july means {as ever}: early to bed, early to wake. all so i can read more.
here they come: one by one… all of july’s weekly reading book review episodes as they’re filmed every monday morning this month. collected here with links to bookshop.org where you can learn more about each title and support indie bookstores if you decide to shop online! :D
with all my paper cuts of literary joy,
xo,
*hallie ;)
✨📖 weekly reading book review july 2026: episode one!! 📖✨
🥧 this week i read:
❤️🔥 THE CHILDREN by melissa albert (her adult fiction debut & it was spectacularrrrrrrr!!!! 🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟 )
🎭 TIMON OF ATHENS by wm shakespeare
my folger library edition on barnes & noble here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/timon-of-athens-william-shakespeare/1116788571?ean=9781982164942
📚 currently reading:
🩷 HOOKED by asako yuzuki
🎃 THE PUMPKIN PRINCESS AND THE BURIED CASTLE by steven banbury (yay summerween spooky adventure vibes middle grade series!)
🥳 new books i’m looking forward to:
🎭 CAST VS. CREW: TECH WEEK by lindsay champion (middle grade theatre series!!)
💚 THE PRINCESS SWAP: THE FROG PRINCESS & PETER PAN / WENDY DARLING & THE SECRET PRINCE by kim bussing
📚 & prolllllly (?!) reading next*ish:
🎭 TITUS ANDRONICUS by wm shakespeare
☀️ SUMMER’S NEVER OVER by darby bozeman (summer mystery thriller!!)
paperback on bookshop.org : https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780593953532
my hardcover botm copy (try & join for $5 with my link!): https://www.mybotm.com/4fk6zo9eig4
oh, & i’m re*watching through MODERN FAMILY season six on dvd because i love that show & i can always use a good laugh! 🥰📺😅
what stories are you loving right now?!?!
⭐️🎃✨📖📚📺🎭🎾🎨🩰🎤🎬
off to find more pie,
💜xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review july 2026: episode two!! 📖✨
💙 here’s what i read this week:
🎃 THE PUMPKIN PRINCESS AND THE BURIED CASTLE by steven banbury (middle grade series bk no. 2!!)
😕 THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS by janice hallett (great storytelling format; book not for me)
🩵 WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF by claire forrest (ya senior year + disability rep + team wilder!! 🥹💖)
📚 currently reading:
🐻 PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE by ao omae (japanese short stories in a perfect, well*designed & lovely format!!)
📺 watched:
😭 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1956; ugh. still relevant)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🧵🪡 PROJECT RUNWAY (season 22 opener on disney+/hulu !!)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437741/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
📚 miiiiight be reading next:
👑 THE PRINCESS DIARIES: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by meg cabot , illustrated by bethany crandall
🩷 BREAK ROOM by miye lee
🧡 THE NINE MOONS OF HAN YU AND LULI by karina yan glaser (am i nervous bc it’s gonna be so amazing?!? 😬😬😬)
🖤 ORDINARY MONSTERS by j. m. miro
what stories are you loving right now?!?
make sure you’re subscribed to my free substack newsletter for FUN updates this week!!
🥰💘📖✏️🎨✂️
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review july 2026: episode three!! 📖✨
📚 here’s what i read this week:
🩷 PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE by ao omae
❤️ PERFECT LITTLE WORLD by kevin wilson (not my fave of his oeuvre; but that cover art! 🥹)
📚 currently reading:
🖤 THE BROKEN GIRLS by simone st. james (possibly haunted boarding school; cold case investigation; hot cop bf, journalist dad, 2 timelines! 😳👻🔍)
📚reading next:
💚 A CHILDREN’S BIBLE by lydia millet (adult dystopian?! tbd. #bookclub wednesday nite!!)
📚 perchance mayhaps to pick up next:
🩷 SOUNDS LIKE LOVE by ashley poston
❤️🩹 TITUS ANDRONICUS by wm shakespeare
💛 SYLLABUS by lynda berry
🥳 watched:
📺 INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996; great ep from WHAT WENT WRONG PODCAST made me do it!! 🥰🎧)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🧵🪡 PROJECT RUNWAY season 22 ep.2 (yaaaay art sports !!!)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437741/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🥰
from me, the cat, & my chonky junk journal,
💜xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review july 2026: episode four!! 📖✨
😎 here’s what i read this week:
🖤 A CHILDREN’S BIBLE by lydia millet
ermazzinggggg & brilliant beyond the surface story- which was enjoyable all by itself! LORD OF THE FLIES meets GOD OF THE WOODS x eco*disaster + THE DOG STARS (minus the zombies, tg)
🩶 THE BROKEN GIRLS by simone st. james
dual timeline cold case ghost story boarding school historical fiction spooky fun times with tears and family legacies & quality ending
💖 SOUNDS LIKE LOVE by ashley poston
swoony celebrity boy band music nostalgia family ties creative process LA/OBX speculative fiction romcom
🥳 things i pulled off the TBR stacks to mayyyybeeee choose from next:
❤️ CAST VS. CREW: TECH WEEK by lindsay champion
💙 MEET ME ON MISTLETOE LANE by cassie miller
coming out on october 6! in the meantime, as you wait for your pre*order copy to arrive, please enjoy her debut wondertale: MEET ME UNDER THE LIGHTS!!
🧡 HOW (NOT) TO RENOVATE A HAUNTED HOUSE by jenny howe
🩷 THE SUN AND THE STARMAKER by rachel griffin
💛 LADY TREMAINE by rachel hochhauser
& i got to see HADESTOWN (original west end cast, ~8 years later) in the movie theatre!!
& rewatched most of THE GOOD PLACE while catching up on my junk journals/catsitting!!
🎬🥰✂️📝📺🐈
here’s to more writing & painting & reading & alllll the (sweet) every*day adventures ahead!!
💜xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📚 (tiny) book stack of the fave reads of july… 📚✨
the two books i enjoyed enough to recommend you read, too:
🩵 WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF by claire forrest
YA disability rep with lots of swoon + friendship + college/dream hunting for a relateable high school senior…. kept me up waaaaay past my bedtime 🥰
❤️🔥 THE CHILDREN by melissa albert
i love it i love it i love it. faerie tales and modern art and family mysteries and fame and magic and siblings and a childhood in the woods…..
🥳🎬🎨
honorable mentions for (mostly) surface reasons:
🩷 best book design: PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE by ao omae
💚 most to think about/unique writing style: A CHILDREN’S BIBLE by lydia millet
💛 best cover art: PERFECT LITTLE WORLD by kevin wilson
🩷 best swoony escapism fun: SOUNDS LIKE LOVE by ashley poston
🥳
here’s to another month stuck between the pages!!
💜xo,
*hallie 🤓
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