It’s that time of year again: the weather is warming and whether you’re relaxing on a boat, have your toes in the sand, or are pool-side lounging, having a book in your hand makes the best combination.
To go along with this time of year, we have put together our favorite summer reads that make for a perfect summer day:
1. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson
The hype around this book series is absolutely real. I read all three books in a very short time (#2 Good Girl, Bad Blood) (#3 As Good as Dead). “Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town. But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project” according to Amazon and Goodread Readers. (Suspense and Thriller)
2. The People we Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry
This is one of the hottest books of the summer. “Poppy and Alex became unexpected best friends on a car share ride home from college, but they have nothing in common. As the years go by, Poppy has a good life in New York City while Alex remains in their small hometown. The duo reunites each summer for a glorious week of vacation together. But two years ago, everything changed. They haven’t spoken since. Poppy has everything she could want in life, but remains discontent and knows the last time she was truly happy was her last trip with Alex. So, in a desperate attempt to find joy again, she contacts Alex hoping for one more trip to make everything right.” from Amazon reviews. (Romantic Comedy)
3. The Guest List, Lucy Foley
This book has many mixed reviews due to the different character viewpoints. I chose to listen to this book on audiobook which made it easier to follow along with each character. This was a jaw dropping thriller that had many twists and turns I didn’t see coming. “On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?” – Goodreads reviews (Mystery and Thriller)
4. Book Lovers, Emily Henry
Warning: this book contains some language and adult content. Amazon readers stated, “Nora Stephens’ life is books. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again. What they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.” (Romance)
5. Every Summer After, Carley Fortune
My heart wants to explode. Emotional, vulnerable, funny, are just a few words to describe this book. I think I left a piece of my heart on every page. Goodreads review, “They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city. Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without. Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.” (Romance)
6. A Novel Obsession: A Novel, Caitlin Barasch
“Twenty-four-year-old New York bookseller Naomi Ackerman is desperate to write a novel, but struggles to find a story to tell. When, after countless disastrous dates, she meets Caleb—a perfectly nice guy with a Welsh accent and a unique patience for all her quirks—she thinks she’s finally stumbled onto a time-honored subject: love. Then Caleb’s ex-girlfriend, Rosemary, enters the scene. Naomi takes it a step further. Not content with merely stalking Rosemary, her boyfriend’s ex, Naomi starts writing a novel about her—but when she decides to befriend Rosemary for “research,” her lies quickly spiral out of control” – Amazon reviews. (Fiction)
7. Verity, Colleen Hoover
One of the hottest books of 2022. Warning: this book includes mature content, sensitive topics that may be triggering to some readers and graphic death/murder, child abuse, graphic sex. “Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night their family was forever altered” – Goodreads (Fiction)
8. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid
“Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways” – Amazon Reviews. (Historical Fiction)
9. It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover
“Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of her first love and a link to the past she left behind. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened” – Goodreads. (Romance)
10.The Paris Apartment, Lucy Foley
“Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there. The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question” – Goodreads. (Mystery & Thriller)
11. Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Reid
“Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives forever” – Amazon Reviews. (Fiction)
12. The Summer Place, Jennifer Weiner
“When her twenty-two-year-old stepdaughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah Danhauser is shocked. But the wheels are in motion. Headstrong Ruby has already set a date (just three months away!) and spoken to her beloved safta, Sarah’s mother Veronica, about having the wedding at the family’s beach house in Cape Cod. Sarah might be worried, but Veronica is thrilled to be bringing the family together one last time before putting the big house on the market” – Amazon Reviews. (Fiction and Romance)
13. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe
“Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson, Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures” – Amazon Reviews. (Nonfiction & History)
14. The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren
![The Unhoneymooners by [Christina Lauren]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51VuDC-r4aS._SY346_.jpg)
“Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas. After the whole wedding gets food poisoning the honeymoon is up for grabs. Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs” – Amazon Reviews. (Romance)
15. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan
“When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?” – Goodreads (Nonfiction).
16. Gone for Good, Joanna Scahffhausen (Detective Ellery Hathaway Series)
I absolutely love these books. With many twists and turns, I couldn’t put them down. There are currently five books in the series. “Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She’s an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only one who lived” – Goodreads. (Mystery)
17. Part of Your World, Abby Jimenez
“After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and a cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable. Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?” – Amazon Reviews (Romance)
There is nothing better than a good book by the water or on the couch on a rainy day. Over the past few years, I have felt too busy to be able to sit down and read. That is when I rediscovered audiobooks. I wanted to stop excuses like “I just don’t have time to read.” I love having a new crisp book in my hand, but my toddler has other plans. No shame in how you obtain the information; audiobooks allow me to visualize the characters instead of focusing on reading the words.
