📚On Reading In July 2026 (Best of)

The Flower Bearers: A Memoir by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

“When can I hope to have hope?”

What I thought was the focus of this memoir (a marriage to Salman Rushdie) didn’t sound interesting to me, so it wasn’t really on my TBR list but 1. I’ve yet to read a memoir, collection of essays, or nonfiction written by a poet that didn’t blow me away. And 2. So many people— whose opinion I trust— were floored by the writing that I decided to pick it up. And that’s how sometimes I make great decisions. And find out that my assumption was wrong: I did find the parts about falling in love with Rushdie personally uninteresting but it felt more like a vehicle to really talk about the focus of the book which is interesting and important.

This is a memoir about mental illness— with a focus on dissociative identity disorder and suicidal ideation—, identity, race, grief, and the connections that tether and save us. It’s beautiful, the audiobook narration is wonderful, and I will carry parts of this book in my soul forever.

Anger Is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo

Speaking of being gifted with words – Acevedo has remained an all time favorite author of mine since her debut, The Poet X.

For a few years around 2015 a lot of YA novels were so damn good that you wanted to convert anyone who didn’t read YA to read it because they were seriously missing out. It had been a while since I felt that way but Acevedo is always at the top of her game and I want to throw this novel—about family, anger, the systems designed against us, and trying to do your best when your impulsive nature works against that—at everyone.

And I can’t recommend Acevedo’s narration of her audiobooks enough!

Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson

Holy enemies-to-lovers, Batman! This is the best romance novel of 2026!

First, it’s a true enemies-to-lovers—none of that mild dislike, or enemies for only one page. This is a critic that eviscerates an author's new book in a review and they end up in a public feud after a confrontation. What especially works is that the book talks a lot about the state of critiquing, publishing, media, loneliness, books, family, and connections. The two main characters, Parker and Selina, are excellent characters on their own as they struggle with personal life issues that are separate from the other along with the new problems created by the book review. And it's delicious to watch how Robinson took them from anger darts pointed at each other to sexy love darts.

When this comes out in October drop everything and read it—Katharine Chin and Major Curda are top notch narrators on the audiobook. I expect to see it in book clubs and converting even the “I don’t read romance” readers this fall.

On Air with Zoe Washington (Zoe Washington #2) by Janae Marks

The first book in this middle grade series, From the Desk of Zoe Washington, is excellent and one of the best middle grade books I’ve read. In it Zoe decides to remain committed to her love of baking while also working on helping her birth father who is in prison— he has always maintained that he’s innocent. The sequel continues Zoe’s obsession with baking — she’s now determined to get back into a professional kitchen— and building on her relationship with her birth father. She’s also navigating childhood firsts like her two best friends having a crush on each other and her fear that she’ll just become a third wheel.

I love Zoe’s tenacity, her family, friends, and both the audiobooks in the series have one of the all-time best narrators, Bahni Turpin.

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Confession: this was my first Ann Patchett novel. I attempted Tom Lake a few times —Meryl Streep narrates the audiobook!—but either it was the wrong time(s) or it wasn’t the book for me because I kept zoning out.

Re Whistler: I had heard people joking that the horse on the cover was super misleading which made me curious enough to start listening to the audiobook (beautifully narrated by the author!). And that’s how I ended up reading my first Patchett in 2 days. It’s a story about family and all the “unknowns” from our childhoods where you only had a part of a story, or one side, or were just never told. I will say that what honestly propelled me forward at the beginning—and is not what this book is about—was how odd I found the husband’s reaction to thinking his wife would be romantically interested in a stepfather she hadn’t seen since childhood.

Anyhoo, I plan on reading through her backcatalog so if you’ve got an all time favorite Patchett novel let me know.

The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline

This is a historical novel with a premise that is primed for asking a million questions, which is what I think great authors do: In the 1840s conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker marry “disgraced” sisters Sarah and Adelaide Yates, with the goal of having a very large family. As a fictional story it’s a page-turner that delves deep into the psyche of one of the sisters and brings to life North Carolina from the 1830s through the Civil War. Depending on how you feel about fictionalizing very real people there is a “it gets complicated” element because the novel is based on real people: The Siamese Twins were among North Carolina's first Asian immigrants. Now, their descendants are keeping their story alive.

