Welcome to July! I hope everyone had a great reading month.

My June was very disjointed. I spent the first 21 days of the month traveling across the USA (Chicago, Milwaukee, NYC), and then I was home for one day to unpack, do laundry, and then pack again as I was heading to the cottage.

I obviously didn’t get as much reading done in the first 3 weeks, but thankfully, the cottage is all about relaxing and reading.

NYC was something. I was there during the final two Knicks games. It was legitimately scary when the Knicks won the NBA Championship, as we were just returning from a watch party for the Scotland vs Haiti game. We got stuck on 8th Ave with all side streets barricaded, and what felt like a million Knicks fans.

At one point, my friend and I had to put a barricade around our families as a group decided it was a great moment to start running through the crowd, almost causing a stampede. One of those things that was cool to experience – but I certainly appreciated it more after the fact!

NYC was fun. I actually had a disappointing experience at The Mysterious Bookshop, which is a place I always visit when I am in town. Two staff members, both of whom acted like they were being put out by actually having to deal with customers.

My wife asked if they stocked any Nancy Drew novels and was haughtily told, “We only stock mysteries.” It’s literally called the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. I bought a couple of books because, hey, I love supporting bookstores, and another employee had a real attitude problem and wouldn’t even look at me or say anything during the transaction.

Thankfully, we also discovered The Strand bookstore, which a couple of readers had recommended I check out. They advertise “18 miles of books,” and they weren’t kidding; this was an incredible store, with very friendly staff. I shot a lot of video footage there, and I’ll pop something up on social media in July. So yeah – if you are in NYC, skip the Mysterious Bookshop and check out The Strand!

In brighter news, June 2026 will be remembered by me as I read one of the best books I’ve ever read.

I read books. I rate books. I rate a lot of books 10/10 because I’m not a strict judge; if it was worth the money, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I had no issues, it often gets a 10/10.

But there is that S Tier of books. Books that transcend a simple rating system. Replay by Ken Grimwood. 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. The Warehouse by Rob Hart. Books that are an experience. Books that you gift to others, as you enjoyed them that much.

I can add The Traveler by Joseph Eckert to that list.

I’ll add it to the recommendations section – but I just want to say how incredible this book was. If you like lite sci-fi, such as Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, etc, I cannot recommend this one enough. What makes this even more incredible is that it was a debut novel. I went into it ready to “like it despite its flaws,” but this didn’t need it; it was bloody perfect.

If you told me that the likes of Asimov, Bradbury, and Le Guin, after dying, had some sort of combined reincarnation that became the author Joseph Eckert, I’d believe you.

Top marks to that book.

I read The Divorce by Freida McFadden. This is a standalone thriller about a woman who, out of nowhere, is told by her husband that he wants a divorce. This one has had a lot of negative reviews, but I enjoyed it. When I get into these books, I’m not expecting a masterpiece.

I’m expecting a thriller that keeps me guessing, has me saying “just one more chapter” over and over, and surprises me with a few twists without insulting my intelligence. That hit the spot and was perfect while in the USA, as it’s the type of book that “forces” you to read.

I read The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss. It’s about characters in a reality-show escape game and is in the YA genre. It was okay – I didn’t think it was anything special. The characters were well written, but I wasn’t really into the story at all.

I read the book Regretting You by Colleen Hoover. Opinions on Colleen are mixed, but I’ve read two books by her now, and I gotta say – I love her. The story of this was a bit of a mess – it’s at the point where I don’t even know where to begin. Let me mash it all into one big ugly paragraph:

Morgan is married to Chris. Back when they were teenagers, Morgan dated Chris, and her sister Jenny dated a fella called Jonah. Jonah suspected they were with the “wrong people,” however, before he could elaborate on that, Morgan told him she was pregnant with Chris’s baby. He then just broke up with Jenny and disappeared the next day. Like 17 years later, he met Jenny at some event, had a one-night stand with her, and she got pregnant. So he did the right thing and stuck with her. Then Jenny and Chris both die in a car accident together – and it is revealed that they were sleeping together, and cheating on Jonah and Morgan. Oh, and the baby Jenny had with Jonah? Actually, with Chris.

Whew. Got all that? But here’s what I like about her books – she writes good characters. Interesting characters. I found myself just so interested in the characters, and I also gotta say the story as well. And I don’t think this is really spoiling anything. The video reveals at the end? It got to me. I was moved.

Really enjoyed it.

The adaptation, on the other hand…

I actually watched this with my family. My wife and kids are in Canada, and my sister in mum is in Scotland via Zoom:

And yes – that is a hat I bought from The Strand bookstore!

