4 new, potentially good releases for July

This month’s new releases include a memoir about what it’s like to grow up in a family-owned business and a true tale about a Virginia furniture-maker who brought his company’s manufacturing back to the United States from Asia.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

The books Factory Man and memoir My Family and Other Hazards are two of National Jeweler’s book picks for the month of July.

New York--Online book discussion site Goodreads recently issued its list of new releases for the month of July, just in time for those looking for a beach read for their summer vacation.

National Jeweler sifted through the virtual stacks to pinpoint four new releases that might be helpful to small business owners, and tacked on a pick from one of its editors at the end. This month’s selections include two nonfiction books that focus on family-owned businesses.

The following list includes a brief summary and link to each of the four recommended books as well as our editor’s pick for July.

1. My Family and Other Hazards: A Memoir
June Melby

Midwest native June Melby recounts the ups and downs of life in a family that owns and runs a business; in this case, a miniature golf course in a small Wisconsin town. She also shares the anguish she felt years later when as an adult living in Los Angeles, she learned her family was going to sell the business. This book is 320 pages.

2. Factory Man
Beth Macy

This book chronicles how John Bassett III, descendant of a family that ran a furniture company in Virginia for three generations, used legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies and cunning to bring his family business’ manufacturing back to the United States after it had been offshored to Asia. This book is 464 pages.

3. Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight
Jay Barbree

Just ahead of the 45th anniversary of the historic moon landing (July 21, 1969), longtime space journalist Barbree releases this biography of Neil Armstrong, who died in 2012 at the age of 82. The book details Armstrong’s three passions--family, friends and flight--and what it felt like to be the first man to walk on the moon. This book is 382 pages.

4. Haatchi & Little B: The Inspiring True Story of One Boy and His Dog
Wendy Holden

In this international best-seller, the author recounts the true story of how wheelchair-bound Owen (known as “Little B” to his family) strikes up a special, and unbreakable, bond with a big Anatolian Shepherd who has had his own struggles in life. This book is 224 pages.

5. A Tale for the Time Being
Ruth Ozeki
Picked by: Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff

This novel by Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki, shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize in 2013, is nothing short

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of astounding. I read it earlier this year and would rank it among by top favorite fiction books of all time.

A Tale for the Time Being weaves together the lives of two women separated by thousands of geographical miles and a significant generation gap. A middle-aged novelist named Ruth finds a mysterious diary washed up on the shore of the remote and isolated island where she lives. The diary was written by a 16-year-old girl in Japan named Nao, who recounts the details of her great-grandmother’s life and her own isolation, brought about as a result of bullying by her classmates. This book is 432 pages.

Need more reading material for the summer? Check out National Jeweler’s picks for the month of June.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.