The heat arrived with July’s 250th birthday fireworks!
Looking for inside adventures when it’s too hot outside and you can’t get to the beach or the mountains? Movies! Libraries! Stage plays and musicals! Museums!
I watched Hail Mary a second time and it was just as terrific on the small screen as on the big screen. I’m looking forward to seeing The Odyssey at my favorite movie theater, The Onyx. Both the Crocker in Sacramento and the de Young in San Francisco have some amazing exhibits lined up for summer. I like to make a whole day of it and plan to each lunch in their excellent cafeterias. I’ve got tickets at the Sofia for the B Street Theatre’s annual New Comedies Festival of plays. What are you doing when it’s too hot outside? How do you stay both cool and busy?
July 2026 is the 20th anniversary of Joan and Cappy’s Wild Adventure that became Force of Nature: Three Women Tackle the John Muir Trail. It was on July 19, 2006, that we took our first steps on the iconic 200-mile trail through the heart of the Sierra Nevada. We spent nearly a month in the gorgeous wilderness, finishing at Whitney Portal on August 15, 2006. You can hike right alongside “The Three Women” when you read . too. And check out the Photo Album from the hike on my website.
My friend and sister author, Jann Alexander, is celebrating, too. It’s her book’s first birthday this month. She writes women’s historical novels (my favorite genre to read). Her first book Unspoken, is set in North Texas during the horrible Dust Bowl years, and her main characters are a mother and daughter who try, against all odds, to hold their family and their farm together. The sequel, Vacancy, will be out in September.
I love love love teaming up with other authors, and this summer, I’m teaming up with Jann to share our books with you and your friends. You can enter the book giveaway on Jann’s website by clicking on the graphic above or the button below.
While you’re there entering the drawing, if you are a book club person, be sure to sign up for us to visit with your book club! Book clubs are the best!
There’s a special Book Club page on my website, too, where you can find a discussion guide for Force of Nature. Message me if you’d like me to visit with your book club!
Visit Book Club Page for Force of Nature
The latest episode of my local TV show, Reading in the Wild, is now live on YouTube. This month, I review and recommend two more books from my Earth Month Calendar of Books. Both are Women’s Historical Fiction. One is Jann Alexander’s Unspoken, which I paired with Hazel Gaynor’s Before Dorothy, a new entry into the Wizard of OZ canon.
What could be better than a timeless classic? Where’s Spot was one of the first board books to feature flip-up tabs. When we search all over the house for the puppy Spot, we can look together for him under the bed and in the closet. And we can even search for Spot in Spanish!
Years ago, I discovered an amazing book for parents of young children, The Jim Trelease Read-Aloud Handbook. My copy is an early edition from over 40 years ago. The latest version is the 8th edition! It walks parents through best (and “funnest”) practices for sharing books with children, from infants to teens and all in betweens. I cannot recommend it enough. (I gifted it to “my kids,” Dean and Marta for my new grandbaby Lia!)
Are you familiar with Bookshop? It’s an online ordering platform for books that supports thousands of local bookstores all across the country. You pick the bookstore that gets credit for the books you purchase. For example, I have my own account set to the Book Seller in Grass Valley. So every time I buy a book using Bookshop’s website, Book Seller profits. It’s a great way to support your local businesses with the convenience of online shopping.
I have set up a special page on Bookshop for all the Earth Month 2026 books. You can visit that special Read Your Way Through Earth Month 2026 page here.
Thanks for reading It's Dawning on Me! This post is public so feel free to share it.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. I donate to Sierra College Food Pantry and/or the Interfaith Food Bank of Auburn.
I am also an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. In addition, as an affiliate, I will earn a commission if you use my Bookshop.org page and make a purchase. I donate my profits to Sierra College Food Pantry and/or the Interfaith Food Bank of Auburn.
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