Bestseller Brief: Five Fresh Picks - July 19, 2026
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Bestseller Brief: Five Fresh Picks - July 19, 2026
Mara and Ben skip repeat bestsellers and give spoiler-safe read-or-skip verdicts on five fresh July 19 NYT picks: Cancel Me If You Can, The Shampoo Effect, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Tempting Venom, and The Divorce.
Episode guide
Mara and Ben skip the recent repeat bestsellers and give practical read-or-skip verdicts on five fresh picks from the July 19 New York Times lists:
- Cancel Me If You Can by Dave Portnoy: a founder-led media memoir and this week's professional/business pick.
- The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson: a coastal social novel about money, friendship, access, and reputation.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: a LitRPG survival comedy where the apocalypse becomes entertainment.
- Tempting Venom by Rina Kent: a dark hockey romance for readers already comfortable with high-intensity series worlds.
- The Divorce by Freida McFadden: a fast domestic thriller built around suspicion after a marriage ends.
Spoiler policy: premise only. The episode flags that none of the five selected titles carried the New York Times dagger symbol on the fetched July 19 list page.
Sources
- The New York Times Best Sellers - July 19, 2026
- Cancel Me If You Can official publisher page
- The Shampoo Effect official publisher page
- The Shampoo Effect Kirkus review page
- Dungeon Crawler Carl official publisher page
- Dungeon Crawler Carl author page
- Tempting Venom official Bloom Books page
- The Divorce Target product page
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