What I’ve been reading lately: the new and the notable

Welcome to Quick Lit, where I share short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately on (or around) the 15th of the month, and invite you to do the same.

Despite the sweltering temps where I live, my brain is in many ways now firmly in back-to-school mode. But my late July and early August reading have been summer-all-the-way, especially because I also spent a week at the beach during this window. For me, summer reading at this point in the season means lots of backlist, new books that weren’t on my radar (or didn’t serve my intended aims) when I was compiling our Summer Reading Guide, and then looking ahead to consider Fall Book Preview selections.

My audiobook listening has been on the lighter side lately, partly because I’ve spent most of my listening time with a single 1,344 page book, and partly because lots of family time means less time spent solo listening. Regardless, one great audiobook is still represented today.

I hope you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR here (and in these comments), and I look forward to browsing your recent reads below. Thanks in advance for sharing your short and sweet book reviews with us!

Welcome to August Quick Lit

Author: Julian Rubinstein

This book is no stranger to MMD and WSIRN—it was even a 2012 MMD Summer Reading Guide selection—but I haven’t talked about it in ages. It was a joy to revisit it this summer so I could do it justice in an episode of One Great Book over in our WSIRN Patreon community. The subtitle captures some of its breath: this is “a true story of bank heists, ice hockey, Transylvanian pelt smuggling, moonlighting detectives, and broken hearts.” It’s a real genre-bender, combining narrative nonfiction, a heist plot, politics, history, sports, and more. It’s hugely entertaining as a picaresque yarn about an eccentric 1990s thief, but on my rereading I was struck by just how much of the book’s power comes from the fact these events could not have unfolded in any other place, at any other time. I focused specifically on the audio for the One Great Book episode; the full cast narration is exceptional. More info →

Author: Lucy Caldwell

This April 2025 release didn’t land on my radar until after we’d wrapped our Spring Book Preview and Summer Reading Guide, but literary fiction lovers with similar taste encouraged me to give it a try. I was intrigued by the promise of a relational drama (my catnip) set against the backdrop of a little-told chapter of history: the Belfast Blitz, a 1941 series of Luftwaffe air raids that devastated the city. The story focuses on two adult sisters and their mother, as they each privately struggle with confusion and longing in their romantic relationships, against the backdrop of WWII. I especially enjoyed the exceptional attention to historical detail: I lingered over characters’ descriptions of their trinkets and diaries, and the way one popped a piece of coal into the crisper to revive tired lettuce. More info →

Author: Martha Waters

The wait list was super long when this holiday romance came out last year, so I decided to lean into my “Christmas in July” opportunity when my hold came in. It features Charlotte, a N.Y. artist who, to her regret, is best known for appearing in an iconic holiday movie when she was nine. Now, two decades later, she’s found herself in the middle of a media firestorm, because word leaked out that the only thing stopping the reboot fans desperately want is Charlotte’s (very real) refusal to participate. Charlotte escapes to London to hide, hoping to spend a quiet holiday season with her sister and regroup. But wouldn’t you know it, on a family visit to tour an English country home, she meets Graham, a handsome single guy who, with his family, owns the property, which also turns out to have been a key setting for the movie Charlotte starred in when she was nine. The two end up embarking on a little quest to visit five London landmarks with ties to beloved holiday movies; of course sparks fly along the way. This was enjoyable, easy reading; my favorite part was googling all the London locations Charlotte and Graham visit along the way. More info →

What have YOU been reading lately? Tell us about your recent reads—or share the link to a blog or instagram post about them—in comments. 

The post What I’ve been reading lately: the new and the notable appeared first on Modern Mrs Darcy.