You’d think the winter darkness would propel more books onto the shelves, ready to be consumed in the diminished daylight hours. But, for some reason, it’s summer’s light that provides an extravagant time for reading. Maybe it’s an excuse to indulge on vacation, or the lasting daylight hours, or the plethora of books arriving on the scene. Choose your favorite genre or break out of your mold. It’s all possible with these excellent selection for Books of July 2023!
The Five-Star Weekend by Erin Hilderbrand
Fifty something food blogger Hollis Shaw has it all. A popular blog called Hungry with Hollis, Matthew, her heart surgeon husband, and a beautiful house on Nantucket. In a split second, the life she knew is ripped away when her husband is killed in a car crash on a snowy Boston day. In an effort to put her life back together, she hosts a Five Star Weekend, assembling her best friends from different stages of her life at her Nantucket home. Even though she hopes to find solace in the company of her dearest friends, and to reconstruct a relationship with her daughter, the weekend doesn’t go exactly as planned. Conflicting personalities have issues of their own whose backstories are all perfectly crafted. A meticulous hostess, Hollis creates charcuterie boards and Martha Stewart-worthy table settings, all adding to the details that make this book a delectable beach read of July 2023.
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
Meet Elsie Hannaway, adjunct professor and brainy theoretical physicist, who makes ends meet by enlisting her services as a fake girlfriend. Her natural skills of charm are put to the test as she spins her personality into the person her date needs her to be—until she meets her date’s brother. Now, her world of academia is turned upside down by Jack Smith, department head of physics at MIT, and also the man who ruined her mentor’s career. In spite of a cutthroat battle of words and differences in scientific theory, the two find a magnetic attraction and sparks fly. Elsie’s character is relatable and the science speak doesn’t interfere with the feminist theme that runs throughout the book. STEM and rom-com fans alike will be entertained by witty dialogue and engaging characters in this power play page turner.
Yellowface by RF Kuang
Buckle up for this read! June Hayward and Athena Liu are both authors and friends, but Athena rises to the top of the literary game, while June struggles behind. A freak accident ends Athena’s life and in a moment of greed, June steals her manuscript about Chinese laborers in World War I. Seeing a bestseller in the works, June’s publisher rebrands her as Juniper Song, as June attempts to give authenticity to the content. Written in first person narrative, we hear her demons surface as she slays them down to justify her choice. June rises to fame, but can the secret be kept and at what cost? This gripping, fast-paced novel brings up issues of diversity, identity, exploitation, and racism to name a few. It’s a book to challenge us all to think about our ethics. A mix of humor and horror has landed it as a Reese’s Book Club Pick.
All About Love: New Visions by Bell Hooks
Tina Turner’s epic voice rang out to me with this book asking, “What’s love got to do with it?” and bell hooks has the answer. If you thought you knew what love was, think again. Bell hooks sheds light on a new way to think about love by examining love from a variety of perspectives. Community, ethical, romantic, self and spiritual love all come into play as she asks you to explore your relationships to each. A feminist theorist and visionary, hooks poses the question of why we use love as a noun, rather than an action. In a hope for the future, hooks wants us to realize how we can heal our differences with caring, compassion, and unity. Her philosophy and path to love is a deep dive into her personal vision for mending a broken society. hooks words evoke deep thought and help us to understand how to practice love in different ways in our lives. Defining love is complicated, but hooks does it with flair and gets to the heart of the subject. This book just might nudge you to change your attitude.
A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J Maas
Get ready to be swept away in the magical land of Prythian, a faerie kingdom heading toward doom. This is no ordinary fairy tale. Feyre lives on the border between the faeries and the mortals and when she kills a wolf, which is against the truce, faerie Tamlin appears and confronts her with a proposal. Either die as punishment, or spend the rest of her life in Prythian. Known as a beast and one of the immortal faeries who once ruled her world, Tamlin drags Feyre to her new home. At first reluctant, she is quickly caught up in the beautiful and luxurious new world. Tamlin turns from foe to fiery lover and the sizzle glows until an expanding blight appears to rob the faeries of their magical powers. Fayre must find a way to stop the evil or risk losing Tamlin forever. Told with passion and hypnotic action-packed drama, this fairy tale is one great vacation read.
So many choices and stories that will rock your world in one way or another. Go forth, pick any one or all the books recommended for July 2023 and expand your imagination. One book can change your life so what are you waiting for?
