Long weekend, vacation week, girls' road trip to Nova Scotia with my mom and daughter (and Ernie, cause he's a ladies' man) - it's been a busy and happy July. Lots of time for reading and stitching and some canning, of course, but I've gotten behind on posting. All good. I'll catch up sometime. I don't like to let the book posts get too far behind though, or I forget what I've read.

Here goes for July. Mostly genuine goodies in the mix and no real duds.

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley. I continue to find this series with its precocious young protagonist completely charming.

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman. About a woman growing up on the island of St. Thomas when she really feels like she belongs in Paris. Her life, her loves, and it turns out she is the mother of Impressionist master Camille Pissarro.

Brand Failures by Matt Haig. No new ground here for students of marketing. Given that it was published in 2002 or so, that's probably not a surprise!

Fates and Furies by Lauren Goff. I guess you could call this novel a study of a (mostly successful?) marriage. The first half is told through the lens of one partner, then the second retells and enriches and contradicts and reexamines the same timespan through the other partner's perspective. Really good.

The Western Light by Susan Swan. I appreciate the small scale of this novel. It tells the story of one young girl at a very specific time and place in (fictional, I think) Madoc's Landing on the shores of Georgian Bay. Lovely.

I also read a couple of mystery cozies. I don't have them at hand so I can't remember what they're called or what they were about, which probably tells you all you need to know!