Summer is my favorite season of the year: always has been, probably always will be. I don’t know if it’s because I am a summer baby- my birthday falls in mid-July- or the fact I have always favored the heat, but each year I long through all the other seasons, patiently waiting for summer to arrive.
My favorite way to enjoy the heat and sunshine? Reading on the beach. My most blissed out, favorite activity is to grab a good book, hunker down in my beach chair, and read with the sun kissing my shoulders and a cool breeze tickling my arms.
Now that I have a 10-month-old, this is MUCH trickier to accomplish, but reading is still important to me, so I will sneak it in where I can- nap times, late night, and early morning. It also doesn’t hurt that I have a wonderful husband who understands my obsession.
I have a list of titles I am excited to get to this summer and a few that I highly recommend. Here are my reading recs for summer, as well as a reading list I hope to accomplish. Happy reading!
Recommended Books
I’ve always been a fan of Elin Hilderbrand since I first picked up The Love Season back in 2006, and every summer she releases a new title that I have to read. This summer is no different. The Identicals takes place on Nantucket, and by the rich language Hildebrand uses, you can tell her love of the island is true.
The story focuses around two identical twins who, after a messy divorce between their parents and a tragic event, part ways, dividing themselves among their father and mother, who live on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, respectively. As transgressions transpire, the sisters- Tabitha & Harper- realize they must reignite their sisterly bond to overcome their circumstances.
Anita Shreve is another favorite of mine, and she rarely disappoints, and The Stars are Fire is no exception. Taking place in Maine in 1947, it follows Grace Holland, a young, pregnant mother who is left devastated after a fire breaks out and travels down the coast, leaving her homeless and alone. With no friends and her husband missing, Grace begins to rebuild her life, redefining what happiness means to her, until one day, once again, everything changes and her bravery is tested.
Elin Hilderbrand recently recommended this book on her Instagram account and I have to say, I am glad I was intrigued enought to pick it up! It’s prose is beautiful and the story between the characters is both heartbreaking and warming.
Taking place in London at the beginning of World War II, Everyone Brave is Forgiven follows a love triangle of sorts between Mary North, Alistar Heath and Tom Shaw. As the war begins to amp up and the bombs fall, the unimaginable happens and each character’s life is forever shaped and changed.
Reading Next
What’s on your summer reading list? Let me know in the comments below!
The Stars are Fire | Anita Shreve
Everyone Brave is Forgiven | Chris Cleave
