The Book Hero Team's July Reads

July was another busy month at Book Hero especially with all the excitement of attending the NZ Booksellers Conference. The month flew by and I unfortunately didn't get through as much of my TBR pile as I wanted to! So I reached out to the team to give you a round up of the team's favourite July reads. I'll kick things off.....

After finishing June with Belle Burden’s memoir Strangers, I kept with the location and stayed in New York to open up July with Whistler by Ann Patchett. This was actually the read I needed especially as we were heading into Matariki and felt like a time to reflect, calm down and take some time out. 

Whistler is the perfect read to accompany the sunny winter days that I’ve luckily had recently. The book follows Daphne who unexpectedly is reunited with her stepfather Eddie. They find that the bond that had when Daphne was young had a huge effect on both of them and what unfolds is a really beautiful and kind story. 

There is, as with any family, some struggles and difficult relationships however it’s told in a lovely way. I really loved the connection that Daphne and Eddie have. I wish I could meet Eddie IRL, he seems to be such a gem of a character. If you are after a nice read then I recommend Whistler!

It seems I couldn’t stay away from New York and the literary world, so my next read for the month was Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy thanks to HarperCollins.

This is a fun little love story but it’s also an interesting piece of social commentary. We follow the rivalry that unfolds between author Parker Navarro and book critic Selina Chan. Their feud goes from private and explodes into an online viral phenomenon in the book world. The romance is a slow burn and I enjoyed seeing the story from both Parker and Selina’s perspectives. It was interesting to see how social media can spin a situation and shape how we see it without knowing the full story. 

If you love an easy fun read about a will-they-won’t-they romance set in the literary world with plenty of drama then I highly recommend Bad Words!

I started London Falling near the end of the month and feel like I'm so late in picking this up as I've heard such amazing things about it. I was gripped from the beginning and constantly guessing where it's going, can't wait to see how this one ends!

First up was Fruit Fly by Josh Silver - a hilarious, dark story about a washed-up (female!) author who signs up for Grindr (!) hoping to find fresh material for her next novel. She certainly gets what she bargained for after she befriends Leo, a vulnerable teenager trading sex to fund his addiction and his own survival. While the book starts with plenty of humour, it quickly reveals a darker side, offering an uncomfortable commentary on how success - especially literary success - can be built on the misfortunes of others. It’s a short, compelling read you can finish in a couple of days. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves a shocking story and doesn't mind unlikable characters or challenging themes like addiction and abuse.

Next, thanks to Lizzy and Shirl's recommendation, I picked up my first Booker Longlist nominee - The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout. I read Orbital last year and didn't understand the hype, so I was really pleasantly surprised by how much this book blew me away. It explores the lies - and lies of omission - we tell ourselves just to cope with life, and how the smallest interactions with the right people can completely alter our trajectory. I’ve never read a book quite like it, and I couldn't put it down. Strout’s ability to connect you to the main character, Artie, through his inner world was incredible. Read this book! 

This past July, I managed to plow through three great reads: London Falling (non-fiction, I know, I know, but it reads like fiction!), Solace House, and a special pre-read copy of Taipei Story.

Without giving anything away, I was completely obsessed with London Falling from the very first page - reading deep into the night, on the bus to and from work, and in any speck of free time I had. Gripping, heartbreaking, and cynical, it significantly reframed the way I think about wealth and status and challenged me to confront some of my own values. Written by an investigative journalist delving into the shadow world of London (which is likely mirrored in many other cities around the world), it reveals that what appears behind the curtain of "successful" people is sometimes (often?) all just smoke and mirrors.

Recommended by our very own Bookshop Hero, Lizzy, the theme of what is real and what is not continued into my second book of the month, Solace House. Although it's horror fiction and quite a different read from London Falling, both titles confront questions of reality versus perception and imagination (and potentially the pitfalls of taking too many substances…). What starts out as a slightly off-kilter coming-of-age story set at a secluded university slowly but surely contorts into a time-bending psychological thriller full of dread and mystery. Spooky and scary - I don’t recommend reading this at home alone at night, but I do think you should check it out all the same!

Finally, I got to borrow a review copy of R.F. Kuang’s latest novel, Taipei Story. I don’t want to (and can’t!) give away too much, but as with all of Kuang’s novels, I walked away wanting to learn another language while letting my mind spin over the different ways of thinking that different languages drive. How do you structure a sentence or tell a story without a past-tense verb? How do you articulate a difficult, complex, and nuanced idea when you don’t have the language skills to think it through? Are you the same person in one language as you are in another? I can’t wait to hear the discussions this book generates, and I’ll definitely be looking to sign up for a language class sometime soon!

I had such a great month of reading in July - not reading quite as much as usual but almost everything was an absolute winner. In amongst the months reading, here are my favourites.

I started off reading my book club book - Kin by Tayari Jones. It was my first novel by Tayari and I absolutely loved it. Kin is about two girls who both lose their mothers early, and are connected as almost sisters in childhood before their lives diverge as adults. It’s a warm, lively novel that also portrays life for Black women in the 1950s. It definitely left me wanting to read more of Tayari’s books soon - the writing is beautiful and yet surprised me with how easy and accessible it felt too.

I then finally got around to reading Strangers, the much talked about memoir of a marriage and its break down by Belle Burden. This is well worth a read, I couldn’t put it down. The writing is both precise and beautiful whilst also being vulnerable, and I couldn’t look away from the devastation caused by Belle’s husband when he suddenly decides to leave his family.

I adored reading Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason - but that was no surprise as I love literally everything she writes and this one is about a writing festival so couldn’t have gone wrong. I also read a much awaited novel for me, Theodora’s Tea Shop. I have followed the debut author, Christy Anne Jones, since she was first drafting what was then called ‘operation tea cup’, so to get to read the finished novel (a 1920s inspired fantasy) was a delight.

I have already passed my copy of Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian on to Dylan because it’s hands down my favourite romance of the year so far and I have read a few. Star Shipped is about two co-stars on a popular sci-fi tv show, who just so happen to hate each other (for now). What I loved about this one is the mental health representation and the support people received and gave to one another. The characters were all such incredibly wonderful humans and I fell for all of them reading their banter and their jabs at each other - it was flawless contemporary road trip romance, and has added Cat Sebastian’s entire back catalogue to my TBR.

I was also introduced to another author this month with an arc for Tell Me Something True by Michael Robotham - a popular Aussie crime/thriller author. This upcoming novel by him is something special, and apparently is on a whole other level from the rest of his work. Tell Me Something True is set in a small Australian town, not unlike Robotham’s own hometown, where tragedy has left scars and secrets hidden in amongst the neighbourhood. This is the perfect book for you if you loved All The Colours of the Dark, it’s the same incredible character study of a town and a family done flawlessly. I didn’t want to put it down, and can’t wait for everyone to read it when it comes out.

Okay, squeezing in one last one because it had been on my TBR for a while and it may be another new favourite series - I finally read On the Calculation of Volume 1 and it blew me away. This translated series is a quiet but spectacular story of one woman stuck in November 18th, reliving it day after day in solitude. I loved this so much for its quiet meditations on time and for its beautiful writing (a credit to both the author as well as the translator). There are 7 volumes of this series and I’m so intrigued to see how it continues to unfold. 

Let us know in the comments what you also enjoyed reading last month and any recommendations you may have for the team to read next!