July’s Best Book Club Books

In Iran in the 1950s, Ellie and Homa are two young girls who find each other after Ellie’s father dies, and she and her mother are thrust into a less cushy lifestyle. But, once Ellie is allowed her bougie life back, she — now a popular student at a prestigious all-girls school — almost forgets her childhood best friend. When Homa comes back into Ellie’s life, it’s as political turmoil is about to boil over, and the two girls must figure out what the future will bring them.

It’s August 1975, and 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar has disappeared from camp. What’s more, she’s not the first Van Laar child to go missing — her brother also disappeared 14 years ago. As the search for Barbara commences, secrets about the the Van Laars — who own the Adirondack summer camp where their children went missing and where many of the area’s blue-collar community works — come to light.

I admit I’m a little late to the Drew train, but I’m happy to go wherever she takes it. If you’re also new to her, I suggest joining the 7.9+ million who already follow her on TikTok.

Now for the things I love about Drew — Nails: done; shit: talked; sexists: owned. Period. Ad infinitum.

In Loud, she expands on a lot of what made her such a popular influencer — she decries terrible men, encourages confidence and a fierce life philosophy, and does all this with her distinctly personal touch.

Cynical scriptwriter Misha has just been nominated for an Oscar after years of slogging it in Hollywood. But then things get real when his producers want him to kill a queer character in the finale of the show he’s working on “for the algorithm.” Now, it seems like past fictional creations of his are after him in real life.

Award-winning Askaripour’s latest places us 500 years in the future in a society that is still terribly divided by class. Sweetmint, a young woman, lives as a second-class invisible woman. Despite her station, she lands a prestigious apprenticeship, but this new, class-defying life she’s carving for herself gets interrupted when her older brother — who had disappeared a while back — is accused of murdering someone way above his social class. Now, she’ll set off to clear his name, navigating the changing politics and brutal class divisions.