Summer Reads

My dive into summer reading hasn’t been particularly smooth; it sure wouldn’t receive any 10s from the judges but neither has it been a belly flop.

After waiting patiently for my turn to get Emily Henry’s “Happy Place,” I eagerly took it home for a quick weekend read. Perhaps my expectations were just a bit high, but it wasn’t all I hoped it would be. Perhaps I should not have been taken in by the hype or wrongly assume it would live up to “Book Lovers.” What I expected to be my fun and light summer read turned out not to be.

However, “Lonely Hearts Book Club” by Lucy Gilmore struck just the right tone, fitting into the “All Together Now” theme with its sense of community revolving around readers. I also liked Marcus Brotherton’s “Long March Home,” which is a completely different type of book—historical fiction set during WW II—but also shows the importance of coming together as three friends find themselves facing the horrors of Bataan. Good but not a light-hearted beach read.

I’ve just started what I think will be my breakout book of the summer: “Drowning,” TJ Newman’s follow-up to her debut novel, “Falling,” which was one of my favorites of 2021. This is promising to be a fast read—the writing practically jumps off the page—and no matter what book I pick up next, I suspect it will feel rather tame. Like her first book, this is also about an airplane accident so if you have a flight coming up any time soon, I recommend you skip this one for the time being.

“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus has finally made its way onto my holds list; others have recommended this since it came out and I decided it was about time I jumped on the bandwagon (though to be fair, the wait list has been fairly constant for the past year). I’m trying to keep my expectations in check but hope to find another good read (the reviews are promising but…)

What have been your favorite summer reads this year?