July Reading Roundup 2024
Some of the books I read and enjoyed last month
There are a lot of new faces here since Virginia Sole-Smith included me in her Who Do I Pay To Read list. Let me tell you, it was a thrill to see my name sandwiched in between Samantha Irby and Anne Helen Petersen. Virginia, thank you!
New subscribers, hi! I’m Kim, a culture writer and digital editor living in Nashville. You can read my work at the Nashville Scene and on Joy the Baker. I write about what I’m interested in: books, pop culture and nostalgia. Assuredly I will also talk about aging, divesting from diet and wellness culture and my eternal quest for good plus-size jeans. My top read posts are:
In addition to essays, I also write a roundup of the books I read each month and a monthly list of links and recommendations. Today is a book roundup post.
Okay, now let’s get into what I read in July!
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by Nicola Yoon
There’s a popular sound on TikTok that goes viral every so often. I call the sound “partially slayed.” The narrator is showing a bunch of celebrity red carpet photos and telling us whether each look “slayed” or “partially slayed.” At one point, he says, “I don’t know how to feel.”
I don’t know how to feel about One Of Our Kind, Nicola Yoon’s first adult novel. I listened to it on audio and found it very propulsive. Marketed as a thriller, the book follows a young family as they move into an all-Black gated community/utopia. It’s pretty clear what’s going on, and what’s going to happen, even if you don’t know exactly how Yoon will wrap it up at the end.
Again, I don’t know how to feel. I enjoyed listening to it. I will say, I went and read a bunch of reviews, and whew boy, people have strong opinions about this one. If you’re like me and have discourse disease, pick this up so you can be part of the conversation.
by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Now I just want to tell you if all the books on this list slayed or partially slayed. Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin definitely (also, spoiler alert: literally) slayed. This is a horror book about a group of teens in the ‘90s who get sent to a conversion camp in Utah with a literal monster. It’s so scary! And gross. Content warnings for body horror and minor to moderate animal harm. But also, there’s tons of great sex scenes and it all kind of balances out.
I read this because it was the July selection for Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club. I know that, like me, Gay also grew up reading Stephen King novels, so I take her horror recommendations seriously, and she did not let me down with Cuckoo. I’ve been raving about it to everyone all week, begging people to run out and buy it. The fat representation in this book is so great.
by Olivia Muenter
Partially slayed. I was disappointed in the last half of this book because the first half is so good. It’s another one that’s great on audio because a lot of the book is podcast episodes and reddit threads and the audiobook has a large cast of narrators.
What, for me, started out as a thrilling critique on modern influencer culture and an obsession with true crime, became an unfollow-able plot about 80% through. At one point I was so confused I had to check that I hadn’t inadvertently skipped ahead.
Here’s why I said ‘partially slayed.’ I read a review somewhere that said even though this book doesn’t stick the landing, it’s a great choice for book clubs and discussions about social media. I agree. The last 20% of the book is a little bizarre and confusing, but the bulk of the book is a blast to read and it spotlights social media in a way that a lot of us are thinking and talking about.
Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business
by Roxane Gay
It’s funny, I read this book in the time between the Biden/Trump debate and Biden dropping out. I was feeling disillusioned and this book reinvigorated me. If you don’t know, this book is a collection of the last 10 year’s of Roxane Gay’s essays, op-eds, book reviews and more. I’ve always loved Gay’s book reviews and culture writing, but her opinion pieces on the 2016 election and all the things that happened in 2020 and 2021 reminded me how bad things have been before, how disillusioned I’ve been before and how important it is to stay engaged.
If you’re someone who teaches essay and/or culture writing, this is a great book to teach from. If you’re someone who writes book reviews, especially if you’re interested in well written negative reviews, there’s a whole chapter for you here. It’s 10 years of writing from one of the best voices we have.
by Rachel Khong
This is the book I read in two days on vacation, also an Audacious Book Club pick. It’s a multi-generational novel told in three parts by three different Chinese American family members. Every time one part would end, I would be so sad because I was invested in their story, but then I’d get invested in the next character’s story and not want that to end either.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the first part set in 1999-2001 New York City. Large parts of the book are about genetics and Mao Zedong’s China, which I was fascinated by. Such a compelling read.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Amelia Nagoski, Emily Nagoski
This year is a blur, but at some point in the spring my therapist told me I’m in burnout and had to start scaling back. Months later, I remembered this book exists and bought it. I think it helped that I read it after months of therapy because I was steady enough by then to start making some of the changes outlined in the book.
If you’re in burnout, approaching burnout, or just burnout curious, this is a great book. In my case, I needed the therapy first and then used to the book to kind of intellectualize what I had gone through and why. Your mileage may vary. Regardless, the Nagoski sisters write great books.
ICYMI: Here’s what I read last month:
Last call for Fat Girl Summer! I hope you buy and read books with fat characters year-round, but if you want this Parnassus discount, time is running out. 👇🏼
ICYMI: I hired two local booksellers to help me create a Fat Girl Summer Reading List. Parnassus Books is offering 10% off each title when you use the coupon code FATGIRLSUMMER at checkout. Coupon valid through Aug. 23.
Fat Girl Summer Reading List
Recently, I was listening to the author Emma Copley Eisenberg on Virginia Sole-Smith’s Burnt Toast podcast. Emma told Virginia that she did an analysis of the New York Times notable books over the past five years and found that less than one percent of the books—100 each year over the past 5 years—had a fat person in them.
Great list again Kim! Looking forward to picking up Real Americans soon!
Yes! Love these recommendations.