It’s always hard to leave behind a long holiday weekend. I was away this holiday weekend. I was less than two hours from home, but it felt like a continent away. Big shady trees. Skies full of stars. Extended cocktail hours.
There’s something so essential about being away.
Being away means that I get to live in a different kitchen, leisurely eat big ol’ pineapples, sit out on different porches, sip from different glasses, and read different books. Being surrounded by different things is good on the heart and steady on the brian.
Because it’s summer, because it’s the season of being away, because we just need to warm-weather words… I took to Twitter and asked you for great summer-read recommendations.
Your recommendations were so excellent and enthusiastic I thought we should share this list with all of you. Keep in mind that I haven’t read all of these books, but you have and you think they’re great! Check them out (literally… from the library). Click around. See if anything strikes you. These are the days and it’s such a blessing to live them.
What You’re Reading: Summer 2013
Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls David Sedaris (always and forever.)
Love In The Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Diviners Libba Bray
I Was Told There’d Be Cake Sloane Crosley
Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
(there is waaaaaay more list after the click)
In the House upon the Dirt Between the Cabin and the Woods Matt Bell
Game of Thrones #nerdalert #allduerespect
In the Land of the Blue Burqas Kate McCord
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened Jenny Lawson (For the title alone, right!?)
Wild Cheryl Strayed
The Gread Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald Therese Anne Fowler (yes…!)
Tell The Wolves I’m Home Carol Rifka Brunt (I’m starting with this book!)
The Secret Keeper Kate Morton
Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell (I read this book every summer as a teenager during the darkest of my curly-bang-days.)
The Tiger’s Wife Tea Obreht
Where’d You Go Bernadette Maria Semple (I’m looking forward to this one!)
Daring Greatly Brene Brown (Shutterbean is reading this book and gives it a thumbs-up!)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman
The Engagements J. Courtney Sullivan
Rez Life David Treuer
The Perfume Collector Kathleen Tessaro
Sea and Sardinia DH Lawrence
Travels with Charley John Steinbeck But really… East of Eden will change you.
The End of You Life Book Club Will Schwalbe
Brooklyn Girls Gemma Burgess
The Round House Louise Erdrich
State of Wonder Ann Patchett
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend Matthew Dicks
Dear Girls Above Me Charlie McDowell (I must read this.)
The Sparrow Mary Doria Russell (I adore this story. It’s big.)
Age of Miracles Karen Thompson Walker (So So good!!)
Sisterland Curtis Sittenfeld
Will Write For Food Dianne Jacob
Thank you for sharing your summer reads! I appreciate you so much. If you have any books to add to the list, or if you’ve enjoyed any of the above mentioned books, you should totally leave a comment below! Share your thoughts. We’re in this together.
118 Responses
I’ve just finished “Tigers in Red Weather” by Liza Klaussman (a great great granddaughter of Herman Melville). This book will keep you enthralled until the very last word. Al also must read, the brilliant “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” by Karen Joy Fowler (Jane Austen Book Club). You won’t be able to put it down.
“When Women Were Birds” by Terry Tempest Williams. This is what literature should be. My book of the year so far.
I really enjoyed the Secret Keeper, it was one of my by the pool reads while I was away on holiday this Summer.
I Was Told There’d Be Cake got me hooked on Sloane Crosley. She’s a fantastic, hilarious storyteller. Enjoy!
I discovered “Age of Miracles” on your blog and just read it – so good!
I loved Tell the Wolves I’m Home. I hope you like it! I also recommend The Fault of Our Stars.; it’s one of those books where you just enjoy spending time with the characters. I didn’t want it to end.
Thanks for always making me hungry! :)
I just finished Dad Is Fat by comedian Jim Gaffigan. It was sweet and hysterical. Read like a memoir on fatherhood. Next I’m going to reread Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. After that there are 3 more books on my Summer reading list (posted on my blog).
Thanks for your list! More books to check out…
I’ve been pretty awful when it comes to reading this summer…maybe I need a little getaway to get me motivated! I’m definitely adding some of these to my “to read” list!
Lets Pretend This Never Happened is probably the worst/best offender I’ve ever read for making one laugh enbarassingly loudly in public; highly recomended (and her blog too, so amazingly random).
I’m reading a giant H.P. Lovecraft anthology, haha, because the gloomy morbid nature fits my heat-loathing summertime mood. Please can I just make it through one day without getting grossly sweaty?
Love Brene Brown! Currently reading Gifts of Imperfection by her. Incredibly challenging and life-changing.
I’m always looking for a good book to read. Thanks for sharing this!
