Chelsey's July 2026 Reads | 8 Books (I'm depressed + a summer recap)

The last time I worked on a post, it was the end of June and I was writing from a cozy library in Cape May, New Jersey, while on my yearly beach trip with my mom and sister. I felt removed from the real world, which was a welcome respite after the busy weeks before.

Then I came home and life met me like a freight train.

On July 15th, my Substack and pastor’s wife friend Jill texted me: "Hey there? Just checking in. Haven’t seen your writing in a while and miss it!

This seriously such a kind text and kind of made my whole month. It also served to remind me that I had basically abandoned not only Substack but also my entire reading life.

I finished 5 books in the first 6 days of July, during which I was mostly at the beach. The first Monday of normal life was July 6th, and I finished a book that day, and only finished three books since then. Three books. I know no one cares how many books I read, but I have felt my mental health deteriorating without my normal diet of books.

I told Christian today, the last day of July, that I hadn’t finished an audiobook since July 6th, and he was truly shocked. It had been so long that when I tried to start an audiobook earlier this week, I almost had to force myself. My brain was struggling to get back in the habit. Thankfully, I have pressed on and am almost done with that one, although not in time to count it for July.

The reasons for my lack of reading have been diverse. The first week back from the beach, I was catching up on work. Then Christian left town for the weekend and I was solo parenting. I also was able to get back to playing the piano at church, which meant time practicing each week. Then there was two weeks of band camp, a visit to Flannery O’Connor’s hometown with out-of-town friends, a mission trip to South Carolina, and all the back to school preparation. Not to mention my new role as president of the band boosters for the high school marching band of 160 students—this role has required hours of work this summer to prepare for the school year to start.

ALSO, I have been planning a surprise 40th birthday for my husband for the last three months, and it’s taking place August 1st (which will have passed by the time you read this). There are more than 100 people who have RSVP’d, so it turned into a small wedding reception.

All that to say, there hasn’t been a lot of time to sit and read physical books and my brain has been too overwhelmed to listen to an audiobook while doing other things. I have been stressed and overwhelmed while also trying not to appear stressed and overwhelmed so that my husband wouldn’t suspect I was planning the party.¹

I very much put too many things on my plate. I don’t want to try to do so many things at once again.

This month I just divided my reading into the three categories: fiction, spiritual, and nonfiction. I read almost all the fiction books while at the beach, which I consider a very good place to read fiction.

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

I always try to read one of this author’s books at the beach. Her books almost all take place in Nantucket, and where we go in New Jersey has some similar vibes. This one was a little different than her other books in that there was a slight supernatural element. The main character of the book, so to speak, is killed accidentally at the very beginning (this is not a spoiler). The rest of the book is about the aftermath of her death and how her feeling responds, as she watches them from “heaven” with the opportunity to make three small nudges to change the course of events. It might sound cheesy, but it really wasn’t. I even laughed out loud a few times.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

I have realized I truly love Strout’s writing style, and I’m slowly going to make my way through her entire collection. Her writing is smart and funny and while I recognize that it might not be for everyone, it scratches all my book itches. While the book is mostly about the title character, it’s really about the whole community where she lives. She is a prickly person, but by the end of the book, you kind of love her.

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

This book was a slow burn. I would not call it plot-heavy and I would not call it fast-paced. It is meant to be savored slowly, and that is what I tried to do at the beach. The premise of the story is that the narrator is telling a story about his teenage years when electricity first came to his small Irish village. There are colorful characters, an epic saga of a love story, and a hilarious attempt by the narrator to get the attention of a teenage girl.

Burn by Peter Heller

I have read several of Heller’s books and saw this one had some post-apocalyptic vibes, which longtime readers will know is one of my favorite premises. This is the story of two men who find themselves living at what feels like the end of the world. They have been on a hunting trip and attempt to come back to civilization only to find things are very different than when they life. The book is their journey to try to get home as well as figure out what the heck is going on. It is a story about friendship and about grief with some incredibly tense and disturbing scenes.

You Are Still a Mother: Hope for Women Grieving a Stillbirth or Miscarriage by Jackie Gibson

I might have picked this book off the bookshelf because it was short and I knew I was not going to get a lot of books read this month. In any case, it is a book I have wanted to read for a long time. I have never suffered a miscarriage or a stillbirth, but I have many dear friends who have. I appreciated the honest and vulnerable way the author wrote about her late-term miscarriage and how it affected her and her husband. This book would be a blessing, with the right timing, to give someone who has suffered this kind of loss. I also think anyone who is in community with other people should read it!

The Stories We Tell: How TV and Movies Long for and Echo the Truth by Mike Cosper

This book is about 12 years old and felt pretty dated with the movie and TV references, but they were almost all things that I had watched. It was especially interesting to read the chapter on The Wire, because Christian and I just finished watching that at the beginning of the summer. If you are a movie or TV buff, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott Swain

We read through this book as part of a Sunday morning class at church. I missed most of the discussion, but caught up while on my trips and was able to join in for the last few weeks. This is a dense read, but it is not inaccessible to the average person. It is certainly not a book to rush through. That said, I highly recommend it as an incredible book on the Trinity.

The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones by Clare Morell

This book was in so many ways a breath of fresh air. It was good to know we’re not the only parents who are struggling to figure out how to handle phones and screentime. A little background: Our older boys didn’t get phones until they were entering 8th/9th grade—they got phones at the same time. They were among the last of their friends to get phones. I felt like we held off as long as we could. We have no plans to get our younger kids phones any sooner. Our younger kids do have Kindles, though, and managing screen time sometimes feels like a neverending battle. This evidence-based book gives stories and examples from other parents who are in the same boat and acknowledges the way our current digital climate has made avoiding screens extremely hard. I came away wanting my husband to read it so we can make some changes to how we approach screens in our home.

I’m still working through the four books I’ve been working on for months, but I’ve also got one book in each category coming with me into August.

• 52 Weeks in the Word: A Companion for Reading Through the Bible in a Year by Trillia Newbell—part of my (mostly) daily Bible reading

• 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart by Dale Ralph Davis—reading a chapter as my husband and I work through the book of 1 Samuel together

• How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren—a book I have been trying to finish for almost a year

• North, or Be Eaten! by Andrew Peterson—book 2 of The Wingfeather Saga! I’m reading this aloud to my kids (ages 9 and 6) several nights a week. There are 60+ chapters and we only read 2-3 chapters a night, which means it might take us all summer to finish.

• The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh by James Lasdun—I’ve already read a detailed account of the murder of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son and the investigations, but this book looks more at the aftermath of the murders and Alex Murdaugh’s other considerable financial crimes. I’m eager to write more when I recap next month’s reads.

• A Big Gospel in Small Places: Why Ministry in Forgotten Communities Matters by Stephen Witmer—We very much live in a “small place” so I grabbed this off Christian’s church bookshelf to read on my own.

• The Dog Stars by Peter Heller—This has been my re-entry back into audiobooks. Imagine my surprise a week ago when we saw The Odyssey and there was a trailer for the movie version of the book. I’m excited to see it!

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I really hope that I read more than 8 books in August. I also hope to post more than once in August—I have a long post about book series that I have been working on for literally months. Until then, I’d love to know what you’re reading, and I’m so glad to be back!

1. I plan to write a full re-cap of the surprise party including the elaborate plan I cooked up to get him to the party venue without suspecting anything.