July proved to be a month that I needed some escapes and taking some time with a good book is always a helpful way for me to do that. This month, I enjoyed a good history book by a North Carolina writer, an inspiring book about living creatively, and a couple of really good reads. Keep scrolling to see the 6 books I read in July 2023.
See my favorite reads from 2022 here and check out all of what I’ve read here.
6 Books I Read in July 2023
The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
Synopsis
Hollis Shaw’s life seems picture-perfect. She’s the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life–her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline–grow deeper.
So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”–one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife–she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn’t turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie.
The husband of Hollis’s childhood friend Tatum arranges for Hollis’s first love, Jack Finigan, to spend time with them, stirring up old feelings. Meanwhile, Tatum is forced to play nice with abrasive and elitist Dru-Ann, Hollis’s best friend from UNC Chapel Hill. Dru-Ann’s career as a prominent Chicago sports agent is on the line after her comments about a client’s mental health issues are misconstrued online. Brooke, Hollis’s friend from their thirties, has just discovered that her husband is having an inappropriate relationship with a woman at work. Again! And then there’s Gigi, a stranger to everyone (including Hollis) who reached out to Hollis through her blog. Gigi embodies an unusual grace and, as it happens, has many secrets.
The Five-Star Weekend is a surprising and captivating story about friendship, love, and self-discovery set on Nantucket. It will be a weekend like no other.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Rating
- I read this book in one day while on a girls’ weekend trip. I couldn’t put it down! I thought each character had an interesting point to be able to bring into the storyline. And the writing was fast and easy to read. Definitely a fun pool or beach read!
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Synopsis
A deliciously funny, sharply observed debut of family, love, and class, this zeitgeisty novel follows three women in one wealthy Brooklyn clan.
Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old-money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can’t have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.
Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable–if fallible–characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love–all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Rating
- I enjoyed parts of this book, though I found myself venturing back and forth between empathizing and annoyed at the characters. I did find it to be a quick read. And I appreciated the ending of it more than I anticipated.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Synopsis
Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective on creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love. And how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives.
Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Rating
- I truly enjoyed this book and appreciated some of the reminders, creative sparks, and fun stories. I’ll always enjoy Elizabeth’s voice and highly recommend this if you’re feeling in a rut!
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dark Corners by Megan Golden
Synopsis
Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his release date approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped–or worse. Is Maddison’s disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? And why was she visiting him in the first place?
When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.
When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail–identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey’s hand–the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Rating
- I have mixed feelings about this book. I read it quickly and found it entertaining or interesting at parts. Other parts fell flat for me. But one thing I found difficult was the influencer angle. While there were parts with truth to the culture, other parts were awkwardly stereotypical. I felt like some of the plot was watered down and the ending felt really fast. All that to say, I did enjoy it and have already loaned it to a friend whose interest was piqued.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
The Blood of Emmitt Till by Timothy B. Tyson
Synopsis
In 1955, white men in the Mississippi Delta lynched a fourteen-year-old from Chicago named Emmett Till. His murder was part of a wave of white terrorism in the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared public school segregation unconstitutional. Only weeks later, Rosa Parks thought about young Emmett as she refused to move to the back of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Five years later, Black students who called themselves “the Emmett Till generation” launched sit-in campaigns that turned the struggle for civil rights into a mass movement. Till’s lynching became the most notorious hate crime in American history.
But what actually happened to Emmett Till–not the icon of injustice, but the flesh-and-blood boy? Part detective story, part political history, The Blood of Emmett Till “unfolds like a movie” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), drawing on a wealth of new evidence, including a shocking admission of Till’s innocence from the woman in whose name he was killed. “Jolting and powerful” (The Washington Post), the book “provides fresh insight into the way race has informed and deformed our democratic institutions” (Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Carry Me Home) and “calls us to the cause of justice today” (Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP).
Meghan’s Thoughts & Rating
- While this was a hard book to read and process, it was well-written and ell-researched. And also an important history to contextualize.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange
Synopsis
When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.
While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.
The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Rating
- I needed a feel-good book and this one fit the bill! I really enjoyed the family drama, quirky siblings, and happy ending. I also really enjoyed Tara’s character. And her relationships with her family, particularly her nephew.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
I loved Pineapple Street and five star weekend!
I really enjoyed The Five-Star Weekend! And Pineapple Street was a quick, fun read! What else have you been reading recently?