Book Report Vol. 30

Books I read in June, July new releases, and book-to-screen news

Hi Book Pals,

I’m at the point in my reading and writing year where I have two toppling TBRs—one for personal reading; another for books I plan to read for my WIP novel. I regularly fantasize about taking a full week off to read by a body of water.

So, I had big reading plans for my vacation earlier in June. And then… I read half a book on the trip because I was too busy yapping. My leaning towers of books persist! But I did manage to read 5.5 books not on vacation. Let’s get into them.

(And make sure to keep scrolling for a preview of July new releases and all your book-to-screen news!)

Whistler by Ann Patchett

My hopes for this book were sky high after seeing multiple commenters compare it to The Correspondent and say they liked this one even better. Ultimately, I didn’t think it had a ton in common with The Correspondent outside of both having older protagonists—though the narrator here is only in her mid-fifties—and dealing with familial relationships. (Maybe that’s just me.)

But I still liked this novel about a woman who unexpectedly runs into her former stepfather at the Met museum a whole lot. I found the theme of re-examining childhood memories through an adult lens especially thought-provoking. However, the back half got a bit heavier than I bargained for, leading me to perhaps prefer Tom Lake over this one in my personal Ann Patchett Pantheon. But Eddie Triplett—the stepfather character here—is an all-time-great fictional character.

Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

We read this sapphic literary romance for our June Bad on Paper book club. It begins with a chance meeting between an English tourist and a French student in 1970’s Paris. The two have have a brief romantic relationship that echoes through the next 20+ years of their lives. And while I loved the Paris setting, the B-story of found family, and gorgeous sentence-level writing, I was more frequently frustrated by our lovers than rooting for them. (This very well might be a “me” problem as a heavy contemporary romance reader who’s always searching for a HEA.) Still, I was glad to have read this and found it ripe for discussion. You can hear even more thoughts in our book club episode.

Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick

This book about a woman on the brink of 30 who is determined to lose her virginity before her milestone birthday despite crippling anxiety around sexual intimacy was a one-sitting read for me. It deftly balanced the visceral portrayal of the narrator’s mental health with a rompy romance plot line with multiple suitors and a heartfelt ode to friendship. I’ll admit that I came in skeptical of the sky-high Goodreads rating, fearing it was artificially inflated by the author’s legions of podcast fans, but it really is that good! I’m excited to read whatever this author writes next.

Crash Into Me by Robinne Lee (out July 7)

My biggest piece of advice for going into Lee’s sophomore novel is to do so with zero expectations, and to resist comparing it to her debut, The Idea of You. Her latest is about an artist in her mid-40’s who moves from Paris to LA for her husband’s job as a film director and finds herself thrown into the deep end of a very 1%-y social set after running into—no, literally, she gets into a car accident in the opening pages—a woman from her past. While there are multiple relationship storylines, this is more of an exploration of identity, infidelity, and mid-life ennui than a romance novel.

Although it was a slower read for me, I consistently found myself eager to return to its pages, pulled along by the emotional mystery components of what happened between the two women in the past timeline. My biggest regret is that I was only 50% into it when we interviewed Robinne for the podcast, so I didn’t get to ask her off-mic about the closing line, which I’d love her to unpack for me.

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

After loving Sweeney’s latest novel, Lake Effect, I immediately ordered her debut to read for both pleasure and novel research as I tackle my first multi-POV novel. But when I searched Goodreads for the novel’s synopsis, I realized that I already read this book back when it came out in 2016, but remembered absolutely nothing about it. (Cut me some slack, I’ve probably read 700 books between now and then!) So, with its plot largely purged from my memory, I got to enjoy this romp of a family novel about four siblings fighting over an inheritance all over again.

The specificity of writing reminded me a lot of an American version of Meg Mason (another fave! Although I guess this was written before Mason’s debut Sorrow & Bliss, so maybe the inspiration is the other way around), and Sweeney managed to concoct a collision course of a plot between 11 (I think?) POVs that had me equal parts anxious and giddy. Family drama lovers, if you missed this when it released, it is worth looping back for!

