By sheer coincidence, all of July’s reads are also available as films or TV shows. From Where the Crawdads Sing to Hillbilly Elegy, they all moved from the page to screen.

Which is better? I’ll probably never know, as I’d rather read than watch. But since I’m a member of “the book is always better than the movie” society, you know how I’d vote. (The one generally accepted exception, of course, being Jaws.)

Book 1: Benjamin Franklin: His Life As He Wrote It

This seemed like a good collection to read over the Fourth of July weekend. Benjamin wrote a lot of letters and papers in his time. It was particularly fascinating to learn about his early life and how he grew into such a memorable Founding Father.

There’s a wonderful British podcast called Thrift Shop Biography, whose affable hosts recently took a look at Franklin’s autobiography. This is not the same book, but the topic was certainly the same. The most charming moment was when the hosts blushingly admitted they thought Benjamin Franklin had been one of our early presidents.

Book 2: Cover Her Face by P.D. James

Another great British crime novelist, P.D. James published this first work in 1962.

I never tire of the murder victim being so incredibly unpopular that just about anyone could be the killer. In this case, the dearly departed is the newly hired maid Sally, who turns the quiet British manor house on its ear.

Scotland Yard gets the call and detectives very precisely piece together the puzzle.

Book 3: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Farmer Gary picked up a copy of this book after his aunt Marie recommended it to him (she read it three times).

There are two timelines in this novel – one is the protagonist’s early life, in which she is abused and abandoned, and the second involves a murder mystery. It’s quite a tale. (I’m very glad the author didn’t title it The Marsh Girl.)

Book 4: This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes

Miriam is a hoot! She’s had a grand career in film, television, and on stage. This memoir is full of naughty tales and even a few jabs at those in the industry she utterly despised.

Miriam’s success also includes work as a voice artist. This note is for my sister-in-law Linda: Miriam was the voice of Fly the mother dog in your favorite movie, Babe.

Book 5: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

I had absolutely no desire to read Hillbilly Elegy, but when I saw it on one of our bookshelves I pulled it out and asked Gary about it.

He’d purchased it when it first came out in 2016, hoping for a memoir about a country boy.

Now that the Hillbilly Elegy author is running for vice president – and since we already owned the book – I figured I’d give it a try.

In short: my vote is no. There’s a patronizing tone throughout Hillbilly Elegy that is impossible to ignore. He’s not a writer, he’s a propagandist. It would be a huge mistake to send him to the White House.

He’s no Ben Franklin.

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