Let us help you choose your next book! Welcome to Sweet Reads, a curation of titles hand-selected by our Sweet July community.
Up next: We’ve rounded up the titles that pair perfectly with happy hour—for those whose “cup of tea” is actually a nice glass of wine when reading.
As these wine tales transport you to quaint Italian vineyards and bustling restaurant floors, set the necessary vibes with the right glass of vino (Domaine Curry, perhaps?). Our full-bodied reading guide is below!
In Wine People, Wren and Thessaly are colleagues at a New York City boutique wine distribution company and both tired of their male-dominated profession. Once the 20-something women discover someone at their company will be getting promoted, they decide to join forces on a European business trip—leading to the formation of an unexpected friendship in between tastings and vineyard visits.
Margot Noble is the co-owner of her family’s winery in Napa Valley and Luke Williams recently left behind his tech career in Silicon Valley. The two have a one-night stand after crossing paths in Napa, but the last thing they expect is to cross paths again—this time, at Margot’s Noble Family Vineyards with Luke as the winery’s new tasting room hire and Margot as his new boss.
Tess, a 22-year-old newcomer in New York City, finds herself immersed in the chaos of hospitality after she takes a job as a backwaiter at a prestigious Manhattan restaurant. Alongside the vivid wine and food education that comes with the new role, the job teaches Tess, who is desperately urging to belong, a great deal about herself.
With nowhere else to stay and no set plans for her future, Birdy Finch finds herself pretending to be her best friend Heather and stepping into Heather’s role as a hotel sommelier in Scotland. That entails memorizing an extensive list of 100+ wines and correctly pairing them with Michelin-starred food. As she fakes it till she makes it, Birdy ironically gets to know herself better than ever.
Set in North Fork, Long Island, Blush is the family story of three generations of women who bond over the mutual desire to save the family’s winery. When the youngest of the three women, Sadie, arrives at the Hollander Estates winery, she learns that this was where her grandmother used to host a women’s book club in the 80s. Sadie, her mother, Leah, and grandmother, Vivian, restart the book club at Hollander Estates and are surprised by how these so-called ‘‘trashy’’ novels become the inspiration they needed all along to save the family business.
After complications with her fiancé arise a week before her wedding, Georgia heads to her family’s vineyard in Sonoma Hills, where she grew up, for solace. But peace is the last thing she gets when she unravels more secrets from her family and realizes nothing at the winery she calls home is the way she left it.
An expat, Austen is faced with the reality that she’s getting divorced after moving to Paris with her husband. Deciding to give online dating a try in what most people would call the most romantic city in the world, Austen isn’t too impressed with the Paris dating scene. She finds herself on a journey of re-self discovery, hoping to find “the one” once again in her 40s—with lots of wine by her side to make disastrous dates a bit more bearable.
This is the bittersweet story of Kate, who loses her mother, Carol, before they are able to go on their dream mother-daughter trip to Italy. Katy decides to still go on the trip alone and has a mystical encounter with the younger version of her mother in 1992 Positano. In her escapist Italian journey, Kate comes to terms with herself and her grief, meets other travelers and enjoys chilled house whites and plates of ravioli—all while getting to know her late mother in her youth.
In You Had Me at Pet-Nat, Rachel Signer tells the true story of how her life path took a turn after having her first glass of pétillant naturel. She chronicles how her trajectory—from waitressing in New York to becoming a winemaker on a farm in Australia—led her to love, friendship, travel and a deep passion for natural wine.
In her memoir, You Should Sit Down for This, Tamera Mowry-Housley walks through moments of isolation as an army brat, being a teenage star, prioritizing self-care and finally making her own rules to live her life. The lighthearted yet inspiring read is packed with plenty of food and wine metaphors, also known as ‘‘Tameraisms,’’ to empower women to own who they are.
