Finally, it’s the summertime, aka your time to relax, unwind and lay back. But what if you already binge-watched all your favorite Netflix shows, and sitting by the pool has become all too boring all too fast? This, my friend, is why they invented “the summer book.” Reading a great book will exercise your mind while you are on vacation, motivate you to explore new subjects and can even inspire you to try new things. So, whether it be on your kindle, iPad or a good ole fashioned paperback, I created a list with this summer’s new and noteworthy books and your next must-reads.
“Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” by Elizabeth Gilbert
Written by the same author who wrote the bestseller Eat Pray Love, this novel became an automatic New York Times bestseller due to Gilbert’s candid and personal approach to the importance of creativity and the fear of failure. In an almost diary-like style, Gilbert explains life after writing a widely famous and critically acclaimed novel such as Eat Pray Love and the expectations that came along with it. She talks about how anybody, regardless of age, has the power to unleash their creativity and create something magical and beautiful. She emphasizes the importance it is to realize that you are never too old to think creatively. This is a motivational book perfect for anyone who needs a little push and guidance in order to see the brighter side of things.
“The Rainbow Comes and Goes” by Anderson Cooper
This novel written by Anderson Cooper, the popular CNN journalist, gives you a personal look inside his rocky yet loving relationship with his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, the American socialite. Through sometimes humorous, inspirational, and sentimental exchanges the two recount their fondest life stories and share their most private thoughts. This novel is said to be a cross between a son’s love letter to his mother and a unique way of a mother giving her son life lessons.
“A Wife of Noble Character” by Yvonne Georgina Puig
This novel is the perfect compliment to any drink by the pool. It takes place under the hot Texas sun and is a study in love, gossip, and money. The story is centered on Vivienne Cally, a wealthy oil-money socialite. It chronicles the comic way Cally tries to navigate her life through the endless gossip and luxe that surrounds her. This hard-to-put-down novel will have you feeling like you are part of all the Texan scandal and drama.
“Zero K” by Don DeLillo
What The New York Times Book Review calls “the most mysterious, emotionally moving and formally rewarding books of DeLillo’s long career,” this novel is for all the science fiction fans out there. DeLillo gives death a new meaning when he writes about the protagonist, Ross Lockhart, who invests in a secret laboratory that preserves dead bodies in hopes of future biomedical advances that will allow the bodies to one day return back to life. This book makes you question the natural phenomenon that is life and death as well as the uncertainty that is fate itself. A more thoughtful read, it is perfect for a summer where you have time to imagine a future world and think outside the box.
“The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone” by Olivia Laing
This moving novel will make you think twice about the stigma behind the act of being alone. This book by Olivia Laing, is written almost like a memoir or biography and attempts to discover the meaning of what it truly means to be alone by exploring works of art that arise out of the condition of loneliness. Laing explains that after she moved to New York City in her 30s she was welcomed by an overwhelming sense of loneliness that became a part of her daily life. Navigating through a city of millions of faces and strangers, the feeling grew with each passing day. With the help of artists like Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, and David Wojnarowicz, Liang is able to use their pieces to connect loneliness to the nature of the much-coveted human connection.
“Evicted” by Matthew Desmond
If you loved the movie “The Big Short” you will love this non fiction book. While today’s economy seems to be recovering from the 2008 economic crisis, eviction rates are still at an all-time high throughout the United States. To fully understand the economic and emotional toll of being evicted, Desmond, a Harvard professor and McArthur Fellow goes to one of Milwaukee’s low-income neighborhoods and examines the impact that results from losing your home.
“The Nest” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
Sweeney visits the age-old idea of family values and the importance one family puts on support through thick and thin. “The Nest” is a reference to four siblings’ joint trust fund that they are desperately counting on yet might never see due to a reckless older brother. While three of the siblings are counting down the days to receive the money due to their overwhelming debt, their eldest brother Leo, has just gotten out of rehab for a drunk driving accident and might be the reason the family will have to rethink their life goals. Sweeney’s novel will make you think about your own family and the popular saying “blood is thicker than water.”
“Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys
In this novel Sepetys uncovers one of World War II’s most devastating yet unknown tragedies. In the winter of 1945 with the war coming to a close, thousands of desperate refugees trekked to the coast of East Prussia where there was a ship that promised to take them to freedom. On the pilgrimage four teenagers’ paths converged and they tell the tale about one of the greatest maritime tragedies in history. This novel encourages you to reaffirm your faith in hope and its strength in allowing you to believe that survival and love can prevail through the toughest of times.
“Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes
Finally, a love story that you can actually believe. Moyes creates a realistic romance novel that sparks a magical feel yet contains difficult emotional realities. This love story can even be said to be on the same caliber as John Green’s critically acclaimed novel The Fault in Our Stars. Moyes’ love story begins when Will Traynor suffers a life-altering motorcycle accident that destroys his desire to live. Traynor then meets Lou Clark, a girl who lives an ordinary and cautious life. These two people with absolutely nothing in common find a love that against all odds prevail. This novel will make you a believer in the controversial notion of soulmates.
“The Murder House” by James Patterson and David Ellis
Would it really be a summer reading list without a James Patterson novel? If you have never read a James Patterson novel this is a great one to start with. If you have read a few of Patterson’s novels, be prepared for his latest and one of his greatest. The book begins at a Hamptons estate where bodies are discovered. An NYC cop and local detective come in to investigate and unfold a series of grim and bloody murders that have recently occurred on the estate.
From one book lover to another, I hope you enjoy these novels. Let them be a cool escape to a hot summer day!