What I Read in July 2025

What I Read in July 2025
📍 Barbados

Button-Down || Pants || Sandals || Tote Bag || Hat || Earrings

July was the perfect reading month: equal parts nostalgic, enlightening, and escapist. Between a trip to Barbados and relaxing on our quiet weekends at home, I made my way through four books that each offered something completely different: a double-dose of Jackie Kennedy, a sharp and witty neighborhood drama, and a powerful biography about one of the most influential women in American history. Here’s everything I read this month…

Jackie: Public, Private, Secret

This biography had been on my to-read list for a while, and I’m glad I finally picked it up. The author dives deep into Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s life, past the polished surface and into her intensely private inner world. The research is substantial and the access is impressive. It paints Jackie not just as a style icon or tragic First Lady, but as a woman navigating power, grief, reinvention, and control over her own narrative. If you’re interested in the mythology and the humanity behind Jackie, this one is worth the read.

Jacqueline in Paris

I picked this up immediately after finishing Jackie’s biography, and I’m so glad I read the two in tandem. Ann Mah’s novel reimagines Jackie Bouvier’s junior year abroad in postwar Paris. This was a deeply formative time that shaped her intellect, her aesthetic, and her lifelong love for France. It’s beautifully written, and rich with period detail. I especially loved seeing Paris through the eyes of a young American woman trying to make sense of herself against the backdrop of history, culture, and politics. I highly recommend if you love stories that blend coming-of-age with lush settings and literary flair.

Cobble Hill

This was the lightest read of the month, and exactly what I needed in between heavier biographies. Set in a well-heeled Brooklyn neighborhood, Cobble Hill follows four interwoven families with secrets, quirks, and gossip. It’s fast-paced, character-driven, and funny in that slightly satirical way that fans of Gossip Girl, also by von Ziegesar, will recognize. Think of it as a beach read with an edge, perfect for a lazy afternoon when you want to be entertained but not overly committed.

Dear Miss Perkins

This biography of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet, might be my favorite read of the month. Written with grace and clarity, it balances history with emotional insight, highlighting Perkins’s groundbreaking work as Secretary of Labor under FDR. If you’ve ever felt curious about women in government, or the quiet forces who shape policy and public life, this is a must-read. Perkins was a powerhouse, dignified, brilliant, and deeply principle, and this book does her justice.

August is already shaping up to be just as bookish. I’m planning to read a few more books set in France, I just started The French Ingredient, plus have a few more titles to pick up from the library. If you’ve read anything lately that you loved, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below, or over on Instagram.

Love from Barbados,
Katie

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