The Fourth Branch by Daniel Squadron

Last week, I went to a talk given by the author—a former NY state senator and founder of The States Project, an organization aimed at funneling donations to flip state legislatures—and left feeling more politically hopeful than I have in years. On my way home, I promptly downloaded his audiobook about the role and power of state legislatures.

I get that this might be a hard sell for many—it would have been for me if not for hearing him speak live—but the audio narration is great, it’s quick, and it blew my mind with facts about recent laws that were decided at the state level that I would have sworn were nationally legislated. If you’re not willing to commit to the whole thing, listening to the prologue and first chapter like a podcast episode is well worth it. (Reminder: your Spotify subscription comes with 15 free audiobook listening hours per month.)

What do we have to look forward to in July?

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Ungodly Rich by Katharine McGee | Fantasy | July 7

What if Greek gods were reimagined as modern day billionaires helming a LVMH-esque luxury conglomerate?

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The MASH Up by Lauren Marie Meyers | Romance | July 7

A type-A woman gets trapped in a game of M.A.S.H and her brother’s best friend might be her key to getting out.

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Helpless by Jessica Knoll | Erotic Thriller | July 7

I’ve heard this book about a woman who’s kidnapped by her college boyfriend is WILD!

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Habits of the Sea by Shea Earnshaw | Literary Romance | July 7

I was completely captivated by this gorgeous novel about a woman returning to the magical island she visited as a child… and the ageless man who lives there.

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The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza | Mystery | July 14

A dual-timeline mystery following an all-female art heist in the present told against the historical story of the woman who made Vincent Van Gogh famous.

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Chosen Family by Madeleine Gray | Literary Fiction | July 14

The marketing copy positions this book as being about a “gorgeously messy friendship-feud-unrequited-love-affair.” Sold!

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The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren | Romance | July 14

A case of amnesia gives a workaholic a do-over at her marriage.

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Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead | Thriller | July 14

A pop-star-turned-maybe-murderess must clear her name in this Hollywood-set thriller.

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Not That Kind of Proposal by Victoria Lavine | Romance | July 21

A wedding planner makes a bet with her grumpy new boss to save her business and finds love along the way.

Here’s the latest book adaptation news on my radar. Publicists, producers, bookish insiders: if you have tips for next month, my inbox is open.

• Right as I hit send on last month’s Book Report, news broke that Anna Kendrick will direct the film adaptation of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, an adaptation that’s seemingly had seven lives. Hopefully Kendrick’s star power can get this over the finish line?

• I am deeply confused about why the characters are wearing winter coats in these set stills from the Beach Read adaptation. I hate to say it, but does this adaptation feel slightly cursed to anyone else? (I hope to be proven wrong.)

• The God of the Woods adaptation starring Maya Hawke began filming in upstate New York this month.

• No surprise given the hockey romance boom, but Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, a grumpy/sunshine romance about a figure skater and a hockey player that did big numbers on BookTok a couple years back, is also getting an adaptation.

• Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It—one of the books I reviewed above—got snapped up by Netflix, too. I wish it were a series vs a movie, though, as the book has big Gen Z sitcom energy and I’d love to see what happens after the novel ends.

• Colleen Hoover is producing an adaptation of Love, Theorhetically by Ali Hazelwood. That’s some serious romance novelist muscle behind one movie.

• Saved the best for last: the film adaptation of The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman has a teaser trailer and a release date: September 23. The sneak peek made me giddy!

And that’s this month’s book report. Until next time.

Becca

Speaking of forthcoming releases: have you heard that I have a new novel coming in October called Back Where We Started?

It’s a second chance romance about childhood-best-friends-turned-first-loves bonded by their big, ambitious dreams: she wants to be a famous actress; he wants to be the president. Think of it as Notting Hill meets Every Summer After with a dash of Sweet Home Alabama. Annabel Monaghan recently called it “an absolutely perfect book.” (A quote I will never get over.)

I’d love it if you’d consider pre-ordering a copy. Alternately (or additionally! I heart overachievers!), you could add it to your shelves on Goodreads or request your local library stocks it when it releases.