I LOVE that Game of Thrones was included on here. A Song of Ice and Fire (the series title, Game of Thrones is merely the first book) is one of the best series I have ever read. Definitely on par with LOTR, Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. You really have to be willing to devote quite a bit of time because of the sheer length but they are absolutely worth it. If you love food, you’ll be happy to know that George RR Martin spends a ridiculous amount of time describing what the characters eat but it really adds to the overall experience. #nerdalert
East of Eden really is the best. It’s the trashy supermarket romance of your dreams (cheating, std’s, brothels, love-triangles, sibling rivalry) but you don’t even have to cover it up with your New Yorker because Steinbeck wrote it!
Some other great beach-reads are Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and Tana French’s In The Woods series. Happy summer!
Cara
I’m SO GLAD that you’re stating with Tell the Wolves… make sure you have some tissues on hand. Amazing read.
Bread and Wine
by Shauna Niequist
https://shaunaniequist.com/project/bread-wine/
Love this list! Thanks! I just picked up Curtis Sittenfeld’s new book, Sisterland and can’t wait to finish it so I can start with one of these!
“Gift from the Sea,” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“A Touch of Wonder” by Arthur Gordon
“Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” (a love story) by Helen Simonson
Best book I have read all year is The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey – it’s a re-telling of Jane Eyre but so, so good. Anything Jane Austen is a winner….I have read Z: a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and enjoyed it (mostly) although you lose respect for Scott Fitzgerald by the end. Where did you go Bernadette is next on my list!
Thanks for sharing the list with us- can’t wait to add some of these reads to my list! x
Round House was incredible. I recommend adding Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson to your list!
This post came at the perfect time for me! I just finished up a series and was lost as to what to read next. I picked up Dear Girls Above Me and so far it is hilarious!! Absolutely loving it! Up next Lets pretend this never happened. Thanks for the list :D
My college friend just had her first novel published. It’s entitled “The Outcast”—it’s a modern retelling of the scarlet letter. I couldn’t put it down! Definitely a great read on a summer day. Author is Jolina Petersheim.
I’m a total book nerd/prior English major, so I’ve read many of these. Gone With the Wind is my favorite book in the world – you’ll adore it. I’m dying to read number 1 on your list -Sedaris is a crack up – and I Was Told There’d Be Cake.. I bought that one fora friend a while back and sort of wanted to keep it for myself because it looked so good.
i know this is going to seem really high-maintenance. but is there any way you could format this list with a “print me!” option? my book club would love these!!!
yay for brains and reading!
Dipping into young adult with Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Adult fiction; River of No Return by Bee Ridgway, The Golem and the Jinn: A Novel by Helene Wecker, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan…
LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson.. A woman lives may lives between the wars. also Atkinson’s first book, BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM.
Great list and awesome cabin… One that I read EVERY summer just because it’s like taking a vacation is AN EMBARRASSMENT OF MANGOES – Ann Vanderhoof, she’s a chef AND a sailor of the open seas.
I have read and loved most of the books on your list! Great compilation. I would also really recommend The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer… one of the best books I’ve read in a looong time :)
My favorite book I’ve read so far this year is Every Day by David Levithan. It’s about a person named A who wakes up every morning in a different body, and so needs to pretend to be that person for the day while also maintaining a separate identity. On the first day in the book A meets and falls in love with a girl, then tries to keep meeting her on different days while trying to figure out how to be with her longterm. It’s a quick read, and one of the things I liked about it was the treatment of gender (since A is always moving between genders).
Thank you for the list!
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Luis Zafron
Not done yet, but I haven’t been able to get over what a perfect summer read it makes. Enjoy!
It was extremely hard for me too saying goodbye to the long holiday weekend. I almost cried lol. That getaway place looks like a charming place to relax and recharge. I LOVE staying away in cabins, but haven’t been in a while.
Why isn’t 50 Shades of Grey on that list? lol I have yet to finish the rest of the trilogy.
The Lovers Dictionary-David Levithan…. Short and sweet about a love affair, but in a clever format.
TOTES agree with State of Wonder! I started it yesterday evening and I’m 200 pages in, it’s magnificent.
Loved where’d you bernadette and let’s pretend this never happened. so happy to have this list for when i go on vacation next month!
I just read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. It was crazy good! I read Gone Girl last year after reading your post on it. I really liked it but Dark Places was even better. You NEED to check this book out!
One Day – by David Nicholls. Pretty much read it in a couple of days. Could not stop. And then how I cried. The ugly cry! Haven’t seen the movie with Anne Hathaway, only because I didn’t want it to ruin a truly sublime book experience. Happy reading Joy!
