Twelve books, omg. I am almost embarrassed to tell you how much I read this month because, truly, my social life was non-existent. The most exciting thing I did in July was a sleepover with my niece. Most of my friends were away, Geoff was in Denmark with the Boy Scouts, and I was just hanging out at home with my books.
Everything i read in July 2026
I have to say, I really loved everything I read this month. I did DNF a few titles, but everything that made this list is worth reading. My mom said that The Calamity Club is her favorite read of 2026 so far. A big statement, but I loved it so much. The characters were incredible; I want more! Other “loves” this month (a love would be equivalent to an A or A+ back when I was grading books) were A Killer Wedding, Love You More, Hollow Bones, and Whistler.
I know some of you are peeved that I removed the grades. I appreciate that feedback, and am working on making some changes to the library page to better highlight the books I loved most. And you’ll notice that I’ve added a new feature to each review to give you an idea of other books that are similar!
Lastly, I would really love to hear what you’re reading in the comments! And if you are new here, check out The Library. I have kept this page meticulously updated for the past twelve+ years. It has every book I’ve read, and you can search, filter by genre, and rank from best to worst.
PS – Last month’s list!
Thrillers
Julie Chan is Dead, by Liann Zhang
Julie Chan is DeadJulie Chan is struggling to make ends meet as a supermarket cashier. Meanwhile, her estranged twin sister, Chloe Van Huusen, is a popular influencer with what seems to be a glamorous career. The two were separated at a young age when their parents died, and Julie got the short end of the stick, while Chloe was adopted by a wealthy Manhattan couple. One night, Julie receives a call from Chloe that just says, “I’m sorry.” When Julie goes to her apartment, she finds her sister dead. Instead of calling the police, she steps into her sister’s “perfect” life full of high-end fashion, parties, and skincare. Will her followers notice? It seems easy enough at first, but Julie soon realizes that her sister’s life wasn’t as perfect as it had seemed. When she finds herself trapped on a private island with Chloe’s inner circle (an elite crew of influencers), she must keep up the act as events spiral out of control. Julie discovers sinister forces at work that may have led to her sister’s death. Is she next? Really Liked It!
Read this if you loved: Yellowface, The Herd // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
With Friends Like You, by Amy Chozick
Emily is in the thick of a postpartum haze. A new mom, feeling misunderstood by everyone in her life, missing her college roommate Daisy who disappeared after dancing at a seedy strip club. Emily begins a search for Daisy, convinced that if she can just find her, everything will be okay. The search takes her across message board after message board, to high-end strip clubs, then a trip to Atlantic City and then Texas. Just as she is about to give up, Daisy reappears, seemingly out of thin air. Daisy brings bakc a sense of purpose to Emily’s life. She has access to an empty luxury skyscraper, and the two use it to launch a luxury mother’s group: think matcha on tap, sleep pods, beautiful decor, Aperol Spritzes in the afternoon. But as the two grow closer, Emily needs to take a hard look at Daisy. Where has she been all these years? Is she the key to all of her problems or her undoing? It starts out slow and goes off the rails very quickly (in a good way!). I loved the ending and will be thinking about it for a while. Liked It!
Read this if you loved: Anything by Emma Rosenblum (especially Mean Moms), A Special Place for Women, or you really liked the ending of Yesteryear and want something that will give you that feeling. // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
The Housewife by Natalie Barelli
This was a wild ride, with loads of twists and turns along the way. Jodie grew up poor with abusive parents (and has only just now been released from jail after serving five years), but has built her dream life. She lives in LA and is married to a handsome, wealthy (older) therapist, Roy. They live in a gorgeous home, and she has everything she could ever want. She spends her days cooking and cleaning (which she genuinely loves) and butting heads with their housemaid, Marie. The other women in her neighborhood could be kinder, but ultimately? Her life is pretty ideal. Still, she can’t let go of the sneaking suspicion that Roy murdered his previous wife, Deborah. Everyone (including Roy) talks about Deborah constantly. There are photos of her all over the house. Is Jodie just jealous, or did Roy do something sinister? Liked It!
Read this if you loved: Any of Freida McFadden’s books (straightforward writing, loads of plot twists), Happy Wife // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Hot Girl Murder Club, by Ashley Winstead.
