Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for July, 2023.

A Sultry Month: Scenes of London Literary Life in 1846, by Alethea Hayter – This group biography of several writers and artists living and working in Victorian London was well-written and interesting. It’s quite cerebral, so word to the wise – save it for a time when you’ve got the energy and attention to devote. Like, maybe, not while you’re moving house.

The Thirty-First of June, by J.B. Priestley – I absolutely loved this fun and silly romp. An Arthurian princess looks into a magic mirror that shows her the face of her beloved and sees a low-level advertising firm employee in 1960s London. With the help of two feuding magicians, the two end up time-traveling to meet each other, but they keep missing one another. A fast read and absolutely hilarious.

The Last Chronicle of Barset (Chronicles of Barsetshire #6), by Anthony Trollope – The final installment in the Barsetshire series and the finally book on my Classics Club list, finishing this was bittersweet. It was a good story with lots of old friends. Fully reviewed here – I loved it.

In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden – Everything I read by Rumer Godden just blows me away. This “contemporary” chronicle of nuns in a Benedictine abbey was gorgeously written and the main character’s story was heart-wrenching.

One Summer: America 1927, by Bill Bryson – We 2023 Americans think that we’re living through hectic times in the news cycle, and we are, but it’s not for the first time. 1927 was a very eventful summer, for example. Charles Lindbergh flew across the ocean, Babe Ruth broke his home run record, Sacco and Venzetti were executed, and so much more happened – the main plotlines aside, every chapter is filled with interesting little detours and hilarious Bryson-esque asides. I listened to this on audio – read by the author, it was a fabulously engaging listen; I kept finding myself inventing errands to run so I’d have an excuse to drive around listening more.

Swallows and Amazons (Swallows and Amazons #1), by Arthur Ransome – I’ve been meaning to read this for years – literally for years – and always thought it would make a perfect summer read. So it did. The story of four siblings and their friends, who sail and have adventures on an idyllic English lake one summer, is a total job. I’ve been trying to convince Nugget to let me read it aloud to him at bedtime, because I already want to revisit it.

House Woman, by Adorah Nworah – This was a book club choice that I didn’t love, to be honest. Thrillers are not my jam and some of the details really bothered me. It’s a good premise – a Nigerian woman is lured to the United States and held captive there by friends of her parents – but I didn’t care enough about the characters to find it tense or exciting.

The Jasmine Farm, by Elizabeth von Arnim – I’d heard this lesser-known von Arnim was even more charming than Father, which I adored. I don’t know that I would go that far, but this story of a judgmental aristocratic woman and her collision with a social-climbing actress in a rustic little farm in France was fun. The problem was that it took too long to get to the good part. But any von Arnim is going to be a worthwhile read for me and I can certainly see myself returning to this one – just maybe not as often as I return to The Enchanted April.

Whew! This post took a long time to write up and publish, but I can certainly say that July was a good month in reading. While I didn’t love everything I read last month, there were some real highlights – The Last Chronicle of Barset stands out, as does One Summer. Lots of good summer reading, too – quite a few of the books I read last month take place in the summer season, which is of course why I saved them to pick up at this time. I’m starting to pay more attention to reading books in the season they’re set, and while it doesn’t always work out it does add to the experience.

How was your July in books?