Welcome to my July 2024 Favorite Books post! This monthly post is where I share the 5 star books I’ve read so far each month. I had a few 5 star reads this month that I am excited to share. You can see the first half of my July reading here and I will share the rest next week. Any additional 5 star reads will appear in that post too. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: The Lion Women of Tehran
Author: Marjan Kamali
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Gallery Books, 7/2/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I have not read Marjan Kamali’s previous book The Stationary Shop, but I’m sure it’s as wonderful as everyone says, because this one was as well. The Lion Women of Tehran is about Ellie, who becomes friends with Homa as children in Iran. When Ellie’s mother remarries and moves them to a richer area, the friends lose touch for many years, until Homa follows Ellie to her school. Their friendship continues throughout many years of turmoil in their country.
“In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation. Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming ‘lion women.’ But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives. Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.”
I really enjoyed how the story of the young woman was told alongside the political events in Iran from the 1950s-80s. The book addresses women’s rights, class, and more. I learned a lot about Iran’s history. There are difficult subjects included so take care when reading.
Title: Until Next Summer
Author: Ali Brady
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 7/9/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Until Next Summer was a wonderful summer read about Jessie, who runs a sleep away camp. She is told that she has one more summer before the owners are selling the land. For that last summer, she decides to run an adult summer camp. Alongside her childhood best friend Hillary, an idea to save the camp emerges. Both friends find love too – and the happiness that only camp people can get from their beloved summer camp.
“Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director. When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic ‘adult summer camp’ before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a ‘no strings attached’ summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel. The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?”
I never went to sleep away camp, but I did go to a day camp that I loved and I got so much nostalgia from this book. My camp was sold as well – there was a mansion on the grounds and it was my dream house! I loved the friendship story in this and the appearances of previous Ali Brady characters. This book also contains Jewish representation.
Title: Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf
Author: Deke Moulton
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada, 7/2/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Based off of a Torah verse about Binyamin, this book builds on Jewish werewolf mythology – something I was unaware existed! In this book, Benji and his family are Jewish werewolves living on a kibbutz.
“Benji Zeb has a lot going on. He has a lot of studying to do, not only for school but also for his upcoming bar mitzvah. He’s nervous about Mr. Rutherford, the aggressive local rancher who hates Benji’s family’s kibbutz and wolf sanctuary. And he hasn’t figured out what to do about Caleb, Mr. Rutherford’s stepson, who has been bullying Benji pretty hard at school, despite Benji wanting to be friends (and maybe something more). And all of this is made more complicated by the fact that, secretly, Benji and his entire family are werewolves who are using the wolf sanctuary as cover for their true identities! Things come to a head when Caleb shows up at the kibbutz one night . . . in wolf form! He’s a werewolf too, unable to control his shifting, and he needs Benji’s help. Can anxious Benji juggle all of these things along with his growing feelings toward Caleb?”
Through Benji explaining his family’s traditions to Caleb, a possible love interest and occasional bully, Judaism is so well described. Hebrew words are sprinkled throughout and there is an included glossary at the end. This book addresses anxiety and antisemitism and is also a fun werewolf story!
Title: The Love of My Afterlife
Author: Kirsty Greenwood
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 7/2/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood was such a funny and cute book about Delphie, who dies but gets sent back to London by Merritt, who wants her to get her happily ever after with one of her possible soulmates, Jonah. Her neighbor Cooper ends up helping Delphie find Jonah and Delphie begins to make friends with the people who she’d previously always avoided.
“If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. Not only did she just die by choking on a microwaveable burger, but now she’s standing in her ‘shine like a star’ nightie in front of the hottest man she’s ever seen. And he’s smiling at her. As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise. That is until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth. And here Delphie was thinking her luck might be different in the afterlife. When Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to earth and reconnect with the mysterious man, she jumps at the opportunity to find her possible soulmate and a fresh start. But in a city of millions, Delphie is going to have to listen to her heart, learn to ask for help, and perhaps even see the magic in the life she’s leaving behind…”
I could really relate to Delphie, who due to bullying in high school has been scared to become close with anyone. The people who end up surrounding her are so sweet and fun. I especially liked Mr. Yoon! I smiled throughout this book and laughed out loud a few times, which is definitely the sign of a book I love!
Title: One-Star Romance
Author: Laura Hankin
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 6/18/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin has a similar premise to Just Another Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle – but I loved this one much more. This is about Natalie, who is very attached to her best friend Gabby, who meets and marries Angus, who is best friends with Rob. Thrown together due to their friendships, Natalie and Rob start out liking each other, but they start to hate each other after Rob reads Natalie’s romance and gives it a one-star review. The book moves over time, as Natalie and Rob meet and re-meet via their best friends.
“Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man. Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it. When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match. After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.”
Although it’s slow burn, I thought the romance in this story was even sweeter than the friendship story between Nat and Gabby. Yes, Natalie was very clingy, but it makes sense that she was the way she was. The book contains both a dementia story line and a cancer story line, and it covers the time of Covid.
Come back next week for the rest of my July reads!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?