July Staff Picks
Looking for your next great read? Need to fill some spots in our 26 in ’26 Reading Challenge? Here’s three books our staff have loved recently.
In need of more recommendations? Check out past Staff Pics on our What We’re Reading page, or complete a short form and we’ll email you a list of personalized recommendations.
Mandy says,
“Sometimes a book finds you at just the right time. This was the case for me with Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a sweeping tale of star-crossed lovers that manages to be both deeply funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. I especially loved the uniquely human pettiness on display by some of the peripheral characters, and the developed sense of place as the book takes you from a college campus in rural Vermont to Columbia University to India, Italy, and Mexico City. In the book, Sonia says “The first time you swim after a long while is as close as you’ll get to happiness.” I say yes – that, plus a great book to read after you get out of the water!”
Brooke says,
“Take what you think you know about literary titans Joan Didion and Eve Babitz and toss it out the window. Using forgotten ephemera discovered in the late Babitz’s cluttered apartment, journalist Anolik uses Babitz’s observations to glimpse the reserved and unknowable Didion. The book operates partly as an ode to the bygone days of grit and glamor in ’60s and ’70s Los Angeles, but Anolik pushes past the parties and celebrity name-dropping to spotlight how the two women’s intertwining lives mirrored and repelled one another. This book will appeal to a wide range of readers: Those familiar with either writer’s works will be delighted (and maybe appalled) by new information, while readers who have narrowly escaped the lore of these literary It Girls will be transfixed by the honest way they are portrayed. Come for the drama, stay for the superb writing.”
Sydney says,
“Set in a sanatorium-turned-luxury-hotel (a strange, yet intriguing crossover) in the Swiss Alps, The Sanatorium plunges Elin, a troubled detective visiting the hotel to celebrate her brother’s engagement, into an increasingly unsettling atmosphere. When a fierce blizzard cuts the hotel’s guests off from the outside world, a staff member is found suspiciously murdered, and she is left to crack the case alone. Elin is forced to face her fears to uncover the truths she is seeking: about the murder, her brother, and ultimately, herself. It’s a story about grief, secrets, and revenge that kept me guessing from start to finish. If you like mystery thrillers, this one could check “Book Recommended by a Celebrity Book Club” off your list for the 26 in ’26 reading challenge!”