My Month Is Booked: July 2025

Welcome to the July’s My Month is Booked linkup! :] What did you read in June? Any new favorite novels and/or authors to share? I’m currently knee-deep in a few local library summer reading challenges! :]

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Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes – Alice Wright marries an American man in hopes to escape her stifling life in England, but finds that the small town she moves to in Kentucky is equally as suffocating. When a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books to those without access to literature as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, she decides to sign on. This follows the packhorse librarians and the dangers/struggles they face.

I picked this up for $3 at my local Half Price bookstore somewhere last year + finally got around to reading it + I’m glad I did! As a lover of historical fiction, this was definitely right up my alley. This was so wonderfully written + is based on the Pack Horse Library Project that ran from 1935-1943 to deliver books to remote regions in the Appalachian Mountains. There are characters in here that you’ll love + cheer on and others you’ll hate from the very start. Will definitely be reading more of her books! <3 (Me Before You has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while, so maybe that’ll be next!)

Wicked, by Gregory Maguire – This is the book the Wicked musical was based off of, aka the origin story of Elphaba (aka the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz). There is a lottt going on in this book and it definitely gets a lot darker than the musical does (lots of political/racial themes covered).

Wicked is my favorite musical and I’ve been meaning to read this for the longest time (I’ve had it sitting on my shelf since the mid-2000’s…). (For the record, it is not like the musical at all.) It does not shy away from the more serious topics, and maybe I just wasn’t quite in the right mindset/headspace to be reading this, but I unfortunately didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Funny Story, by Emily Henry – My friend was reading this and the premise sounded really interesting (a couple is about to get married and after the night of the bachelor party, the would-be groom tells his fiance that he is in love with his female best friend + that they’re going on a week-long trip abroad to explore these feelings…and that she should move out of his house + find a new place to live).

This is basically how my friend introduced the book to me — not a funny story at all if the above were your life, but definitely an interesting way to start off a book! I was intrigued + am glad to have discovered a new author to follow — this had plenty of heartwarming as well as heartbreak. I loved the banter between the characters and the audiobook  narrator is delightful.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen, by Yuta Takahashi – In a remote seaside town outside Tokyo, there sits the Chibineko Kitchen, where you can get kagezen (traditional meal offered in remembrance of a loved one) + legend has it that you’ll get to reunite with the departed. The dead can only stay for the duration of the meal, but it’s just enough for the cafe’s patrons to say their final farewell or to share things that they didn’t have a chance to say while they were still living.

I’d say this falls under the category of “healing fiction,” with similar vibes to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, somewhat bittersweet considering the subject matter, but overall a feel-good read and leaves you feeling hopeful. I enjoyed the way the author explored how different characters coped with grief, regret, and loss, and the recipes at the end of the chapters made me want to try making them to eat while reading to truly immerse myself into this world, just for a while.

Letters to a Young Doctor, by Sanjiv Chopra and Pankaj Vij – A short book written by two physicians with stories on how to find joy, meaning, and happiness in the health care field! (Fun fact: Dr. Vij is actually one of my colleagues! I got an ARC of this from NetGalley and did a double-take when I saw his name, haha.)

I feel like this would be a great read for anyone planning on going into health care (or currently in health care). For the super-super busy, there are even short little summaries at the end of the chapter if you want the “tldr” version. While most of the highlighted figures were very inspirational, I did wish there was some DO representation as well as more examples of those who didn’t “have it all” as far as grades/prestige/etc. and still made it. Overall though, I enjoyed the vignettes and found it to be a quick + easy read and particularly appreciated the chapters on burnout + self-care.

A Court of Thorns & Roses, by Sarah J Maas – This is touted as a Beauty & the Beast retelling where a 19yo girl kills a wolf who is actually a faerie in disguise in the woods and another faerie comes to demand retribution by whisking her away to the land of the Fae. As she learns more about their world, she starts to realize that there is something that’s not quite right in their lands.

I read this mainly out of curiosity since it seems so very popular. Although I was interested in finding out what would happen, I very much had to force myself to finish this. The main character is infuriating and made a plethora of stupid decisions + I have a hard time enjoying a book if I really dislike the main character. It’s  also very easy to guess who is going to be the true love interest and I find it difficult to see how she could like him given all the horrible things he’s done. I will not be reading further, but at least the curiosity has been sated?

The Last Love Note, by Emma Grey – Two years after losing her husband, Kate is still learning to navigate the world without him. When she gets stranded for a weekend with her boss, she finally has a chance to start to process her grief. Are there second chances at love after such a loss?

The cover of this book is so misleading given the content. You can tell from the way the author writes that she truly understands grief/loss (+ after reading the author’s notes…it definitely made a lot of sense). Touching but also with some comedic parts to prevent it from getting too heavy. The ending felt a little rushed, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this one!

• Do you know anyone personally who’s written a book? Have you read it yet?
• Does your library do summer reading programs for adults?
• Have you read anything super popular that you didn’t enjoy at all?
• Any lighthearted/cozy books to recommend? Last month was rough and I am in need of some happy/light things to read…