My Book Club (we call ourselves 13 in 2013) loves this list!
Our has been the following this year (just in case anyone wants to join us!):
January: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society”
Feb: “Sweet Tooth”
March: “Flight Behavior”
April: “Gone Girl”
May: “The Normal Bar”
June: “And the Mountains Echoed”
July: “The Light Between Oceans”
August: “The Secret Keeper”
Feel free to join us, if you would like.
http://www.artbymegan.com
Thanks!
Megan
“Tell the Wolves I’m Home” was amazing!! I devoured it in one weekend.
I just finished reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and it was lovely!
Hehe “Gread” Gatsby – that’s kind of a spoiler ;)
hahahha! oops.
I read “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” and that book made me laugh out loud like no other. I also read Bossypants by TIna Fey and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling. All really fun books.
I’m excited to read the comments to find out about a few other of these books, because I’ve been stalking them on amazon and haven’t bought them yet. :)
What a lovely list of summer literature. I’m currently halfway through The Great Gatsby, and it’s such a good read!
This is quite a big list! They all look great :)
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain
To Be Sung Underwater, by Tom McNeal
I love the sentence….”during the darkest of my curly-bang-days” :)
I also dig the title “I was told there’d be cake”. I’m thinking that sentence may have come out of my mouth at some point…or it should have! Definitely going to check some of these out!
East of Eden changed me too! I read it once years ago and took its learnings and cradled them, forever wishing I’d never read it so I could have the joy of discovering it again. This summer I (bravely, I think) read it a second time and was so relieved to find it as perspective-altering second time round. What a man.
Every time I see someone recommend The Diviners, I think wow, Margaret Laurence, that’s so cool! Turns out it’s a different book, with the same name. I do recommend her, though. Her writing is powerful, gut-wrenching, and beautiful.
I’m currently reading the a Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones..)..takes forever but is so worth the effort!
I also loved Me before you by Jojo Moyes and The fault in our Stars by John Green.. both are really great books that I highly recommend.
I believe the Joy The Baker Book Club would enjoy The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. Thanks for the additions to my summer reading list!
Oh! I read a review of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake some time ago and meant to read it…it sounded so interesting.! Forgot all about it though…I’m so glad you mentioned it here!
“Stuffed and Starved, The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.” Perhaps heavier than the others, but essential, in my mind for those who work with food.
Yes! Wild and Where’d You Go Bernadette are must reads!!! Also, A Fault In Our Stars is fabulous too!
Out of all those books I only recognized a handful (like 3 or 4) but there is one I highly recommend: Dear Girls Above Me. I just finished reading it and oh my! It has been a while since I found a book that actually makes me laugh out loud. This book had me laughing from start to finish. Seriously read it, even if it’s the last book you read!
If Cheryl Strayed and Gatsby hadn’t been on the list I would have added them. Also, I know everyone already knows about Gone Girl but I finally got to it and it was SO worth the hype. I lost a couple nights of sleep staying up with that book.
Also, A Tale of Two Cities. Worth it.
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. I need ALL the books. It’s likely I’ll die next to a stack of things I’ve been meaning to read…
“I Was Told There’d Be Cake” by Sloan Crosley is one of my favorite summer reads…I read it every summer, that and her second book, “How Did You Get This Number”. Sloan is hilarious, real, and honest. These books will make you laugh till you cry and think a bit…great for the beach, the lake, anywhere outside…I tried it on the plane and people glared at me for laughing too loud…so perhaps choose a place not around people. I also have it in audio on i-tunes and I listen to it on my runs.
Another wonderful and hilarious while also thought provoking book is “How To Be A Woman” by Caitlin Moran. I have actually been stopped by people on my runs to see if I’m ok because I’m laughing and running while listening and people think I’m having an asthma attack…there is some language so if swearing bothers you this isn’t for you but it is WONDERFUL- Joy I feel that you would get a kick out of this book!
Ooh, and Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Marie Rilke. Short book, AMAZING, beautiful read.
Agreed on both Steinbeck recommendations – I read Travels with Charley every summer. East of Eden, however, is most definitely the life changer; I found myself rereading paragraphs over and over because I could not get enough of the writing and the characters. I adore that book.
I just finished reading The Blue Umbrella: A Novel by Mike Mason. Wonderful read! For those of you with kids, they’ll enjoy it too.
Two of my most favorite books are:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, which I’m sure most people have heard of, but it’s so great it’s worth mentioning again
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. May be a little heavy for a summer read, and it is a little slow to get into, but if you work your way through the first chapter or 2 in one sitting you are hooked!
