12 Timeless Summer Reads
Summer is the time where every book read should be a book suitable for the beach and/or be able to be paired with an ice cold cocktail. For me, that means it’s either romantic, thrilling, magical, or, my favourite: mythology based. Last year I tackled Percy Jackson, the year before was The Song of Achilles and Circe, and so on it goes. I read most of my mythological and thrilling books in the summer, but usually there’s some room for a classic or two as well. So I’ve compiled a list of books that I deem perfect for summer weather and that I have enjoyed immensely in summers past. There’s just something about those hazy warm summer reads that stick in your head forever.
On the Road // Jack Kerouac
First up on our list, let’s start with a classic that never gets old. On the Road chronicles Kerouac’s years travelling North America with is friend Neal Cassady. The two roam the country on a “soul-searching” endeavour, being part of the Beat Generation, this book is filled with adventures, misadventures, jazz, desire, and most of all: freedom. It’s a great book for the poetic soul and especially good if you want to have a memorable summer travel without actually leaving your beach chair.
2. Good Omens // Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
This book is truly timeless and the perfect light read for a summer vacation. According to Agnes Nutter’s Nice and Accurate Prophecies, the world will end next Saturday. Judgement Day is coming and the antichrist is a key tool to making that happen. Unfortunately, he is currently an eleven-year-old boy that has been lost by both sides. So an angel and a demon must team up to find the boy, stop the apocalypse, and save the world they’ve both come to love over the millenia. It’s hilarious and exciting, combining the genius of Gaiman and Pratchett in one amazing novel.
3. You Had Me at Hola // Alexis Daria
Fluffy contemporary romances are the perfect prescription for a beach read. You Had Me at Hola is the perfect escape. Dive into the world of lights, camera, and “action” with Jasmine our leading lady and her super dreamy co-star, Ashton, as they navigate the tricky world of co-workers, friends, and lovers. All the steam they generate on camera starts to carry over into their personal lives but both of our stars have been hurt before and are nowhere near ready to open up again to someone new. The spice, the miscommunication tropes, the comedy, it all ties together for the cutest summer romance.
4. Water for Elephants // Sara Gruen
Historical Fiction and Romance combined into one is always a great read! A penniless orphan named Jacob escapes his perfectly planned out life and hops the rails during the Great Depression and finds himself joining a circus. There he falls head over heels for Marlena, the wife of cruel animal trainer. Jacob must now navigate the tricky landscape of love, loss, and the chance for freedom. Featuring the world’s most beloved elephant, Rosie, this novel is a great escape into the wild and magical world of the glory days of the Circus (fantastic for people who loved The Greatest Showman).
5. Gods of Jade and Shadow // Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This book is the adventure book of all adventure books. What is more brilliant for a summer adventure than a magic filled trek through Mexican folklore? This book takes place in the Yucatan in the 20s, during the prime of the jazz age, and features one of the strongest heroines I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Casiopea Tun accidentally releases an ancient Mayan death god and must find a way to free him from his human bonds or risk losing her own freedom. Her cross-country trip is reminiscent of The Odyssey and is so deep in magical realism that sometimes it was hard to drag myself out of this world and back into my own.
6. Conjure Women // Afia Atakora
This book was one of my top reads of 2020. Afia Atakora wrote a brilliantly dreamy story transcending generations. Conjure Women follows the story of Rue (post Civil War) and her mother: Miss May Belle (pre Civil War), both healers or “conjure women” for the people living on a souther plantation. It’s haunting in the cruelty experienced in the before days and in the terror of starting anew all on their own in the after days while still surrounded by enemies. The setting of the plantation surrounded by haunted woods, old churches, and the ghosts of cruel enslavers give this book a chilling and intriguing beginning, but the characters of Rue and her mother bring this story to life in masterfully telling a story of the difficult relationships between mother and daughter and the meaning of life, love, and ultimate loss. The hazy, sepia-toned aesthetic to this book is perfect for those relentlessly hot summer days.
