Monthly Book Review: July 2026

Three books this month ... let's deep dive. 

A fun beach read, The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand follows Lizbet Keaton as she steps into her new role as manager of a freshly restored luxury hotel. The cast is exactly what you’d hope for in a summer novel: a mom of two whose husband ran off with the nanny and needs a place to land, staff members hiding secrets, a hot chef, and a ghost lingering in the halls.This was my first Hilderbrand, and while I enjoyed the breezy pacing and the island atmosphere, I get the sense that her other twenty‑plus books follow a similar formula — I’m not sure I need to read the whole catalog. I did love the Minnesota references sprinkled throughout, and Nantucket itself sounds like a gorgeous (if wildly expensive) place to visit. Overall, a light, enjoyable summer read that delivers exactly what it promises.

I loved Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth. It’s a true slow burn—quietly intense and layered—in the same vein as Broken Country and Atonement. The story moves between two timelines: present‑day 81‑year‑old Elsie, and her gilded, complicated childhood as Mabel. I’ll admit, I judged Mabel quickly. She’s the neighborhood curmudgeon, and she’s the one who discovers her neighbor’s dead body after repeatedly threatening him. It’s easy to assume the worst. But as the story unfolds, it becomes clear there’s far more to her life than the prickly exterior. Is Mabel a murderer or a victim? One of the “big surprises” was pretty easy to spot, but several others genuinely caught me off guard. I especially loved Persephone, the precocious young neighbor who decides Mabel is her new best friend, and Mabel’s Aunt Cess and Cess’s partner Ness whose characters bring warmth, humor, and heart.  

The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza is the latest media darling, and while I enjoyed parts of it, I’d call it solidly OK rather than spectacular. The novel follows Emma, an American artist living in Paris with two girlfriends. She strikes up an unlikely friendship with Stella Swanson, an aging socialite and widow of a notorious art dealer. Stella’s husband comes from a family that has shaped—and sometimes manipulated—the art world for nearly a century, and Emma quickly finds herself pulled into their orbit. Running parallel to Emma’s storyline is Claire, a Parisian prostitute whose life becomes entangled with the widow of one of her clients after he dies. That widow happens to be Jo (pronounced “yo”) Van Gogh, the sister‑in‑law of Vincent Van Gogh. Claire is entirely fictional, but her chapters add grit and tension as the two narratives slowly converge around Stella, secrets, and the power structures of the art world. What surprised me most was how much I enjoyed the historical threads—the glimpses into Van Gogh’s life, the Netherlands, and the inner workings of the art world. Even though the plot itself didn’t fully sweep me away, the background details and art history were fascinating and kept me turning the pages.