I know it’s a little late to the party, but the Hunger Games series really is a great set of books for young adults and adults. The character development is just fantastic and it reminds you to look, not only outside of yourself, but beyond your little insular circle because 1 person can change the world.
I just finished The Night Circus by Erin Morgestern. I loved it! It was slow at first and took me a bit to get into it, but I couldn’t put it down once I got into the thick of things. Highly recommend!
highly recommend Love in the Time of Cholera.
Would add to the list Swim Back to Me and Clementine in the Kitchen…
Happy summer!
Joy-I just finished “Tell The Wolves I’m Home” and I couldn’t put it down….such a lovely read. I actually ended up putting it away for a few days when I got to the last few chapters because I didn’t want it to end! Enjoy!
I’m an avid reader, so my first question upon meeting new people is usually “what are you reading now?” I would have to recommend a non-fiction book, “Tennessee Williams: An Intimate Biography.” It’s an excellent biography, not just for writing style, but also because it is co-written by his brother, Dakin. It gets so much more personal and detailed than a story written only by a historian could be. Lovely and hugely interesting, especially if you have any interest in American theatre.
I recommend “Tender at the Bone, growing up at the table” by Ruth Reichl.
Funny!
love these books!!
What a great list! Thanks so much for sharing this. I just wish I had time to read everything on it!!
In preparation for our upcoming vacation to London and Paris, I have been reading Edward Rutherford’s books, “Paris” and “London”. They are well-written, engaging, full of interesting characters…both books cover centuries of history but the author does it through the eyes of his characters. The interlacing of families over the centuries is fascinating. Though rather long, I highly recommend both of them.
I love Love LOVE The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips! “In 1931 Carbon Hill Alabama, a small coal mining town, 9 year old Tess Moore watches a woman shove the cover off the family well and toss a baby in without a word. ….” It’s so much more than the opening scene…gorgeous read :-)
I’m on a Chicago kick this summer, and have two great summer reads that I’m suggesting to everyone in that they’re both easy to pick up and put down, read fast or leisurely, or (in the case of the second rec) open to any page and start reading–nothing feels as break-the-rules summer-y as that to me :-)
The first book is Never a City So Real by Alex Kotlowitz. It’s 160 pages of his interactions with and experiences of some of the forgotten or neglected parts of the city and the people who live there. The Bud Billiken parade (the largest parade in the country), the labor union roots, the restaurant owner on the west side who’s been around forever, a guy who paints murals in public housing, the lawyer who works at the county courthouse.
The second book is 1001 Afternoons in Chicago by Ben Hecht (I got the edition with the introduction by Bill Savage). The book is a compilation of columns Ben Hecht wrote for a newspaper in the 1920s that cover pretty much the whole range of human experiences in short (1-3 pages) beautiful but honestly written character sketches of people he met around the city–and a lot of them could as easily be written about the city today. The illustrations are a bonus.
(and this was an unintentional Chicago pick that everyone seems to be going nuts about but I actually wasn’t a big fan of: the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. I wanted to like it, she’s an alum from my alma mater and it’s set in a dystopian chicago. I read both books in two days, they were entertaining but just not great–and that’s saying a lot since I love YA fiction, anything set in Chicago, dystopias, and strong female characters.)
Oh, and I read East of Eden for the first time last summer and…yes. Nothing like crying at the beach to signify a really great summer read :-)
Hi Joy~
Love your site! Some thoughts on the books:
I just finished Tell the Wolves I’m Home and it is FANTASTIC! Perfect one to start with.
The Round House was also very good.
Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorites – can’t go wrong with FSF.
Wild was pretty good also.
You should add The Fault in Our Stars – one of those rare books you can read in an entire flight, and it makes you laugh and cry just pages apart.
I just read Tell the Wolves I’m Home. It was a gorgeous book, beautifully written and one that I needed to dwell in and ponder over for days after reading. The characters were very real, the emotions tangible, and it was a very vivid, lovely, coming-of-age novel.
Great list of books! A lot of these are on my to-read list. I would highly recommend The Fault In Our Stars as well. Where’d You Go Bernadette, I Was Told There’d Be Cake, and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened are all page turning, funny reads! I would also recommend anything by Jonathan Tropper (This is Where I Leave You, How to Talk to a Widower).
Here’s my Summer reading list – https://twoortizesplusmore.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-summer-reading-list-2013.html.
This list is awesome – I feel I may as start readying next year’s reading list. =)
I have heard great things about Kate Morton’s books!!
