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Simple joy. Just saying those words brings me back to summer vacations on the shore—drifting off to sleep with the windows open, the rhythmic hush of waves crashing in the distance. That soft, steady sound, like the world was breathing. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the salt-tinged air and that deep sense of peace. That’s the dream. And honestly, that’s the kind of feeling I want from a book this month.
This July, our reading challenge invites you to chase that same sense of calm, comfort, and quiet happiness—whatever that means for you.
Pick up a book that brings you simple joy.
Maybe it’s a well-loved favorite you return to every summer. Maybe it’s a story so gentle and beautiful, it feels like walking barefoot through a sunlit field. Or maybe it’s just something that makes you laugh and forget the to-do list for a while.
Some ideas to get you started:
📚 A beachy read that makes you sigh with contentment
📚 A cozy story where nothing explodes but everything feels right
📚 A novel that ends happily and unapologetically so
📚 A memoir full of good food, friendship, and finding your way
📚 A book you’ve been saving for “someday” – let that day be now
The goal isn’t to finish a certain number of books or tackle a heavy list—it’s to let reading feel like a retreat again. To find that rhythm, like waves through an open window.
Suggested Reads for Simple Joy
Fiction
📖 The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune – a charming found-family fantasy full of warmth and whimsy
📖 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman – quirky, heartfelt, and quietly triumphant
📖 Love & Saffron by Kim Fay – a short, epistolary novel about friendship, food, and joy in the little things
📖 The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim – four women find peace and transformation in an Italian villa
Nonfiction
📘 The Book of Delights by Ross Gay – poetic, joyful essays celebrating ordinary beauty
📘 Bittersweet by Susan Cain – a thoughtful exploration of why embracing life’s tender moments deepens joy
📘 Everyday Enchantments by Maria DeBlassie – reflections on finding magic in the mundane
📘 Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee – a guide to creating joy through color, shape, and design
So tell me, what book will you read this month that brings you simple joy? Drop your pick in the comments or tag me on social @jhopwood80—I’d love to see what you’re reading.
Here’s to a month of restful pages and quiet joy!
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Beethoven’s works rank among the most performed in classical music. Ode to Joy is often considered to be the most frequently performed piece of all time worldwide.
While reflecting on “simple joys” for this month’s theme, Ode to Joy—the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth and final symphony—came to mind. It was first performed in 1824, three years before his death.
From Jeremy Siepmann’s book Beethoven: His Life and Music, we learn details about Beethoven’s illnesses, deafness, and depression. Despite these struggles—and perhaps even motivated by them—Beethoven composed music of universal hope, serenity, and joy.
Beethoven’s 1825 String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, is another example of his ability to take us into uncharted realms of joy and a touch of levity beyond the power of words.
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[…] July’s Not Quite Superhuman Monthly Reading Challenge theme is Simple Joy. What better match for the theme than a cookbook that not only tells recipes, but also talks about the behind the scenes inspiration, scandal, and history? It wasn’t until later—when I finally sat down to read the book—that I realized who she was. […]