I love a summer book. Whether it’s a gasp-worthy family drama, a sweeping romance, or a smartly observed social comedy, one of my great delights of the season is having a pile of paperbacks to take with me to the park, the beach, or, on a particularly humid day, an air-conditioned cafe.
When I saw people posting their summer stacks all over Instagram, I started going through my shelves to pull out some books I wanted to prioritize this summer. At first, I thought it’d be a modest pile of ten or fifteen titles. But it kept on growing. And growing. In the end, I decided to make a very loose summer TBR, with a wide variety of books for every reading mood. (This also proved to be an excellent distraction from obsessively checking the Air Quality Index for New York this week, as the sky turned a truly alarming shade of post-apocalyptic orange.)
#1: Buzzy 2023 releases, featuring an impeccably written eco-thriller, a juicy family story I picked up in the UK, a buzzy Midwestern novel, and a debut that promises the best kind of emotional devastation:
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
#2: Lesser known British novels and under the radar classics, because I returned from London with a massive stack of books and I can’t possibly let down the clerk at John Sandoe Books who approved of my choices.
Don’t Look at Me Like That by Diana Athill
At Freddie’s by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sheriff
#3: International fiction titles that I’ve heard glowing things about from the FictionMatters community and that have been languishing on my shelf for way too long:
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin
#4: I don’t read a ton of YA anymore but all four of these titles promise something a little different, from a swoony sapphic story to a Persuasion retelling to matchmaking apps to the first in a trilogy that I’ve heard praise for from several of my favorite sources for reading recommendations:
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sara Dass
Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue
#5: Chunky, all-encompassing tomes that seem perfect for the inevitable morning spent waiting six hours for Free Shakespeare in the Park tickets:
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
#6: Contemporary romance, aka so many books that I’ve been eagerly anticipating. I have ballet, chicken influencers, the Pacific Crest Trail, Broadway shows, vineyards, romance novelists, gubernatorial campaigns, and so much more on the docket.
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
Pas De Don’t by Chloe Angyal
Chick Magnet by Emma Barry
Bend Toward the Sun by Jen Devon
Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Exes & O’s by Amy Lea
Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman
The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead
#7: Historical romance. This year, I’ve wanted to be a lot more intentional with my historical romance reading, seeking out more diverse historical romance and really savoring releases by authors I love. Looking at this list, I get excited all over again about each of these books:
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera
True Pretenses by Rose Lerner
The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin
You Were Meant to be Mine by Julie Anne Long
Nobody’s Princess by Erica Ridley
The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe
#8: Eve Babitz Summer, because I think she might be my platonic ideal of a summertime author:
L.A. Woman
Eve’s Hollywood
#9: Otherworldly sci-fi and fantasy, all three of which promise to be very different tonally but equally transportive:
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton
The Calculating Stars by Mary Antoinette Kowal
#10: Two classics, one that seems to be having a bit of a resurgence and one that I’ve owned a copy of through at least three moves and deserves to finally have its moment in the sun
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
#11: A grab bag of what I’m hoping will be juicy, beachy reads:
The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie
The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess
The Daydreams by Laura Hankin
Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel
Let me know what’s on your summer TBR and what your summer reading mood is!
Currently reading: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal. I’m not entirely sold on the non-chronological structure yet but really enjoying the vividly rendered setting.
What’s bringing me joy this week:
Chelsey’s Recipe for a Summer Romance list. I’ve already read and unreservedly loved both Hotel of Secrets and Yours Truly and can’t wait to pick up more of her thoughtful recommendations.
You Hurt My Feelings, the delightful new film from Nicole Holofcener. It has an impeccable cast, all the New York vibes, and jokes that had me cackling in my oversized theater recliner.
The new bakery in my neighborhood that offers individual slices of fluffy cake piled with buttercream frosting and an enormous Nutella cookie that I have yet to try but is positively beckoning me every time I walk past.
Thanks for the shout, Natalie!