Reading Lately – July Book Review

In 2022, I read a total of 43 books so I’m right on track to read at least the same in 2023 as I just wrapped up book 25 in July. I could definitely read more, but it amazes me to read this much as there was probably a 10-12 year gap when my number of books read each year was zero! A good book really helps me destress so I’m really glad it has been back in my life the last few years.

So let’s get to it! Here are the six books I’ve been reading lately for my July book review

Amazon: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweather Post lived an epic life few could imagine.

And yet Marjorie’s story, though full of beauty and grandeur, set in the palatial homes she built such as Mar-a-Lago, was equally marked by challenge and tumult. A wife four times over, Marjorie sought her happily-ever-after with the blue-blooded party boy who could not outrun his demons, the charismatic financier whose charm turned to betrayal, the international diplomat with a dark side, and the bon vivant whose shocking secrets would shake Marjorie and all of society. Marjorie did everything on a grand scale, especially when it came to love.

My thoughts: I actually read a little over half of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post back in February before it was returned to the library but checked it out once again in June and finished it up. It was interesting as it is historical fiction and I did enjoy it but it was not a sit on the edge of your seat page turner for me.

Amazon: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results. 

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.  

My thoughts: I had Lessons in Chemistry on hold for so long after seeing so many with this one on their list. While I did enjoy this book, I may have over hyped it based on the number of friends who loved it. It is always interesting to gain perspective on just how far women really have come in the world and the obstacles we have had to overcome. The main character, Elizabeth, is quirky but serious and willing to do whatever it takes to share her love of chemistry.

Amazon: It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they’ve reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living—that their lives mean something, to one another if not to themselves.

A deeply honest tribute to the growing pains of selfhood and the people who keep us going, coupled with Steven Rowley’s signature humor and heart, The Celebrants is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth and the beautiful ways in which friendship helps us celebrate our lives, even amid the deepest challenges of living.

My thoughts: Thoroughly enjoyed reading The Celebrants. It was heartwarming to see this group of friends turn back to one another for support through some of lifes most difficult times. Definitely made me think about those friends I would want in my circle.

Amazon: Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado―the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses.

Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives, unknowingly igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known. She flees into the surrounding mountains where she struggles to survive in the wilderness with no clear notion of what her future will bring. As the seasons change, she also charts the changes in herself, finding in the beautiful but harsh landscape the meaning and strength to move forward and rebuild all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River threatens to submerge her homeland―its ranches, farms, and the beloved peach orchard that has been in her family for generations. 

Go as a River was my favorite read this month! It was just such a beauitful story of resillience, courage and strength but also great love. It is historical fiction inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s. It was also set in Colorado near Grand Junction where we visited last summer and we actually fished on the Gunnison river one day so it made it easy to envision the scenery.

Amazon: All Downhill With You is a stand-alone romantic comedy. This book is an enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine romance with laugh-out-loud theme park moments, a cozy small town, and sizzling spice!

All Downhill With You is a kindle unlimited free read I picked up in between library books. It is a cutesy, cheesy love story with a hallmark channel fee and a little steamy in a few parts. It was a quick read that is part of a series but I’m not sure I’ll read any others.

Amazon: Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
 
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start. And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet she wonders if she can trust him completely. . . .
 
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in Ash, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
 

My thoughts: I couldn’t stop turning the pages of this book. It does contain a transgender character and I have to admit I feel like I have a better understanding of what this may look like from the side of a parent walking through this journey.

Next on the list is Abby Jiminez The Friend Zone. I have loved her books The Happy Every After Playlist and Part of Your World so I’m hoping this is a win too! What are you reading that I need to add to my list?