In Kline’s author note she discusses that she is distantly related to the sisters and while a lot of research went into the book, basically all of Sarah’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are made-up. This obviously happens often in historical fiction, but this has an angle of Chang and Eng having been born in Siam (now Thailand) and becoming southerners who owned slaves and while Sarah’s story arc—related to her views on slavery—is plausible I was very aware that it was fiction assigned to a real person in a way that could feel like trying to make horrific reality more palatable.

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

I was skimming over a review for a book that I can’t even remember right now but in it there was a mention that it wasn’t as good as Sorrow and Bliss so off I went to find Mason’s novel. This is one of those novels that is about mental illness and a woman recounting her life while trying to find her way. It has a fantastic character voice and dark humor that really makes this character driven novel feel propulsive. I don’t know how this had not been on my radar until now and I’m really glad I read it.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

My participation in Book Riot’s Best Science Fiction Books of the Century (So Far) gave me a well needed kick in the butt to finally read Johnson’s novel which had been on my TBR for far too long. And all the rave reviews were earned. It perfectly balances the imaginative entertainment of space, clones, multiverses with the genre's ability to highlight dangers and society’s ills. And Nicole Lewis really brought Cara, the world(s), and all the characters to life with her narration on the audiobook.

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

“But the dead don’t whisper your name.”

This is a very well done blend of genres — psychological horror, fairytale retellings, historical, fantasy— that hinges on a premise I found fascinating: what if Peter from Peter Pan was the villain…

Funerals Are For The Living by Sami Ellis

This is a YA horror and mystery thriller that made me laugh a lot (zingy one-liners especially) as it tackled the history of racism in the US. While the plot hinges on a racist cult that kidnaps our teen lead Junie Daniels and her best friend Omari, the dialog, personalities, and intentionally over-the-top horror made this overall a fun read. And Jasmin Walker—who I loved in mystery audiobooks like History Lessons—was an awesome narrator, especially her humor delivery.

In Case I Go Missing by R.N. Swann

A missing person YA mystery that has depth and great pacing. It has a dark emotional tone from the beginning, delves into a small town’s history, and focuses on three best friends (Sarah, Fenny, Sam) who have been solving mysteries since childhood. The ringleader of this group, Sarah, is missing and while she left behind a binder literally titled “in case I go missing” for Fenny and Sam there are pages missing…

I Didn't Do It by Elle Gonzalez Rose

A YA mystery with a love story I rooted for, that ultimately has something to say about Latin American culture. Teenager Dina Soto is having a seriously hard time: one of her brothers died and her father is in prison after being convicted of murdering two students he coached. It doesn’t help that all of that has left her with no social life plus her mom is super strict and doesn’t let her do anything. Except there are new students in school and she has a crush on one so she sneaks off to spend the weekend at a cabin with a group of teens. But tensions are high and while romance is developing there is also going to be some danger and death…

Thornbird by E. Kennedy

A dark YA mystery, mixed with thriller and psychological suspense, that follows the daughter of a convicted serial killer. Ryan Shipley was a young child when her father murdered her mother and ultimately confessed to murdering a handful of women. Her name was changed and she left Starling, Tennessee to be raised by her grandmother. Now her grandmother is dead and her only choice is to be sent back to Starling to her aunt and uncle, but with a major lie. They pretend she’s from the other side of the family and had been living in Switzerland until her (fictional) mother died. The problem is the town is obsessed with her father’s crimes—because he never revealed where the bodies are—and he’s about to be executed. How long before someone figures out who she is?

Heartstopper Volume Six by Alice Oseman

Not only a fitting conclusion to the series but the way it showed the difficult period when you’re finishing high school, and making huge life decisions along with your fellow peers, was spot on. Especially when the people who have been in your daily life as your anchors are making decisions that will take them far away from you. The series always tackled tough topics with care and it ended the same with [redacted] having to figure out that one person/thing can’t be your whole life. I’m glad I own the entire series because I will be rereading it.