This was a wild ride, with loads of twists and turns. Ten years ago, Scout Sage and her best friend Isabel attended a swanky Hollywood party with Scout’s little sister Georgia. Only Georgia never made it out, she ended up murdered (in a case that remains unsolved). Now, in modern day, Scout has finally succeeded as a mid-tier popstar, with a close network of equally successful (hot, too!) girlfriends. When a slew of targetted murders makes L.A. headlines, all signs point to Scout as the killer. Scout knows she is being framed. Overnight, she goes from pop star to the world’s most famous alleged murderer. Everything she’s worked so hard to build is on the verge of falling apart unless she can prove she’s not guilty (or hand the FBI another suspect). Meanwhile, the young, ambitious detective assigned to her case is dealing with her own sister’s unsolved murder. As she dives deeper into her investigation, it seems like maybe these cases are all connected. I couldn’t put this down. It goes a little bit off the rails but is highly enjoyable, the sort of book that’s meant to be devoured in a single afternoon. Liked It!
Read this if you loved: The Comeback // Order on Amazon or Bookshop
The Unknown, by Riley Sager
In 1926, five women disappear from New Avalon, a remote island in Vermont. It’s rumored that the women were practicing witchcraft. The only remaining sign is five dresses hanging from the branches of an old tree. A hundred years later, a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery is about to begin filming, and Marin Keane is stunned to have been cast as one of the leads. The only catch? The cast and director must spend a weeklong research trip on the island. When Marin arrives on the island with her castmates, she is immediately awed. There’s Violet Wright, a legendary actress (I imagined Meryl Streep) and famed director Ronan Peters. It all seems too good to be true until cast members begin disappearing and she hears strange voices at night. When a health emergency leaves them stranded on the island without their phones, all bets are off. Is someone trying to derail the movie, or is the island’s rumored supernatural past actually coming true, a hundred years later? I couldn’t put this down. It was scary! I finished it in under 48 hours. Really Liked It!
Read this if you loved: Any of Riley Sager’s books, this feels classic Sager, right up there with The Only One Left, Final Girls, and The House Across The Lake // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
The Divorce, by Freida McFadden
I never miss a Freida McFadden book. I like to set aside the evening and read her books in one sitting, like watching a movie. That is how they are best consumed. I really liked this one; it had some great twists. Naomi is living her perfect life. She’s married to the man of her dreams, with an adorable son. Then, without any warning, he kicks her out, drains their accounts, hires a divorce lawyer, and takes up with a twenty-eight-year-old. Veronica is beautiful, charming, and kind . . . too good to be true, thinks Naomi. She quickly becomes obsessed with Veronica, fixating on her past and digging up old secrets. Naomi will go to any lengths to keep her family together, but at what cost? I flew through this, couldn’t put it down! The ending is a little bit off the rails, but that’s kind of the point! Really Liked It!
Read this if you loved: Any of Freida McFadden’s books. She has a formula. Straightforward writing and killer twists. This one is one of her better ones, in my opinion! // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
A Killer Wedding, by Joan O’Leary
This was an absolute delight; I couldn’t put it down. It has all of my favorite things: rich people behaving badly, the beauty industry . . . and, it’s partially set in Charleston. Christine Russo is a young journalist at Bespoke Weddings, and she’s just gotten the assignment of a lifetime: covering billionaire Gloria Beaufort’s favorite grandchild’s wedding. Gloria is the founder of the billion-dollar beauty empire Glo, and the wedding will be set in an old castle that’s been turned into a five-star hotel off the coast of Ireland. It sounds like a dream! A dream until: Gloria turns up dead on the first morning of the celebratory weekend. The family insists on having the wedding go business as usual, keeping Gloria’s death quiet until after the wedding. And as Christine gets to know the wedding party, she can’t help but wonder if one of them is her murderer. Fast-paced with loads of twists, this is unputdownable and extremely fun to read. Loved It!
