Summer Book Recommendations 2018

As people get ready for summer vacations, I’ve seen a lot of requests for book recommendations floating around. Rather than leave a million comments, I thought I’d throw together a list for summery, light reading that’s a little off the beaten path (many of these books have been out for years). If you’re looking for a more specific type of book, I can probably find it for you, so ask in the comments!

 

FICTION

Forget About It by Caprice Crane – Jordan is a miserable, passive doormat until she sustains a head injury in a bike accident. Seizing a chance to start over, she tells everyone she has amnesia and starts asserting herself. Then life throws her another curve ball. I love clean-slate, go-for-broke plots, and the twist in this one makes it even better.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan – The best thinly veiled Will and Kate fanfic you will ever read (with Kate recast as an American, making it perfect for our current Meghan Markle moment). It’s witty and fun, and the authors deserve some sort of award for the detailed alternate royal lineage they created.

Tempest by Julie Cross – Not long after Jackson discovers he can time travel, a stranger bursts into his dorm room and fatally shoots his girlfriend Holly. He freaks out and travels two years into the past, where he starts with two objectives: find and protect Holly, and enlist the help of his best friend. But the more he learns about his abilities and mysterious family history, the more complicated and suspenseful things get. First of a YA series that has stuck with me for years. (Three two zero zero.)

Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel – A quiet novel about a woman’s life and marriage in Miami from the 1960’s through the 90’s, centering on a house on stilts in Biscayne Bay. It perfectly captures the evolving atmosphere of South Florida.

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler – This is my wild-card choice because in the end, I couldn’t decide whether I truly liked this book or the protagonist. But it was hard to put down and definitely made an impression. A young woman moves to New York, gets a job in a high-end restaurant, and gets entangled in her co-workers’ dysfunctional relationship. It’s now a show on Starz, so this is a good time to read it!

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel – I know I won’t shut up about this series, but I still think it’s that entertaining. It’s like Transformers meets National Treasure meets Contact in a semi-epistolary format. The third book comes out in a few months.

Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park – When Julie arrives in Boston for her freshman year of college, her mother’s former roommate takes her in, and Julie is suddenly part of their unusual family: kind-but-exasperating MIT student Matt, precocious and quirky preteen Celeste… and a life-sized cutout of their older brother, Finn, who is away on a long international trip. That’s all you need to know. First in a duology.

Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund – As one of the first female initiates in an Ivy League secret society, Amy has a lot to navigate. First in a series of four smart beach reads. Diana Peterfreund is very underrated, and I’d recommend any of her books.

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Hannah returns to her hometown of Los Angeles to live with her best friend. At a party, she reconnects with The One Who Got Away, and the story splits. In one version, she goes home with him; in the other, she doesn’t. This is deceptively light, but will make you think about life and the decisions we make.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter – If you love Italy, personal WWII stories, true Hollywood stories, and redemption, this is the novel for you. It covers a period of about 50 years.

In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner – A tale of two very different sisters. Many years ago, this was the first Jennifer Weiner book I read, and I still think it’s her best. The movie is on my short list of best book-to-movie adaptations, along with the following…

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger – This workplace Cinderella story with an edge seems too ubiquitous to include on a list, but I still love it. If you’ve somehow never read this, get on it.

 

NONFICTION

Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland and Charisse Jones – Misty Copeland was/is American Ballet Theatre’s first African-American principal ballerina. She also didn’t start dancing until she was 13! For those reasons and many others, hers is an inspiring story.

But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl’s Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous by Jancee Dunn – One of my favorite books. A funny, engagingly told life story, from Dunn’s childhood to becoming one of the first VJs on MTV2, and beyond. The chapters are interspersed with pieces about some of her favorite celebrity interviews. Dunn is totally unpretentious despite her many brushes with fame, and I just feel comfortable in her words.

Shooting Stars by LeBron James and H.G. Bissinger – When people give me a hard time for being an unabashed LeBron fan, I always mention this book. At around 13 years old, he and his four best friends made a pact to stick together through high school and win a national championship together – and they did. As Taylor has commented, that’s less impressive when one of the players is LeBron James, but I still find it heartwarming.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick – A hilarious, dishy, and wise collection of essays. I related to a lot of Kendrick’s feelings and observations, even if I can’t relate to losing a Tony to Audra McDonald.

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles – Within a year of walking into a church for the first time, Sara Miles started a food pantry at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church that provided groceries to hundreds weekly. I was very struck by this memoir and still think about it a lot. It’s probably the heaviest book on this list, but still ultimately uplifting.

Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living by Shauna Niequist – Summer is a good time to think about simplifying and slowing down, and this book will help you do that.

Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning by Leslie Odom Jr. – The original Aaron Burr shares his story, Hamilton info, and insights about success. I got to attend a signing for this book, and he said he purposely wrote it to be readable in a couple of days, so it’s perfect for your beach vacay.

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed – A compilation of Strayed’s best advice columns as Dear Sugar. Her compassionate, wise words ring true; even if you don’t agree with all her advice, you’ll feel more secure in your own perspective because of what she shares. (For more in this vein, check out Heather Havrilesky’s latest collection of Ask Polly columns.)

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner – I’ve been recommending this memoir/travel guide for years and am due for a reread. Weiner visits the statistically happiest countries on earth (as well as the saddest) to find the reasons for their happiness. This book was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Iceland! He also has a follow-up, The Geography of Genius, which I haven’t read yet.