Anyway, the adaptation was bad. If you have read the book, it’s okay; it’s fun to see it come to life. They butchered it a bit, dropped a few key moments, but nothing too bad. But as a standalone movie, it was horrific; quite a few key plot points were dropped, which, if you hadn’t read the book, you’d be completely lost. Only recommended if you have read the book.

I read Deadline by Steph McGovern. A debut novel by this UK author, about a woman who is a TV reporter, and it’s a huge day for her with a live interview with one of the most powerful men in the UK. As she is on the air with him, she hears a message over her earpiece telling her that her child has been kidnapped.

Here’s one thing about reading. I was sitting there on the beach at the cottage area reading this. I took a break for a second, and thought, “Wow – I am REALLY enjoying this.” Not just the book itself, but just the setting; relaxing on a beach, sun blasting off me, beer in hand, and just READING. It felt so great.

I enjoyed Deadline. There were a lot of moving parts, but they all came together very well in the end. The author made me invest in quite a few of the characters (especially Ollie, who we don’t meet until about 30% of the way through the book). It loses a few marks for getting a bit too silly in the final act, and then the longest epilogue in the history of epilogues. If you’re a fan of UK thriller writers, I’d say it’s worth a read.

I’ve started reading The Last Stop Video Shop by Keith A. Pearson. Keith is one of my favourite authors. He writes that “believable” sci-fi that I really enjoy, but he also adds a lot of UK-style humour to his books.

I also listened to The Long Weekend by Gilly MacMillan. It’s a thriller about three women who travel to a remote cottage for the weekend, and upon arrival, find a note telling them that one of their husbands will be dead when they return.

It wasn’t very good. It kept me entertained enough during my runs so that was fine. The story was a bit of a mess with some unbelievable characters. The narrator for this was annoying too, as she clearly doesn’t get paid by the hour! She spoke so fast that I actually had to turn down the speed. Also, the book’s structure is annoying because it constantly changes perspective, but there are no chapter headings for each person. I guess the upside is that it makes you focus a bit more, but it really made me lose track of the characters.

That’s about it for me. As always, if you want:

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Each month, we give away 5 $25 Amazon gift certificates to random subscribers.

To win, all you have to do is be a subscriber. Nothing more! When we click “Publish,” we take a list of all our subscribers, put them into a random draw, and those are the winners.

Our winners this month are:

Micky from Delray Beach, FL
Barbara McCl from USA(email has 985 in it)
Pat B. from Bartlett, IL
Jane S. from Marietta, GA
Heidi from Spokane, WA (email has blomf in it)

All of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.

So it goes.

Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com

Book Shop Cats

I know a lot of the readers of this newsletter own cats. While in The Strand bookstore in NYC, I came across a book titled “Book Shop Cats”. The author’s name was Daphne Du Meowier. I thought – this would be perfect for the newsletter!

So each month, I’ll share a picture of the cat from the book, followed by the excerpt they wrote. Hope you enjoy! If you like these, you can buy the book.

BEA

AGE: Three and a half
BREED: Moggy, calico (white and tortoiseshell)
BOOKSHOP: Shrew Books, Fowey, Cornwall, UK

ARRIVAL STORY: I took Bea on from a local cat rescue charity in 2021, after she was found stray and pregnant with a large litter.

TEMPERAMENT: Bea is a very nervous little creature! She tends to stay away from the shop during the summer holidays (to avoid dogs, and small children who like to pull tails …), but when it’s calm she’ll often come and sit in the shop window to tease the local jackdaws, and has been known to take a nap there! She’s powerfully driven by her stomach. She’s also a very chatty beast, responds to her name when you call it and can’t get enough belly rubs. She’s attention-seeking, and kind of a drama queen, but people fall for her tricks on a daily basis!

Bea has nervous days, steering clear of our customers, and then will suddenly crave affection. On those days she’ll saunter between the racks, squeaking at people to encourage chin tickles and high-pitched cooing. If she spots a dog, however, she’ll arch her back and then bolt out of the shop (which she can do by awkwardly squeezing under the door between my shop and my home). On her calmer days she can often be found lounging in the corner of the shop where poetry meets nature writing.

She’s been known to slip behind the bottom shelves and travel around the shop unseen – until she starts knocking over every book on every shelf she passes through, only to come out the other end and wail at us as though it was our fault for letting her behind there in the first place.

FUN FACT: Bea is known for keeping the churchyard vole population in check.

LITERARY ALIAS: I think of her as Bathsheba Everdene from [Thomas Hardy’s] Far from the Madding Crowd – she’s a demanding, mercurial, beautiful, flirtatious character who can be entirely self-sustaining if she chooses to be, and the one thing she’ll never admit to is how desperately she wants to be loved.

Book Recommendations

In this section, I give 3-5 random book recommendations from readers of the newsletter. They can be old books, they can be new. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to me. Just hit reply. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too! 

