Unboxing My Latest Book Haul (July 28)

Book Mail: A Roundup of the Book Mail I Received Last Week

Receiving a week’s worth of book mail in the last week of July feels like the perfect way to savor summer’s final stretch. Packed with new book releases, this book haul is a treasure trove for your TBR pile, offering stories to fuel lazy afternoons and warm, lingering evenings. Each title holds the promise of becoming a favorite book recommendation or even earning a spot among the best books of 2025. It’s a joyful reminder that there’s still plenty of time to get lost in new adventures before the season begins to turn.

Where to Buy These Books:

I want to note that I do not get paid to do these posts, I just love authors and the book industry. However, they do take time and energy to create. If you want to donate a few dollars to my coffee fund, which keeps this blog going, you can do so here: https://venmo.com/AshleyHasty or here: http://paypal.me/hastybooklist.

What I Wore:

Shirt | Shorts | Jewelry | Makeup

In the last week of July, when summer feels both unhurried and full of possibility, slipping into a new dusty blue athleisure tee with matching shorts feels like the ultimate blend of ease and intention. Paired with your everyday gold hoop earrings, your herringbone necklace, and your new graduated rope necklace, this look is main character fashion that radiates quiet confidence and laid-back polish. It’s the kind of main character outfit that proves aesthetic clothing doesn’t have to be complicated to feel special—sometimes it’s about how it makes you move and how it makes you feel. As you flip through a fresh stack of book mail, filled with character-driven novels and books that inspire confidence, you feel completely in sync with your own story. This is main character energy books and fashion in perfect harmony: stylish without trying too hard, relaxed but intentional, and absolutely aligned with your main character mindset. In this moment, you’re living your main character life—one beautiful page and one effortlessly cool outfit at a time.

This Week’s Book Mail Includes:

• Ghost Food by Cayla Gallagher - Dare to turn your kitchen into a haunted wonderland with Ghost Food, a spooktacular cookbook filled with creepy-cute, Halloween-inspired treats perfect for parties, scary movie nights, and magical baking adventures all year long.

• My Ex-Husband's Ex-Husband by Melissa de la Cruz and Rachel Cohn - Two former best friends—and ex-spouses of the same man—reunite in wintry Vienna to track down their missing mutual ex before Audrey’s daughter’s wedding, discovering that the real journey is about mending the bond they thought was lost forever.

• Between These Broken Hearts by Lexi Ryan - As a deadly countdown threatens Jasalyn’s life and Felicity battles a dark prophecy, love, sacrifice, and fate collide in the breathtaking final battle to save the fae realm.

• Sea Change by Susan Fletcher - In a future shaped by rogue gene editing, a girl with gills must choose between the freedom of the sea, the boy she loves on land, and the family she’s desperate to reclaim.

• Fateless by Julie Kagawa - Seventeen-year-old Sparrow must risk everything—her loyalty, her life, and her heart—to steal an ancient relic from a deadly, forgotten city in a high-stakes quest where fate itself is the ultimate enemy.

• What Does it Mean to be American? by Rana DiOrio - Discover what it truly means to be American in this heartfelt picture book that celebrates unity, diversity, and the values that connect us all.

• Fog and Fury by Rachel Howzell Hall - When ex-LAPD cop Sonny Rush takes her first PI case in the sleepy seaside town of Haven, California, a missing dog leads her into a deadly web of secrets, murder, and small-town deceptions darker than anything she left behind in LA.

• Last Seen by J.T. Ellison - When Halley James uncovers the shocking truth that her mother was murdered—not killed in an accident—her hunt for answers drags her into a sinister small town where family secrets, lies, and chilling danger blur the line between memory and reality.

• The Gallery Assistant by Kate Belli - When a rising artist is found dead after a hazy, alcohol-fueled night, a Brooklyn art gallery assistant must untangle a sinister web of secrets, lies, and murder in a high-stakes world where the truth could cost her everything.

• Sike by Fred Lunzer - In this sharp, modern love story, a lonely lyricist and a skeptical venture capitalist navigate their messy relationship under the watchful eye of an all-knowing AI therapist, questioning whether true connection can survive our relentless drive for self-optimization.

• Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor - When two brilliant Harvard students discover a potential cure for aging and launch a high-stakes biotech startup, their passionate partnership—and their very future—are put to the ultimate test in this riveting story of ambition, love, and the price of immortality.

• The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley - In this slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy, an assassin and a healer from rival orders must reluctantly join forces to cure a deadly plague—battling not only the disease but their growing, forbidden desire for each other.

• Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland - In this epic, heart-stopping finale, the Blades must return to a kingdom on the brink, facing deadly betrayals, shifting allegiances, and impossible choices as they fight to claim victory—or lose everything.

• How the Government Works by Syl Sobel - Help kids discover how American democracy really works with this clear, engaging, and easy-to-read guide to the three branches of government and their everyday impact.

