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Last week, I took some time off for my birthday and went to this really cute beach town in Delaware. And, naturally, I visited its indie bookstore (Browesabout Books), which literally had a Taylor Swift shrine. I’m neither here nor there with Tay Tay, but I respect the hustle. Since it was a week of celebration for me, I allowed myself to run up a bit of a check while I was in there, my many unread books at home be damned!
Now that I’m back and refreshed, I’ve got a list of July’s best book club books. They follow girls coming of age in the ’50s in Iran, a wealthy family whose children keep going missing from a summer camp, Loud women, and more.
Chocolate cake is always a hit, I think, and this one has a bit of extra theatricality, having been inspired by that cake from Matilda. To make it, you’ll need cakey things (milk, flour, baking soda, etc.) and lots of chocolate, naturally. Nikk Alcaraz provides a video with instructions and a whole list of ingredients on YouTube.
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
In Iran in the 1950s, Ellie and Homa are two young girls who find each other after Ellie’s father dies, and she and her mother are thrust into a less cushy lifestyle. But, once Ellie is allowed her bougie life back, she — now a popular student at a prestigious all-girls school — almost forgets her childhood best friend. When Homa comes back into Ellie’s life, it’s as political turmoil is about to boil over, and the two girls must figure out what the future will bring them.
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
It’s August 1975, and 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar has disappeared from camp. What’s more, she’s not the first Van Laar child to go missing — her brother also disappeared 14 years ago. As the search for Barbara commences, secrets about the the Van Laars — who own the Adirondack summer camp where their children went missing and where many of the area’s blue-collar community works — come to light.
Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve by Drew Afualo
I admit I’m a little late to the Drew train, but I’m happy to go wherever she takes it. If you’re also new to her, I suggest joining the 7.9+ million who already follow her on TikTok.
Now for the things I love about Drew — Nails: done; shit: talked; sexists: owned. Period. Ad infinitum.
In Loud, she expands on a lot of what made her such a popular influencer — she decries terrible men, encourages confidence and a fierce life philosophy, and does all this with her distinctly personal touch.
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Cynical scriptwriter Misha has just been nominated for an Oscar after years of slogging it in Hollywood. But then things get real when his producers want him to kill a queer character in the finale of the show he’s working on “for the algorithm.†Now, it seems like past fictional creations of his are after him in real life.
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