July's Best Books

July heats up with riveting memoirs, provocative nonfiction and a powerful new novel.

By Caroline Leavitt
Published: Jul 10, 2008

Chosen Forever
by Susan Richards
SoHo Press $23

This sequel to Susan Richard’s wonderful Chosen by a Horse, (the amazing true story of how an abused horse changed the author’s life) follows Richard’s subsequent book tour, as she anxiously deals with success in midlife. This time, another living creature recharges her life—world famous 78-year-old photographer, Dennis Stock, who came to a reading and fell for her at first glance. Richard’s voice is warm, intimate and brave as she tells how her tangled past gave way to the “pure, uncomplicated joy” that should be every person’s birthright.

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman
Doubleday $25

Hey, why’d you buy that dress that makes your hips look as wide as Jupiter? How come a teacher gives her most promising student work that’s three levels below his capacity? Relying on research from social psychology, behavioral science and economics, Brafman and Brafman show how rational, smart people are swayed into doing things that are…well, downright stupid. Why do we do it? Anxiety about loss and unseen psychological undercurrents try to steer us in the wrong directions, but in Sway, the Brafmans show you how to sidestep your fear and revel in the rational.

The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death, Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia, and Laser Hair Removal
by Laurie Notaro
Villard $20

She’s plump, raunchy and spectacularly funny, and in this side-splitting collection of essays, Notaro introduces readers to the wacky wonders of her world. She goes on vacation with her doting husband and imagines she sees spies. Her attempts to massacre a stray hair on her chin leave her mortified and covered in lipstick, and after watching the Discovery Channel, she worries that worms the size of Cleveland might invade her apartment. Notaro is like the best girlfriend you had in sixth grade, where the two of you would sit at the ice cream shop and just tell story after story and scream with laughter. A gem.

The Condition
by Jennifer Haigh
Harper 25.95
The award winning author of the sublime Baker Towers and Mrs. Kimble, returns with a novel that delves into the family ties that bind—and strangle. It’s summer and the McKotches are falling apart. One of their daughters, Gwen, has “a condition,” Turner Syndrome, which traps her forever in the body of a child. Fast forward twenty years later, and all family members are still grappling with both Gwen’s trauma, and their own. But then, Gwen falls in love—for the first time—and this fractured family must somehow configure again. Moving, profound and unforgettable.

Top Tips for Girls - Real Advice from Real Women for Real life (So You Don’t Have to Learn Everything the Hard Way)
by Kate Reardon
Crown $13.95
Clear the coffee table, because this is the kind of book you really do need to leave around. Filled with nifty advice that’s culled from the uber popular website TopTipsForGirls.com, this handy guide offers crème de la crème advice about work, love, shopping, style and so much more. Nervous at parties? Get there early when there are only a few people. Blush when giving a presentation? Try writing your notes on red paper which somehow will psychologically cancel it out. Fun, ingenious, and as indispensible as lip gloss.