Thanks for sharing, Joy! I think I just added 75% of these books to my Kindle wish list! Yay for reading!
Thank you for this list Joy! My current favorite book is Cleaning Nabokov’s House by Leslie Daniels…so hilarious and her first novel, can’t wait for more.
I also read Gone with the Wind every summer when I was in high school! Inspired me to bring it back this year :)
what a great list, joy! i’ve been reading haruki murakami’s work lately. what an amazing writer he is! you should read a book from him if you already haven’t.
Thanks for this list of reads….I’ll be checking some out! Literally! You have to read Cutting for Stone…one of the best books! It’s one of those, can’t put it down books!
PS. Where is that lovely house? I want to live there! :)
I’m reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and am completely blaming my lack of productivity today on the fact that all I want to do is live inside that book all day long.
Love in the Time of Cholera and State of Wonder are two of my all-time favorites. So, so wonderful. The Round House is also amazing.
I also really liked This is How You Lose Her, by Junot Diaz. And Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.
A gorgeous list that will inspire my summer! Thanks to you all!
I’ve just added a bunch of these to my ever-growing to-read list. Thanks for sharing, Joy!!
-Emily K.
(PS: The link for Will Write For Food is currently directing to Sisterland.)
I love lists, especially lists of books. I just finished The Execution of Noa P. Singleton. It was really good. I’ve read several on the list above, and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is SO GOOD!! Such a good summer read.
I just finished A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozenki. the story is well written and absolutely fascinating.
I took this book out of the library and as soon as I was 30 pages in I was frightened I wouldn’t have enough time to finish it – so I got a copy for my ipad. I know I will read this over again it is that good. I got a copy for my daughter and also my sister took it out of the library when I told her about it.
I highly recommend “Love with A Chance of Drowning”. Perfect for wanderlusters.
What an adorable little getaway house! Where is it? I’m new to LA and looking for some close but feels far destinations.
And thanks for compiling a list – heading to the library website to see what’s available!
Any Sci-Fi fans out there? This one is by an up-and-coming author: https://www.amazon.com/Target-Audience-ebook/dp/B00CXADKQG
thank you for the list because i am always looking for things to read, esp in summer. I am currently reading “My life in France” Julia Childs book and its a fun read :)
What a fantastic book! I am on my 3rd Julia Child book for the summer, and I am loving “Aa Always, Julia”, which is a compilation of the letters between Avis & Julia herself.
Oh, I’ve been meaning to check that one out…I’m glad you mentioned it!
Read Wild by Cheryl Strayed last summer – really good, really intense read, (so maybe a little less fluffy than your traditional summer read) but a great and entertaining book. There were parts in the middle where I thought to myself, ‘I can’t believe I’m enjoying reading a passage just describing wilderness”, but I really did enjoy it. Also, hit a lot of personal points for me, too…
I just finished Wild and I absolutely loved it too! I recommend it to everyone these days.
I read Zelda by Nancy Milford last summer and loved it. It will make you hate Scott Fitzgerald a little to a lot, though.
I’m currently reading Swamplandia! by Karen Russel and completely love it. And I tend to go for Southern gothic in the summer and just full on embrace the ridiculous heat instead of fighting it.
I literally just finished Swamplandia! a couple hours ago. It was on my to-read list for the last couple of summers. So strange, so wonderful… I’m a little sad to have left the swamp… Any other southern gothic you would recommend?
Arcadia by Lauren Groff is another excellent read. It chronicles the coming of age of a boy who spent his childhood and adolescence on a commune in upstate NY. The story follows the blossoming and the self-destruction of the commune, but more importantly it is a map of the main character’s crises and revelations as he is forced to go into the world and make something of a place he has very little understanding of. I would read it again in a heartbeat.
Oh yes! How I LOVED this book! I read it last so summer and cried when it was over…
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson is amazing, I loved it. So clever and funny.
Dear Girls Above Me is a great book! I read last month and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think you will too. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell was an endearing book and I loved 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.
What a great list. Currently reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith and loving it.
I read Wild and LOVED it….The Tiger’s Wife, not so much. I just finished Jane Eyre and highly recommend it. One of the best books ever, however, was The Shadows of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
For a pleasant escape to Cape Cod, read anything by Elin Hilderbrand.
I just finished reading the Sea Sisters by Lucy Clarke, completely makes you want to jump on a plane and head off on an adventure…
Love that the Great Gatsby made the list, I love that book!
Reading – The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
Thanks so much for the list! Would also like to add In The Shadow Of The Banyan by Vaddy Ratner. I’ve rated it as one of the best books I’ve read this year.