Tales by the Tide

We’re halfway through July, and the days feel like they’re stretching out just long enough for me to slip into something quiet and thoughtful - books in sun-dappled corners, journals left open with half-finished thoughts, and tea that’s gone cold more than once. It feels like the right time to check in with my reading life.

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📚 What I’ve Read So Far

• The Salt Path by Raynor Winn — ★★★★★ (re-read)
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer — ★★★★★ (re-read)
• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone — ★★★¾
• The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn — ★★★★ (re-read)
• The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner — ★★★¾
• Landlines by Raynor Winn — ★★★★½ (re-read)
• Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman — ★★★★ (re-read)

📚 Currently Reading

• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
• Find Me by André Aciman (re-read)
• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (another re-read — I always seem to come back to it when I need soft grounding)

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✨ What’s Surprised Me

• How much comfort I’ve found in returning to familiar books. July has been full of rereads - and not by accident. I think I needed stories I could trust, voices I already knew would meet me with kindness and depth.
• The Lost Apothecary was a gentle surprise - I expected something moodier or more plot-driven, but it gave me a reflective kind of melancholy I didn’t know I’d been craving.
• Time War didn’t sweep me up quite the way I hoped it would. I loved the language, but it felt like watching fireworks underwater - gorgeous, but somehow muted.

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🌿 Have My Reading Moods Shifted?

Absolutely. I began July thinking I’d lean into pace - fast mysteries, maybe some speculative fiction with teeth - but I’ve found myself craving softness, memory, nature, healing. I think that's why books like The Salt Path, Braiding Sweetgrass, and The Comfort Book have pulled me in again.

There’s a thread that runs through all of them: a kind of deep listening. Whether it's to the land, to grief, or to love, they ask me to slow down and pay attention. And I have.

Now, with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, I feel like I’m opening a new door - something hopeful and character-driven, but still rooted in connection. It’s exactly what I need next.

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🖊️ A Line That Stayed With Me

“The path, I realised, wasn’t just about walking; it was about learning to trust again — in life, in people, and in ourselves.”
— Landlines, Raynor Winn

This felt like someone placing a hand on my shoulder. Gently. A reminder that healing often comes quietly, and over time.

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How’s your reading life this month? Any books surprising you or helping you see something more clearly? I'd love to know what's been staying with you.