• The US Constitution and You by Syl Sobel - Explore the history, principles, and lasting impact of America's most important document in this newly updated, easy-to-read guide to the U.S. Constitution!

• The Bill of Rights by Syl Sobel - Unlock the meaning and history of America's first ten amendments in this kid-friendly, easy-to-read guide that shows how the Bill of Rights protects our freedoms every day!

• Captain Courage and the Fear-Squishing Shoes by Stacey Marshall - Join Katie on a heartwarming, courage-boosting adventure with Captain Courage and his magical fear-squishing shoes, helping every child learn to speak up with confidence!

• The Woman with Fifty Faces by Zachary J. Pinson - Unravel the mesmerizing true story of Maria Lani, the enigmatic 1920s femme fatale who seduced Paris’s art world into creating fifty portraits for a film that never existed—then vanished with the legend she built.

• Heart Marks the Spot by Libby Hubscher - When a fiery treasure hunter and the bestselling novelist who broke her heart reunite on a high-stakes summer expedition, old wounds, buried secrets, and undeniable sparks threaten to make this their most dangerous—and romantic—adventure yet.

• Crash Test by Amy James - When an F1 star's secret boyfriend is critically injured in a crash, he must navigate heartbreak, rivalry, and the relentless race for the championship to fight for love that may be slipping away.

• A Mother Always Knows by Sarah Strohmeyer - When a librarian with a hidden past is exposed online, she must return to the cult-like commune of her childhood to confront old demons, wield her supernatural gift, and unmask her mother's killer before he finds her first.

• Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman - When a group of mystery authors reunites on a remote Greek island for a high-stakes writers retreat, they must unravel the murder of their host—or risk becoming the next victim in a deadly real-life whodunit.

• The Burial Place by Stig Abell - When a Roman dig in the English countryside turns deadly, retired detective Jake Jackson must unearth the secrets of the past—and catch a killer before they strike again.

• Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle - When seven strangers receive cards predicting the age they’ll die at a dinner party—and then start dropping one by one—they must unravel the deadly mystery before their own numbers are up.

• The Shakespeare Secret by D. J. Nix - Three brilliant women secretly writing as "Shakespeare" must protect their identities—and the queen’s life itself—when they’re suspected of treason in this gripping, feminist reimagining of literary history.

• The Myth Maker by Alie Dumas-Heidt - A determined detective hunts a twisted killer staging women’s bodies in chilling scenes inspired by Greek mythology in this dark, gripping thriller where past trauma and present danger collide.

• The Hesit of Hollow London by Eddie Robson - Two clones promised freedom and fortune must assemble a crew to pull off a high-stakes heist in a ruined London, where betrayal lurks around every corner and survival is anything but guaranteed.

• A Ghostwriter's Guide to Murder by Melinda Mullet - When mystery ghostwriter Maeve Gardner is accused of her ex’s murder, she must solve the case herself—armed only with her wits, a ragtag canal-dwelling crew, and the kind of devious plotting usually reserved for fiction.

• The Odds of Getting Even by Amanda Sellet - When free-spirited Jean’s resort fling with a charmingly awkward scientist goes spectacularly off the rails, she sets off on a wild chase to his South Dakota hometown for payback—and maybe, just maybe, a second chance at love.

• A Killer Getaway by Sienna Sharpe - When seductive lifeguard and secret avenger Lily falls for the inquisitive guest determined to unmask the island’s killer—herself—their sizzling summer romance becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse.

• The Wilds by Sarah Pearse - When Detective Elin Warner ventures into a remote Portuguese national park to investigate a woman's chilling disappearance, she finds a haunting wilderness full of secrets—and realizes the answers she's hunting may be more dangerous than she ever imagined.

• Simone in Pieces by Janet Burroway - Spanning seven decades, this sweeping yet intimate novel traces Belgian war orphan Simone Lerrante's journey through memory, trauma, and self-discovery as she pieces together her fractured past to reclaim her future.

• The World at Home by Ginny Kubitz Moyer - Set against the glittering yet turbulent backdrop of 1944 San Francisco, The World at Home follows a young seamstress whose designs—and desires—draw her into glamorous, perilous new worlds and an unforgettable journey of self-discovery.

• The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson - When a toddler's cryptic outburst links two mothers to a mysterious drowning in Venice Beach, they join forces in a chilling race to uncover the truth no one else believes.

• We Are the Match by Mary E. Roach - Amid mob wars on the sun-drenched Grecian islands, a ruthless fixer and a crime lord’s desperate daughter ignite a fierce love—and a deadly rebellion—in this modern, intoxicating retelling of the Helen of Troy myth.

• Open Bar by Dan Schorr - When a university’s years-long cover-up of its softball coach’s abuse of teenage players is exposed, a community is plunged into scandal, forcing its leaders to grapple with clashing agendas, buried secrets, and the true meaning of justice.