July 2026 Book Review

Hello, hello and HAPPY BOOK DAY, friends!

I apologize for not being here yesterday.  Last week, I told you I would be taking Thursday through Monday off to enjoy my last weekend on Nantucket and well God, er, I mean American Airlines, had other plans.  We were supposed to have been back in Texas on Sunday afternoon, but we actually didn’t get back until almost noon on Monday.

Nothing says “welcome back to reality” more than being a mom traveling solo with three kids, two dogs, and seven pieces of luggage with flight delays/missed connection/an unexpected ferry ride to the Cape/car service/night in Boston. Ha!

Needless to say, I took a page out of Slow Productivity and gave myself one more day to get my life together 😉 .

More Nantucket content to come as I wrap up our summer and transition into BACK TO SCHOOL season (school starts next week!), but for now, I wanted to make sure we got my JULY BOOK REVIEW out here in blogland!

We are BIG BIG fans of summer reading around here…

…and I know you are too!  This month, I read FIVE BOOKS…and I’m ready to chat about each and every one of them.

Let’s get to it!

First up…

Book #1 this month was:

…The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett.

As many of you know, this was our JULY BOOK CLUB pick!  If you have read this book, please head to THIS POST to discuss.  If you haven’t read this book, let me give you a few deets and also encourage you NOT to read the Book Club post as it does contain spoilers.

Curious about this one?  Here is my review (without spoilers):

If you are a fan of The Help (and who isn’t?!), then you are going to LOVE Kathryn Stockett’s latest novel.

Set in Mississippi, this novel toggles back and forth between an 11 year old girl living in an orphanage and a young woman who has traveled to see her newly married sister in order to get some financial help to take back home.

These two very different storylines go back and forth as the book begins and then slowly start to overlap and in a very unexpected way.  I truly, truly don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a bigger, wider, more amazing cast of characters than this one.  Except PLOT TWIST, I actually didn’t read this book.  For the first time ever, I listened to this particular novel on Audible.

Without giving too much away, this book is very very long (about the size of two books) and for me, it started off so slowly that I just could not get engaged with the story.  After I switched to Audible, I could not stop listening.

This is a FIVE STAR STORY friends no matter if you read it or listen.  If you want a book with endearing, strong, funny, hardworking, and determined female characters, here you go.  I think you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be shocked, you’ll be sad, you’ll be relieved, and you’ll be highly entertained.

Next up…

Book #2:

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport

I have spent the summer reading through this book, and it was so impactful that as soon as I finished it, I started it over again.  I did AN ENTIRE BLOG POST just on this book and how it has already changed the way I go through my day.  Whether you’re self-employed like me, work for someone or even if you’re retired or stay at home, there is something to be learned in this one.

Make sure you read THIS POST for way more info on this book.  It has been a total game changer for me.

We move from non-fiction back to fiction with…

Book #3:

Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell Moore

This novel is about three sisters returning to their widowed father’s seaside beach house for one final week before he sells it.  Spoiler alert though: he’s recently remarried (to someone younger) and each of the sisters is bringing with her baggage from their adult lives.  One sister has a work situation in New York hanging over her, one can’t seem to settle down, and one is a “trad wife” influencer who is facing some bad press.

I love chick lit all the time, but I especially love it during the summer season.  This one checked several of my boxes (cute setting, easy little story, pretty PG, lots of coastal vibes), but if I’m being honest, it’s going to be pretty forgettable.  It was cute enough, light, happy, and I always enjoyed picking it up each day…but it’s not remarkable.

I always have high expectations though when I read something from…

Book #4:

Love You More by Emily Giffin

Who doesn’t still remember reading Giffin’s early work Something Borrowed and immediately falling in love?  I honest to goodness think that book was one of the main ones I read when I had two babies at home that got me out of my “no time to read because I have two babies at home” funk and back into being a voracious reader.  That novel reminded me of why I love to read.

In recent years, I always read her books as soon as they’re released, and they’re kind of hit or miss for me.  This latest one fell somewhere in the middle.  I was reading this one at the same time as one of my friends and one night she texted me and said she was finished and had mixed feelings.  I was about 80% through and powered through to finish as well and texted her back the next day and said “me too”.

This is the story of a New York City doctor who left her small town for medical school at Columbia and never really returned.  She gets a great job, creates an inner circle of good friends, falls in love and then has to head back to her town when tragedy strikes.

I won’t give away any spoilers, but when she returns, she is pulled back into her old life and old flame and well, I was just sort of torn about her and some of her decisions.  Honestly, I’m not sure I just “loved” the main character in this one, so that didn’t really help.

I don’t know…I’m curious if you read this one and felt the same way?  If you loved it, please let me know!

This one was just okay for me.

And finally…

Book #5: 

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson

Well, I have so many mixed thoughts on this one too.

I selected this book because after reading two “okay” chick lit novels in a row, I wanted to read one that really wow-ed me.  Silly me, I thought this was chick lit.  It’s not. Ha!

The title and the cover had me convinced this would be a light little summer read, but what do they always say…NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.  Silly, silly, me.

This book is set in a small town on the New England coast as a group of adults (all former high school friends) welcome (or unwelcome) someone new into their group.  This new addition (a woman with her own complicated backstory) consciously (and accidentally) makes each of these friends take a good, hard look at the lives they’re living and how their relationships mingle with each other all of these years later.

There isn’t one “main” character in the book as it toggles back and forth between multiple people, but to me, it just felt a little heavy.  Are they living their best lives or are they still all living lives around this small high school group because it’s comfortable and easy?

I honestly liked the book better after it ended and I read the author’s note at the end.  Once she shed light on her inspiration for the story, it came around more for me.

This certainly wasn’t the chick lit I thought I was cracking open, and I’m not sure that I loved it…but it will be memorable.  I’ll remember this one much more than I will the previous two.

And that’s my JULY BOOK REVIEW!

Don’t forget…

To see the complete list of books I read in 2015 (all 63 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2016 (all 62 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2017 (all 62 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2018 (all 61 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2019 (all 54 of them), click here.
To see the complete list of books I read in 2020 (all 54 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2021 (all 59 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2022 (all 60 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2023 (all 51 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2024 (all 58 of them), click here.

To see the complete list of books I read in 2025 (all 58 of them), click here.

If you want to stay current on all of the books I’m reading in 2026, THIS PAGE HERE is where I keep the books, authors and reviews each month.

We would love, love to have you join us in August for our BOOK CLUB!

Next month, we are reading…

…When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams and discussing it on August 22nd.

Now, if you happened to have missed ELIN HILDERBRAND DAY a few weeks ago, make sure you pop over there today too!  I shared my TOP FIVE ELIN BOOKS along with so many other faves in the post (and in the comment section!).  I know today’s review didn’t include a ton of “oh my gosh, I loved that book” recs but ELIN HILDERBRAND DAY does 🙂 .

Alrighty, I’m BACK, baby!

I’m in McKinney and excited to spend August here with YOU!

Let’s head to the comment section and chat books.  I’ll see you all here tomorrow! x