Read this if you loved: The Guest List, by Lucy Foley, The Rules of Fortune, by Danielle Prescod . . . or anything with rich people behaving badly! // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Contemporary Fiction
The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett
Oh my goodness, this book. My mom kept telling me to read it (it’s her fave of 2026 so far), and I kept putting it off because it’s so long (nearly 650 pages). Don’t be like me. Read this immediately, though you will not be able to put it down. Birdie is living with her mother and grandmother in rural Mississippi. They are down on their luck and behind on taxes, so she heads to Oxford, Mississippi to visit her sister Frances. Frances has married into a well-to-do Southern family and Birdie hopes to ask them for a loan. All is not what it seems. Meanwhile, Meg (a smart and feisty eleven year old) is living in an orphanage, abandoned by her mother and hated by the head of the orphanage. When Birdie and Meg’s stories intersect (Birdie helps out with bookkeeping at the orphanage), the two form an unlikely bond. And when Charlie (a young woman fresh out of prison with nothing to lose) joins the plot, they make a plan to reclaim what they’ve lost. I loved this. I had absolutely no idea where it was going, so I won’t say anything more or give spoilers, just say that the story is incredible, the characters are delightful, and I wish there could be a sequel! Loved It!
Read this if you loved: The Help (obviously). To be honest, I haven’t read anything quite like this. The plot is really creative. I would say City of Girls in the slightest way (a huge compliment, I loved that one) because of the bold, brave feminist characters that jump off the page. // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Love You More, by Emily Giffin
Billie has built the life of her dreams. She’s a successful doctor in New York, running her own medical practice (with two of her best friends!). She’s newly engaged to a man she adores (Dean) after spending years trying to move on from Mick, her high school and college sweetheart. Everything seems absolutely perfect, until one morning, Billie gets a call from Mick. He has tragic news to deliver and in an instant, her whole world changes. Billie is pulled back to her hometown in Wisconsin. Old friendships, old choices, her old love. This made me cry (something that doen’t happen very often!). I really loved it — I read it in a single 24 hours because I couldn’t put it down. Loved It!
Read this if you loved: The Light We Lost (the books are very different, but tug on your heart in similar ways: read this if you want to have a good cry!) // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Hollow Bones, by Jodi Picoult
Like many Jodi Picoult books, the less you know, the better, so I’m purposely keeping my review a little bit vague. It’s better that way, trust me! I will note that there is a content warning for sexual abuse and postpartum psychosis. That out of the way, this one starts sleepy (the first hundred pages were a little slow for me) and then bonks you over the head with a big twist. So if you’re bored at first, stick with it — the payoff is worth it. Also, there is a fun tie-in to My Sister’s Keeper. Molly Fitzgerald runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, keeping the state safe from whatever disasters might occur. But when her own life is upended, everything implodes in a way that even she, the most prepared person ever, couldn’t have anticipated. This is packed with twists, it’s really heartwarming, and the storytelling is just as you’d expect (amazing!) from a Jodi Picoult book. Loved It!
Read this if you loved: The Lies That Bind // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Whistler, by Ann Patchett
I loved this and couldn’t put it down. The way that Ann Patchett builds characters and writes about family (especially complex family relationships) is incredible. Daphne is 53 years old and at The Met with her husband when they realize they might be being followed by an older gentleman. When they say hello, they realize he is actually Eddie — her beloved but estranged stepfather — her mother had divorced him when Daphne was nine, after a traumatic event. Daphne and Eddie form a new friendship as adults, determined to never let the other one go again. I loved the characters and wanted more of them. I wish Eddie was my friend; he’s one of the best characters I’ve read. I loved how imperfect each character was (but how you root for them all—there are no villains here). The book is simple in its nature, but wonderful. I felt completely transported to Daphne’s world and could picture every character so vividly. This one is definitely more characters > plot but the characters are so fabulous that they more than make up for the sleepier pace. Loved It!
Read this if you loved: Any of Ann Patchett’s books but especially The Dutch House or Tom Lake; if you love the way that she writes about family, you’ll really love this. // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Non-fiction
London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe
I listened to this book and found it to be so gripping. It’s the story of the Brettler family, living in London. One evening, their youngest nineteen-year-old son, Zac, jumped into the River Thames. Across town, his mother, Rachelle, is worried about him. Zac told her that he was staying with a friend, but then he didn’t come home. Days later, the police confirm her worst fear: her son was dead. As Rachelle and her husband Matthew struggle to understand what happened to their son, they unlock secret after secret. Zac had his troubles, but he never seemed suicidal. Only after his death did they learn that Zac had an alter ego. He’d been known to some as Zac Ismailov, the son of a Russian oligarch. Under this alias, he’d become entangled with slippery businessmen and gangsters. It’s a truly wild ride, I cannot believe it’s a true story. Liked It!
Read this if you love: The Talented Mr. Ripley, true crime podcasts! // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
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