7. The Alice Network // Kate Quinn
Historical Fiction is always good for summer but The Alice Network holds a special spot there for me as I still remember reading the first words of this glorious novel under the hot summer sun while on a fishing boat at my local provincial park (I don’t fish, I read and tan while others do the hard work ;)). This book takes place post WWII and jumps around from the present, where Charlie, our heroine, is searching Great Britain for her lost cousin, and the past, where we follow Evelyn and her days as a spy in the elite women’s spy network during WWII. Evelyn is the only key in finding Charlie’s missing cousin, so Charlie must pull the introverted Evelyn out of her comforts and back into a world she swore to never revisit. The espionage is what drew me in, Evie’s strong spirit is what kept me there, and Charlie’s love story is what won me over. This book is a great introduction into the brilliancy that is Kate Quinn’s writing.
8. The Underground Railroad // Colson Whitehead
In the same theme of Historical Fiction, The Underground Railroad is a reimagining of the trail of freedom as if it were a legitimate railroad, running underground, carrying the enslaved to freedom. This book follows Cora as she embarks on a much darker adventure than Gulliver’s Travels in her escape to freedom, finding, with growing terror, that freedom does not mean safety. It’s horrific and intriguing and Cora’s journey shows the resilience of the human character. I could not put this book down (bonus: there’s now an Amazon Prime TV series based on the novel!).
9. Death on the Nile // Agatha Christie
You can’t go an entire summer without reading a classic Christie! Murder/Mystery is like the OG of summer/vacation reads. Death on the Nile is the perfect Christie pick as it will transport you to a hot boating safari upon an ancient river that will hold more secrets than originally planned for by the end of this novel. If you need an easy, quick, un-put-downable read for summer this is the one for you. I read it in a day! We follow the talented Hercule Poirot as he tries to solve the murder of a young heiress who was surrounded by enemies on a cruise down the Nile. How do you narrow down a suspect when everyone has a reason?
10. The Last House Guest // Megan Miranda
Thrillers are my favourite types of stories to read in the summer. The longer days give us much more time to stew in the terror before darkness descends (too poetic?), that and, given that thrillers are usually hard to put down, the longer days gives us more time to finish them in one sitting. This book is my favourite of Megan Miranda’s thus far, I read it last summer and could not stop. I read it in one evening (honestly it’s quite rare that I finish books in one sitting so when I do, it means it was a phenomenal read). This book takes place in a little vacation town perfect for the wealthy. One year, one of the A-list visitors, Sadie, is found dead. Her death is ruled a suicide but her best friend Avery, who has lived and worked in this town her entire life, smells something fishy and in the effort to find out what really happened, must suddenly work to clear her own name from the list of suspicions. The twists in this book drove me insane. I couldn’t stop or I’d spend the rest of my time not reading stewing over what may or may not have happened.
11. The Song of Achilles // Madeline Miller
Greek mythology is always perfect for summer because you can live your dream Greece vacation without the pricey plane tickets and hotel stays (although I wouldn’t argue if someone wanted to travel there with me for real!). This book is a reimagining of the Trojan War in Homer’s The Iliad but from Patroclus’ point of view. We follow as Patroclus befriends Achilles in their youth and remains devoted and hopelessly in love with him right through the most trying times of their lives. There’s betrayal and loss and the deepest kinds of love. This book will rip your heart right out. Prepare the tissues.
12. CIRCE // Madeline Miller
Somewhat a sequel to The Song of Achilles, this book reimagines bits of The Odyssey but tells Circe’s story. We get glimpses, mentions, and cameos of all of our favourites from the previous book but delve quite a bit deeper into the actual life of Circe and how exactly she ended up on that island and why Odysseus stayed so very long. Circe’s story is heartbreaking and haunting and her life was so very unfair, however, this book explores the themes of self-empowerment and inner-strength and it spoke to me on a whole other level. It’s a beautiful Greek retelling perfect for a hot summer day.
I would love to hear your recommendations for some of the best summer reads you would recommend! Let me know in the comments what I should be adding to my own TBR this summer!