most interesting to me, so it killed me a little bit to feel like we were just getting to the good stuff as it ended. That being said, I was so impressed by the writing. It was transportive and felt like it really was Peggy Guggenheim (the heiress, gallery founder, and legendary art collector) telling you her stories. And the stories of her younger years are genuinely intriguing. At age fourteen, her beloved (philandering) father dies aboard The Titanic. Her sisters have their own major dramas and struggles. We meet her husband Laurence, and see their marriage through to completion. I really loved it, I wish it was longer and covered the parts of Guggenheim’s life that I was most interested in. Tragically, the author Rebecca Godfrey died of lung cancer. Her friend Leslie Jamison finished the book. Overall Score: B+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Isola, by Allegra Goodman

This book is absolutely wonderful! I read it during my retreat and couldn’t get enough. Marguerite is born into nobility, but with both of her parents gone, her guardian takes care of her money. Her guardian, Robeval, is a mercurial man. Devout in faith, generous in some moments, cruel in others. She does not trust him, but relies on him and depends on him for her allowance. When Robeval loses everything and forces her to join her on an expedition to the new world, her world is shattered, but obeys. She finds herself drawn to her guardian’s secretary, and the two begin a secret affair. When Robeval learns of their affair, he banishes them to a remote island. There, Marguerite, Augustine (the secretary), and Marguerite’s nurse Damienne must learn to survive. From hunting and fishing to staying alive during the cold, stormy months, it is a tale of survival. I couldn’t put it down. The story is bold and engaging (and hard to believe that it is based upon a true story), the writing is beautiful, the characters… compelling. A really fantastic book. Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan

This is a little book (just around 115 pages!), but a powerful one. I didn’t realize it was a movie (starring Cillian Murphy), and it has garnered a tremendous amount of praise — shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and named one of The New York Times’ best books of the 21st Century. That aside, I enjoyed this. The writing is beautiful; it’s one of those books where you will want to savor every word. It is 1985 in a small Irish Town. Bill Furlong is the local coal merchant, a devoted husband, and father to five young girls. He comes from a rougher upbringing: he never knew his father, and luckily, his mother’s employer (an older single woman) took both him and his mother in. One morning, Furlong is delivering an order to the local convent when he makes a horrifying discovery. This discovery forces him to confront his past (and how his mother was treated) and his present (as a father to girls, in a town controlled by the church). I will say no more other than that I loved it so much and it brought me to tears! Overall Score: A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Thrillers

Happy Wife, by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores

This was a like, not a love. Enjoyable + fast-paced, but I did guess the twist and the killer. Nora Davies is a 28-year-old former swim instructor. She was flailing a little bit, unsure what she wanted to do with her life, a little bit lost, until she met handsome Will Somerset: an older-than-her (he’s 46), lawyer with a gigantic home in Winter Park, Florida. The two wind up eloping after a very brief courtship, and she finds herself married to a workaholic and hated by all the other wives (including his feisty ex, Constance). It is not easy: she has no job and no real life, aside from her new-money (also hated by the other wives) bestie, Este. On the evening of his birthday, Nora and Will throw a huge party, determined to win over their neighbors. Only: Will goes missing the next day, and he’s nowhere to be found. As Nora races to figure out what happened (and finds herself a suspect in his disappearance), her whole life is upended. This one is fun, but full of cliches. I would recommend it as a beach read, but there are so many other thrillers that I’ve liked better! Overall Score: B // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Parents Weekend, by Alex Finlay

This was another medium thriller. Did I enjoy reading it and speed through to find out what happened? Yes. Was it a book I truly loved and would recommend to everyone? Meh, not really! It is Parents Weekend at a small college in Northern California: five freshmen, five families. The families are meant to gather for the weekend’s opening ceremonies, but the kids don’t show up. Are the kids just being kids (irresponsible and forgetful), or is something darker at play? The story is told through the lens of each set of families, and we learn that (of course!) each family is keeping secrets. And when a young woman who was friendly with “The Five” (their new name for the media) turns up dead, it becomes a race to figure out where the kids are and what could have happened. Hours turn into days, campus police turn to the FBI, and search parties are formed. Where are the kids? Will they be okay? I will say no more. Overall Score: B // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org