July Reading Recap

It was a mixed bag.

I finished 7 books in July— two of them were about hurricanes and made me certain I will never move to Florida. Although I didn’t have any 5 star books, my favorites were a memoir and a literary mystery set in Maine. My summer reading has been winding down, and I’m ready for summer to be over. I’m done with these extremely high temperatures (although they are sure to continue into October) and I’m looking forward to fall books and cozy season!

The Midcoast by Adam White

I heard this compared to Long Bright River by Liz Moore, and while it wasn’t quite as much of a mystery, I do see the comparison! This is set in Maine and follows the narrator Andrew as he works to uncover the secrets of the Thatch’s family wealth. It’s not very fast-paced, but I didn’t find it to be slow. I loved the setting and thought the mystery was really interesting. I love watching book previews, virtual events put on by bookstores to showcase what titles are coming soon, and this was on two book previews but then I didn’t hear any more about it! So, I’m glad it made it’s way into my hands. Read if you liked: the show Mare of Easttown, The Great Gatsby or Long Bright River.

Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermanksy

Listen, I did not like this book. I wouldn’t have finished it if I weren’t listening to the audiobook on a long drive home from Chicago. It is about a woman who moves from the west coast to the east coast, buys a home on the beach, only to have that home destroyed by a hurricane a week after she moves in. What! I think the author was trying to do something that I didn’t get. It was disjointed and weird and thankfully short, but this one was not for me. Read if you liked: Fleabag or The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve.

The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger

As if one hurricane book wasn’t enough, I picked up another! This book was blurbed by two of my favorite authors: Mary Beth Keene, author of Ask Again, Yes and Miranda author of The Paper Palace, but it is completely different than either of their writing styles. Basically, the first category 6 hurricane makes landfall in Miami, a very wealthy family has to evacuate without their husband/father because he’s a doctor who stays behind to evacuate his hospital. The family spends the majority of the novel in a FEMA shelter in Oklahoma. I’m not sure if I liked it or not. I didn’t like any of the characters, (especially a sleazy insurance agent) and the story felt a little convuluted. It was really well-written but I’ve ready so much climate fiction this summer (hello, Parable of the Sower) that I think I’m just depressed about the state of our planet’s future. Read if you liked: Schitt’s Creek or the film The Impossible.

Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

This comes out in November, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC! This is the story of two teenagers who create a controversial poster with their own artwork during the summer of 1996. Although it does follow the characters into adulthood, most of the story takes place in the 90s when they’re teenagers. I’ve long suspected that I don’t like novels that feature young protaganists (We Run the Tides, The Goldfinch, The Lincoln Highway). There are exceptions! But this just didn’t work for me. It felt like a satire, I thought the characters were a bit silly, and I didn’t see the big deal with the hubbub around the artwork. I think the other problem was that it was too similar in some ways to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, but definitely not as good. One of my most trusted book sources loved this so I’m sure my opinion will be in the minority! Read if you liked Kevin Wilson’s other books or coming of age stories.

Also A Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me by Ada Calhoun

There are always so many fiction books released every month that I want to read that I often forget about my love of nonfiction! I really enjoy memoir, and I found this one to be unique, very well-written and a love letter to New York City. I have a nonexistant relationship with my father so that aspect of the story was relatable and at times hilarious. I loved the insights into Ada’s career in publishing and thought that her voice was fresh, vulnerable, and I could feel the genuineness of her words through the page. Read if you liked: Ruth Reichel’s books, Educated or Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

I’ve read all of Blake Crouch’s stand alone books, and I feel like this was the novel that he’s been wanting to write while he was writing the others. He is a gifted storyteller who has a way of writing literary science fiction for readers who don’t normally read a lot of science fiction—like me! It’s about a federal agent who’s DNA gets an upgrade that he didn’t ask for. In my spicy opinion, I thought this one was fine. I liked Recursion better (and maybe Dark Matter better too? :/) I thought it was a bit repetitive. But, this was a really fun book to read, it was perfect for a summer vacation by the lake, and it is possible that my expectations were too high, because almost all the reviews I’ve seen have been positive. Read if you liked: Crouch’s other books, Captain America, the movie Limitless.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Have you ever read the synopsis of a book and thought wow, a this is genius. Well, that’s what I thought about the plot for this book. It’s about Leah who goes on a research expedition in a submarine, is expected to be gone for 3 weeks and ends up being stuck under the sea for 6 months. At the beginning, you learn that she has returned but doesn’t have many details about what happened and she’s acting strange. Her wife Miri is floundering as she tries to find out what is going on. It sounds like a very plot driven book, but it was actually more about the characters and their relationship. I found the facts about deep sea exploration so interesting and was Googling things left and right. The ending was disappointing and a little anti-climactic, but it was still very unique and well-written. Read if you liked: The Hidden by Melanie Golding or The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex.

I’d love to know what you read in July! Has your summer reading been hot or not?