Summertime and the Reading's Easy
All the recommendations for summer reading plus a don't miss documentary and podcast!
The cavalcade of summer reading lists began last month and continues. I love seasonal reading and summer in particular seems to bring back a lot of nostalgic feelings. Yet I am not sure how I am supposed to read 40-50 books over these few months. Each year summer reading lists come out with more and more options. It can be overwhelming, but I am here to help you find a just a few books to transport you to the lake, beach, mountains, or cabin while you are still going to work as usual.
Here are a few recommendations of backlist books that make great summer reads:
And here are 2024 titles that I have read and loved:
Recommended Summer Reading Guides:
Modern Mrs Darcy Minimalist Summer Reading Guide - I have been a fan of
Anne Bogel’s Summer Guide for years.The Mom Advice Summer Reading Guide - So much careful thought put into Amy Allen Clark’s selections.
BiblioLifestyle - Victoria’s guides are polished, professional, and free!
Katie Couric provides a list of seaside novels that cover both coasts and the globe.
Austin Kleon recommends a big chunker for the summer. I love Kleon’s weekly newsletter about the creative life.
Last year I made a summer bucket list that I am sharing again below.
ALERT: One of my favorite podcasts ever has just begun its 6th season! The Strong Sense of Place Podcast combines two of my favorite things: books and travel! Hosts Mel and Dave are delightful and I smile the whole time I am listening. I always learn something new from them and their book recommendations are awesome. They have recently dropped episodes on France and NYC; both are terrific. Don’t miss this podcast!!!
Bookish Links
I love this episode of The Earful Tower, about the Bouquinistes (the green book stalls that line the Seine) and what it is like to be an American Bookseller in Paris.
These articles in Vox and The Guardian about the work that authors must now do are eye opening. The Vox piece discusses the need for personal branding while The Guardian discusses authors planning and paying for their own promotional tours. The writing and publishing landscape has changed so much in recent years, and authors are truly (and often reluctantly) full fledged entrepreneurs.
Butterfly in the Sky, a documentary about Reading Rainbow, just dropped on Netflix. It is so charming and well done. My favorite parts are the interviews with kids, now grown up, who did book reviews for the show. It reinforces the joy that books bring to children, how it widens their worlds, and impacts how they see themselves. And of course, LeVar Burton is a national treasure!
And speaking of kid books, I saw this list from Pango (a bookselling app) of their best selling children’s books of 2024 so far. They are all titles that have been around for ages. The world of children’s books is wide and diverse, but I think often people want to pass on the ones that they have enjoyed themselves.
Recent Reads
The Stolen Child is a new historical fiction title that is a bit under the radar but deserves some attention. Nick is facing the end of his life and trying to come to terms with an event that occurred on the battlefields of France during World War 1. Jenny is a young woman trying to put her life back together. Nick hires Jenny, and together they travel to Europe in search of a once abandoned baby and to find a path forward in life. This novel contains well developed characters, interesting storylines, a few mysteries, and a strange little museum. I don’t want to give too much away, but this is a thoughtful novel that, while ending on an upswing, doesn't take the easy way out. Much of the novel takes place in southern Italy during the 1970s. I love the setting and the voices in this novel; it is absorbing and well written. [Published: May 2024, Pages: 296]
God of the Woods is one of the best literary mysteries I have read in a long time. The story takes place in the Adirondacks at a summer camp owned by a very wealthy family that also owns a summer home on the same property. The story follows the search for the family’s daughter, Barbara. While at camp for the first time, she disappears. The family also had a son who disappeared 20 years earlier that they never found, but for whom a person was tried and convicted. The current case involves the perspectives of multiple characters, including a young female investigator new to the job. It is set in the 1970s so there is not a lot of technology and police procedures are pretty basic. I know I like a book when I cannot put it down and, while it took me a couple chapters to get pulled in, I soon found that I could not set this down. There is a lot of buzz around this book and it is well deserved. [Release Date: July 2,2024, Pages: 490]
I love Ruth Reichl and have read almost everything she has written. Tender at the Bone and Garlic and Sapphires are memoir musts. I also enjoyed her first novel, Delicious! Recently she released The Paris Novel and I had such a great time meeting her and listening to her speak on her book tour. The Paris Novel is a fairy tale for grownups. It is a journey to the Paris of the past. It is a culinary adventure. Reichl crafts a story around Stella, a young woman running from a life that lacks any luster. She goes to Paris at the bequest of her mother, who has passed away leaving her a small inheritance. Upon arriving, she finds that as she embraces life and new experiences, her small and boring life becomes more than she could have imagined. Set in 1970s Paris, the Shakespeare & Company Bookstore also gets a starring role in this book. This is a sweet, feel good novel that serves as a wonderful escape. [Published: April 2024, Pages: 274]
[Note: I just noticed that the above three books are all set in the 1970s. I am not sure why this is now such a popular setting, but perhaps with the constant bombardment of technology in our lives, the 1970s are starting to feel comforting - and perhaps that is another story we are telling ourselves]
I loved Annabel Monaghan’s 2022 debut novel, Nora Goes Off Script. I am happy to report she has hit her stride again with her third book, Summer Romance. New in paperback, this summer love story still manages to deal with heavier themes like grief and anger. Ali is trying to move on from the death of her mom and the death of her marriage. It is difficult to accomplish the most minor tasks. She feels erased from of her own life, but after a meet-cute at a dog park, she starts to feel a spark of life again. Yet Ali worries if her heart is ready for just a summer romance. Monaghan does a great job of writing flawed characters that we can’t help rooting for. The beach town setting and the supportive group of friends make this summer novel an easy one to enjoy on the beach, pool, or plane. [Published: June 24; Pages: 368]
Shayne! Thank you so much for the podcast love! Such a nice surprise to see Strong Sense of Place mentioned here :-)
If you listened to the France show, you know I LOVED 'Clara Reads Proust,' too. I really enjoyed how it's fun and frothy AND gets into real feelings. We're talking about it in our Patreon bookclub this weekend, and I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks. We have one member that did not like it (!), and I can't wait to hear why.
HAPPY SUMMER READING! —Mel