Red, White, and Blue Book Covers

Happy 4th of July readers! We've RED these books, WHITE-knuckled our way through the plot twists, and dealt with feeling BLUE before the happily ever after. Here are our top picks for best books on our shelves with red, white, and blue covers.

Maggie's Picks

RED: The Princess will Save You

by Sarah Henning

I read this book a while back and have recently come back across it. The story follows Princess Amarande of Ardenia, after her father suddenly dies and she becomes queen, but there is a catch.

She must either marry a stranger at sixteen, or lose her family's crown. But Amarande wasn't taught to back down, and is ready to stand her ground.

In an attempt to force her choice, a neighboring kingdom kidnaps her true love, stable boy Luca. With her kingdom on the brink of civil war and no one to trust, she’ll need all her skill to save him, her future, and her kingdom.

There are more books in this series that I'm excited to read, but I did really enjoy the first one and am expected to read more.

WHITE: Rules of Wolves

by Leigh Bardugo

I know what you are going to say, "Maggie this isn't the first book", and no its not, but it does represent one of my favorite duologies/series and it is white.

This book follows the events in King of Scars, and the rest of the Grishaverse, as Nikolai prepares for war.

As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm to win, while also struggling with the feelings he has for one of his commanders.

Zoya has lost so much in the war, and isn't sure how much more she can lose, but she refuses to watch another friend die. With some of our favorite characters returning to help in the cause, this book is really great.

BLUE: You Should Be So Lucky

by Cat Sebastian

I feel like I've talked about this book a lot on this blog. I read it earlier in May and absolutely adore it. Cat Sebastian is one of my favorite authors in queer-historical genre.

And what better book to be blue for the 4th than one that is about baseball! Now, we all know I'm not the biggest fan of baseball, but hey, it works.

This story follows a journalist trying to get his career back and a rookie who is trying to fit in in a big city. Its a really cute story, that takes place in 1960s NYC. Full of a lot of heartwarming moments and cute interactions, I really did adore this book.

Check out my full review that is linked in the title!

Other Suggestions for Celebrating your 4th

We all know I wasn't going to get through a post about 'Red, White and Blue' without taking about how much I adore the Red, White and Royal Blue book and movie! Though I haven't done a re-read it, I'm definitely planning on watching it tonight or tomorrow. Another book I would like to mention is Pit Stop by Ellis Mae, which follows a veteran who has lost his leg and suffers from PTSD. I found the book really powerful and eye-opening. My full review of that book is linked by the title. If you, like me, are working on the 4th, and don't know if you'll be awake enough to see fireworks, moving like Top Gun: Maverick are a great way to avoid the mosquitos (they've taken over up here).

Allison's Picks

RED: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology

edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

This is the BEST short story collection I've ever read, and I'm currently on a re-read. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer are fantastic speculative authors in their own right, and if you haven't seen my post on Jeff's Southern Reach Trilogy, go take a look. All of these stories have feminist undertones, but the ways in which some of the selected authors have twisted and turned the themes until they truly feel new and different is astounding. If you like creepy horror, psychological weirdness, endearing fantastical families, sweet and loving anecdotes, inclusive themes, and ladies being good, bad, happy, sad, supportive, mean, and everything in-between, I highly recommend you check this collection out! Also, I have it on good authority that the VanderMeers are wonderful people, and I will always support authors who help new writers out.

WHITE: Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale and How a 19th-Century Admiral Turned Science into Poetry

by Scott Huler

This book appealed to my meteorologist heart, but it would also be a great read for any maritime history fans. This is a non-fiction look at wind scales and how we historically tried to understand and categorize a force a nature that felt very common, yet very abstract. What is the wind "made" of and how would a sailor describe it differently than a construction worker? How did one measure the wind before instrumentation made it possible? If you also like historical biographies, this book talks about the Beaufort Scale's s eccentric creator, Sir Francis Beaufort. Why do we still know about the Beaufort Scale to this day while other scales have been forgotten to history? Was it really that his scale was best, or was he just very good at marketing it? Overall, this was a fun read for me on a topic I already found interesting. Towards the end, Huler ties in some bits about how science and art overlap, hinting that the wind scale itself has inspired artists over the years, but I tend to think that perhaps that's a bit of a stretch. Nature and science definitely influence art and artists, but perhaps not one particular wind scale. Just saying.

BLUE: The Lost Apothecary

by Sarah Penner

This is a TBR for me, but I am hoping to get to it by the end of summer! I can share the reasons why I bought the book though and moved it up on my list. I like when a book flashes back and forth between a historical plotline and a modern-day plotline. This writing style always makes me feel like I'm getting two stories for the price of one! I very much enjoy historical fiction with feminist undertones as well as morally grey female characters, and this books seems to check both of these boxes. Also, whoever wrote the promo material for this book absolutely KILLED IT (pun intended). I was prepping some social media at the book store and this hooked me right away:

"A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course. Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman. Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register."

Of course the formatting was better than I did here, but COME ON. Done and done, take all my money- I am so on board. Can't wait to give it a read!

Other Suggestions for Celebrating your 4th

I started rewatching Hamilton on Disney+ and/or listening to the Broadway soundtrack every year around the fourth of July. It is such a great show and the music feels fun and fitting, different than the dad-rock that I usually jam to while hanging in the backyard, grilling. I've added re-watching/re-reading Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston to my festivities this year as well, and I highly recommend the audiobook version narrated by Ramon de Ocampo if you find yourself sunbathing by a backyard pool. And, of course, no July 4th would be complete if you didn't come home exhausted, pop come popcorn as you plop down on the couch, and watch the OG, 1996 Independence Day with president Bill Pullman. If sci-fi does not tickle your fancy, other options include 1997's Air Force One, with Gary Oldman's stereotypical-bad-guy-accent, or the recent Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with its beach scene homage to the original and WIZZO officer Lewis Pullman, son of president-dad from before. So many action movies, so little time. 'Merica, ya know?

What are your favorite book covers? Share your cool books below, or comment on what media you associate most with the 4th of July.

Happy Firework Day, y'all!