What I Read On My Summer Vacation

I took a month off from posting just to give myself a break. But I’m back now and looking forward to sharing again! I’ve been having a great reading summer even if the weather hasn’t been the best for reading outside. Reading in the AC is good too.

Here are the best of the best, my 4 and 5 star reads from the July 2025. My theme seems to be books that are sad but hopeful.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver - My son read this for his freshman English class and I’ve been meaning to read it since. (He’s a senior now 🤷‍♀️)

I loved it. It touches on a lot of sad topics, but with a lot of hope.

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters - Have you read this book yet? It‘s been on my list since it came out and I finally read it this weekend. It‘s so sad and happy all at the same time.

Woodworking by Emily St James - I’ll add my praise to that of other reviewers. Every time this verged on cheesy or over the top St James brought it back to the likable but flawed characters. I loved it.

A Tortoise For The Queen of Tonga by Julia Whitty - Finally got to this book of short stories after buying it for #ReadingOceania last year. Only the first story took place in Tonga, but I enjoyed all of them. They were about different things but I liked how they embraced nature and took place in unique locations.

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor - This one started as a low pick for me- story within a story very rarely is my thing. I have a very hard time stopping myself from skimming over those parts. The ending though, if I understood it correctly, blew me away.

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh - This novel revolved around several lives in the Sundarbans - river islands on the border of India and Bangladesh. There’s a scientist studying freshwater dolphins, the prodigal nephew returning for the first time since he was sent as a punishment as a child, the young family struggling with expectations, and the hospital administrator quietly living her life as the unsung hero among those doing big things. The description of the area made me want to get in a boat and sail there right away. This is a slow start but I’m really glad I stuck with it.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo - The drama upon drama in this book made it perfect summer reading for me. I think ice skating/Olympics fans will enjoy this one.

That’s all for this month! I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with you all!

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