The Traveler by Joseph Eckert: This is the book that I mentioned in the introduction.

Scott Treder is driving to work one day. Suddenly, his car has disappeared, and he’s tumbling out on the road. And he finds out it’s the next day. He has somehow traveled forward in time by a day.

The very next morning, at the very same time? He travels forward again. This time two days.

And what happens the next day? Suddenly, he’s traveled forward four days. And it’s just going to keep doubling.

If this is the sort of story you like – don’t hesitate. Trust me.

And if you are an audiobook fan? The one and only Ray Porter narrates it!

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger: Kerri wrote in to recommend Culpability, stating, “Great story, but really gets you thinking about AI and the times we are living in!!” I love books that make you think.

This book has received many accolades. It was a pick by the Oprah Book Club, a New Yorker Best Book of 2025, and much more.

After an autonomous car crash, the Cassidy-Shaw family retreats to the Chesapeake Bay, where each hidden secret raises harder questions about blame, truth, and the dangers of artificial intelligence.

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff: This Goodreads Choice Award Nominee and National bestseller was the debut novel of Sarah Damoff, released last year.

In The Bright Years, a Texas family shaped by hidden truths, addiction, and loss is pulled apart by tragedy yet bound by the stubborn force of love. Told across four generations and three intimate perspectives, this debut follows Georgette Bright as she returns to her roots, confronts her family’s past, and learns whether grace can restore what has been broken.

Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth: This one was shortlisted for several awards, including the Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction, the Polaris First Book Prize, and the British Book Awards 2024 Discover Book of the Year.

Lucy comes of age in 1990s rural Ireland, where the life expected of her – marriage, motherhood, and safety with her devoted friend Martin – feels increasingly impossible to accept. When a summer romance with Susannah becomes a secret, consuming love, Lucy must decide whether to remain hidden in the world she knows or risk everything for a future that might finally let her be herself.

Sally Lockhart Series by Philip Pullman: This series was written by the author of His Dark Materials in the 90s. It’s a 4-book series which starts with The Ruby in the Smoke.

It’s a Victorian-era mystery-adventure series following a clever, fiercely independent young woman who investigates murder, conspiracy, financial crime, and political corruption in London and beyond.

Blending gothic suspense, detective fiction, and social critique, the books grow darker and more morally complex as Sally builds a life on her own terms in a dangerous, male-dominated world.

July Book Of The Month

Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch by David Rosenfelt: I just featured a cat earlier in the newsletter, so I think it’s only fair I balance that out with a dog. And not just any dog, but Tara, the true star of the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt.

This is the 33rd book in this excellent and much-loved mystery series. What I really like about this is that the dog never ages – David has promised to never kill off Tara, so we’re all able to get invested in the books knowing Tara will always be okay.

In the latest entry, Andy Carpenter defends a homeless veteran accused of murdering a billionaire dog lover, but proving his innocence means untangling a case that looks far too easy.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable and easy-to-read series, this is it.

10 More Notable Books Releasing in July

Brought to you by BookNotification.com where you can get updated on all the upcoming books by your favourite authors with your own personalized calendar!

Pictures of the Month

Thanks to Carla for the first 4 and Norma for the last.

Send in your own to site@orderofbooks.com or by replying!

Images, jokes, etc. We’ll take it all!

Your Thoughts!

Last month, I asked if there are any secondary characters in books you would like to see get spin-offs. The answers are later in the newsletter.

This month, Chris actually wrote in with a question for everyone:

How do you decide when to quit reading a book that you’re having trouble finishing? And, if you do push through and get to the end, are you usually happy you made the effort? Finally, how do you find the motivation to finally turn to the last page?

I read at a decent pace, so it’s not really an issue for me. However, there are certain books where I will definitely start “skimming” if I am close to the end and really not enjoying it. Just getting the major plot points from a page before turning to the next.

I’m definitely glad I put in the effort. Not every book can be a winner, and it’s nice to have another book read and logged. Especially if I end up chatting with someone who has read that book.

If I DNF books, it’s usually audiobooks, and it’s usually within the first hour. I’m a harsher critic when it comes to audiobooks, so if it hasn’t got me hooked within the first hour, I’ll return it to the library.

I can only remember one book I didn’t actually “finish” or skim. I cannot remember the name of it for the life of me, but it was a thriller, and I was reading it on a beach, and at 30%, I was just sitting there thinking this is one of the most ludicrous, bad books I’ve ever read.

I ended up just jumping right to the final couple of chapters just so I knew how it all wrapped up.

What about you – how do you decide when to quit? Or do you push through?

E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next month’s newsletter. Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

Reader Mailbag!

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Order of Books » Newsletter » OrderOfBooks July 2026 Newsletter

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