The 5 Best Books I Read Last Month

July 7 2017
Share The 5 Best Books I Read Last Month

Every month I read so many amazing books, but sometimes the hamster wheel of life spins too quickly and I forget to take time to appreciate them. It’s so easy to get lost in the shuffle and the endless piles of books I’ve read or want to read. So I’ve decided to slow down a bit and ruminate on the 5 best books I read this month.

And what are the best books you read recently? Email us. We can’t wait to hear what you’re reading.

The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy’s first novel has been universally praised as a masterpiece and a modern classic. I’m embarrassed it took me so long to finally read THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS—the story of an affluent Indian family forever changed by a fateful day involving seven-year-old twins, their beautiful English cousin, and a caste-blind affair. This novel is immaculately written and offers a morsel of everything: a powerful family saga with fully realized characters, a forbidden love story, a vibrant setting, and a piercing political drama.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy’s debut novel has become a modern classic. Equal parts family saga, forbidden love story, and political drama, it chronicles in exquisite, atmospheric detail an affluent Indian family forever changed by one fateful day in 1969.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

Staff Picks: 10 Classic Novels We Truly Enjoyed Reading for School

By Off the Shelf Staff | October 14, 2021

Author Picks: My 6 Favorite Opening Lines of Literature

By Rémy Ngamije | July 29, 2021

Steeped to Perfection: 11 Divine Book and Tea Pairings

By Sarah Jane Abbott | January 7, 2019

The 5 Best Books I Read Last Month

By Taylor Noel | July 7, 2017

12 Debut Novels You Won’t Want to Miss

By Taylor Noel | March 21, 2017

13 Book Recommendations from the Gilmore Girls Themselves

By Erin Madison | November 22, 2016

Close
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
by Joanna Cannon

I have to confess, this wasn’t the first time I read THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP. I was having a rough week and wanted a sure pick-me-up so I decided to treat myself again to this quirky coming-of-age story with unmistakable warmth. I was just as charmed by precocious ten-year-old protagonists Grace and Tilly as they try to locate a missing neighbor and learn what it means to belong to a community as I was the first time I read this glorious debut novel.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
Joanna Cannon

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo

MENTIONED IN:

9 Vivid Novels for Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing

By Emily Lewis | May 24, 2021

Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in May

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 31, 2019

12 Perfectly Bodied Book-and-Wine Pairings

By Sarah Jane Abbott | May 23, 2019

A Menagerie of Books: 9 Reads for Animal Lovers

By Sarah Jane Abbott | April 22, 2019

Happy Chinese New Year: 12 Books to Kick Off the Year of the Pig

By Elizabeth Breeden | February 5, 2019

Readers’ Choice: The Top 25 Shelved Books of 2017

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 29, 2017

Close
Everything I Never Told You
by Celeste Ng

A gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU follows a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio as the body of their favorite child is found in a lake and they struggle to understand not only what went wrong, but each other. This emotionally precise novel expertly explores family dynamics as well as issues of race and gender.

Read the full review of EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Everything I Never Told You
Celeste Ng

“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this dark but exquisite novel about a Chinese-American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, but when her body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, and the family is forced to come to terms with their struggles and secrets.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

15 Favorite Novels from 15 Favorite Authors

By Taylor Noel | September 7, 2017

The 5 Best Books I Read Last Month

By Taylor Noel | July 7, 2017

12 Debut Novels You Won’t Want to Miss

By Taylor Noel | March 21, 2017

A Complex Narrative of Words Left Unsaid

By Ruby Rose Lee | December 9, 2016

12 Essential Books About Race in America

By Eloy Bleifuss Prados | January 18, 2016

Beat the Heat With These Summer Book Club Picks

By Julianna Haubner | June 30, 2015

Close
Rabbit Cake
by Annie Hartnett

After 12-year-old Elvis Babbitt’s mother drowns while sleepwalking, Elvis prepares to grieve for the 18 months advised by her guidance counselor. But grief doesn’t always play by the rules, and Elvis is distracted from the process by trying to keep her sleepwalking sister from suffering the same fate as their mother. Desperate to protect her family and come to terms with her grief, Elvis is an endearing narrator who captures readers’ hearts.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Rabbit Cake
Annie Hartnett

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

A Menagerie of Books: 9 Reads for Animal Lovers

By Sarah Jane Abbott | April 22, 2019

12 Tips for How to Read as Many Books as Possible

By Taylor Noel | April 5, 2018

The 5 Best Books I Read Last Month

By Taylor Noel | July 7, 2017

Close
Outline
by Rachel Cusk

I decided to read OUTLINE after one of my colleagues highly recommended it. Best. Recommendation. Ever. A novel in ten conversations, OUTLINE follows a novelist teaching creative writing during an oppressively hot Athens summer. Through the stories of the people she encounters, the novelist learns how to face her own loss. It is a mesmerizing and cerebral novel full of beautiful life observations.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo
Outline
Rachel Cusk

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo

MENTIONED IN:

The 5 Best Books I Read Last Month

By Taylor Noel | July 7, 2017

Close

You must be logged in to add books to your shelf.

Please log in or sign up now.