July: What I Read

SO MANY excellent books this month.  And also a lot of pretty OK ones that moved quickly and kept me reading which may actually be my favorite summer books.  I was a going a book a day for awhile there, but I tapered off and decided to drool at my phone screen in my spare time instead.  Good life choice, really.

Pretty Okay Summer Reads

14. Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner:  This is the first in a new woman-detective series, but it just didn't do anything for me.

13. Startup by Doree Shafrir:  A great send up of start-up culture.  This book was less satisfying than I wanted it to be, with no memorable characters.

12. The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers:  A quick pool-side read that was really engaging.

11. The Child by Fiona Barton:  It took me awhile to get into this book, but it kept me guessing longer than it probably should have.

10. The Gypsy Moth Summer by Julia Fierro:  This book is tense and also intense.  I loved her descriptions of summer, and it's a perfect read for hot weather.

9. Everlasting by Nancy Thayer:  I read this book they year it came out-- 1991-- and then about 50 times after that.  I checked it out on a whim and fell in love again. If you haven't read this book, DO IT.  The epitome of breezy chick lit.

Books for Any Month

8. The Destruction of Hillary Clinton by Susan Bordo:  Bordo is preaching to the choir for me OBVI, but this book is a resounding YES.

7.  Marlena by Julie Buntin:  I will not be able to get the protagonist and her BFF out of my mind of a long time.

6. A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan:  I LOVED the author's voice and the plot and her take on working motherhood.

5. Leave Me by Gayle Forman:  Read this!  If you feel beleaguered by your work and kid responsibility-- READ THIS.  I blew through it at a baseball tournament-- so, so good.

4. Small Hours by Jennifer Kitses:  This is so well-paced and suspenseful even though it's not a thriller or a mystery.  I loved it.

These Should All Be #1s, and You Should Read Them Right Now

3. This Is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel:  Maybe I fell so hard for this book about a family with a transgender 5 year-old because it skewers Madison so precisely and brutally, but there's more to love.  The characters are flawed and wonderfully drawn, and the story is so lovingly told-- read it!

2. American War by Omar El Akkad:  I hate dystopian fiction these days because the news is enough for me, but this book!  It is set after American's next Civil War and focuses on Southern survivors, and it is just too real.

1. Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan:  A story of a family of Irish immigrants in Boston-- this book has it all-- great characters, an interesting plot, a sweeping timeline  I absolutely loved it and could not put it down.