Can I Recommend Your Next Book?
Submit Your Requests + 8 Fantastic Backlist Summer Reads
Despite my love for reading, I don’t buy a lot of books. Don’t get me wrong, I love to pick up an old favorite at a thrift store or pre-order a non-fiction book that I know I’m going to want to underline and scribble all over. But for the most part, I’m a library-first kind of gal, which means I won’t get the new Emily Henry until *checks holds*…September.
If you’re also not keen to wait 15 weeks for your next summer read, you’ll love this list of swoony, heart-pounding, or just plain fun books to enjoy by the beach or in your air-conditioned burrito blanket, whichever you prefer. I tried to include a little something for everyone here, whether you prefer a breezy romance, epic historical adventure, or a page-turning suspense.
🛳️ Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships1- Jo Walker is living her dream life traveling the world as a stewardess on a yacht for the ultra wealthy and finishing up her list of 30 things to do before she turns 30 when a family tragedy changes everything. Now, Jo will be spending the summer watching her two teenage nieces and doing her very best to keep the gnawing grief inside her at bay. Along for the ride are a feisty best friend and a handsome single dad, jokingly referred to as Hot Yacht Chef. I really appreciate romances where the romance isn’t the only thing (or even the main thing!), and this book certainly fits the bill.
For people who love: A slow burn summer romance where friendship, family dynamics, and explorations of grief and loss are also on the menu.
🌖 Two Nights in Lisbon- A woman wakes up in a Lisbon hotel room to find that her new husband is missing. Unsure whether he has disappeared on purpose or if something more nefarious is at play, she begins a heart-pumping race through Portugal to discover the truth. This fast paced thriller kept me guessing until the very end.
For people who love: Thrillers that won’t give you nightmares and heart pumping action with a side of thoughtful social commentary.
📞 Dial A for Aunties- An extravagant wedding, a California resort setting, an accidental murder, and a quartet of meddling aunties: what’s not to love? This book is the definition of an escape read, filled with over the top humor, a gorgeous summer setting, and a romance to boot!
For people who love: Overbearing but loveable family members, zany set ups, and happy endings.
🚗 The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise- When 84 year old Louise suffers a fall in her home, 19 year old Tanner becomes her completely unqualified in-home caregiver. Tanner thinks they’ll spend the summer begrudgingly ignoring each other, but instead, Louise shows up at her bedroom door one night with a packed suitcase and demands they leave immediately.
This is a classic road trip adventure featuring a decades old unsolved mystery, plenty of humor, and the most unlikely of friendships.
For people who love: Cross-generational friendships + nuanced female characters
😻 This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch- This non-fiction memoir-ish book follows the author, a new mom, as she dives headlong into Benedict Cumberbatch fandom. Her embarrassment over her new-found hobby eventually turns to curiosity, and at last, joyful acceptance. The book is peppered with stories of other women’s quirky and/or intense hobbies as well as scientific studies on pleasure, play, and fandom. If you’re looking for permission to have fun just for fun’s sake, this is the book for you. I found it hilarious and thoughtful in equal measure.
For people who love: Funny, warm memoirs with surprising depth.
🚃 Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting: I’m a sucker for an unlikely group of friends, and this group that’s thrust together through a shared train commute is perhaps the unlikeliest. Iona used to be the it girl about town but now she’s an agony aunt (the British version of an advice columnist) who fears she’s past her prime. When the wealthy, rude businessman seated next to her on the train chokes on a grape, she and her fellow passengers find themselves connected in ways they never expected.
This book was full of humor and heart, with copious amounts of character growth and all the warm fuzzies. I highly recommend listening on audio for the excellent British narration.
For people who love: Unlikely friendships, British accents, and feeling like their faith in humanity has been restored.
🌱 The Garden of Small Beginnings- Lillian has just barely regained her footing three years after the unexpected death of her husband. Life isn’t exactly grand, but she’s managing to parent her two young daughters and hold down a job—a feat that felt impossible a few years earlier.
When her boss signs her up for a gardening class, Lillian thinks this will just be a small blip in the monotony of her new normal. Instead, she finds her world slowly opening up to new possibilities, helped along by the dirt, an insanely supportive sister, and her quirky gardening classmates. While this book certainly dealt with a fair amount of heartache, it was also irresistibly funny and hopeful.
For people who love: Sister relationships, laughing through heartache, and characters you want to be friends with.
🛶 This Tender Land- In the summer of 1932, four children escape from the Lincoln Indian Training School and head out on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River with not much more than a canoe and each other. This epic tale of survival and found family is so beautifully written I had to close the book and clutch it to my heart a few times before I could continue. I fell in love with this group of orphans searching for a home and family to call their own.
For people who love: Historical fiction + Emotionally devastating but ultimately redemptive books.
Want me to recommend your next read?
Leave a comment or reply to this email with what you’re looking for in your next book! My tastes definitely lean towards the heartfelt, humorous, and hopeful, no matter the genre, but I’ll do my best to find a match that you’ll absolutely love!
In your request, please include:
The type of book you’re searching for (ie: romance, thriller, mystery, family saga, historical fiction, etc).
Specific things you love that would make a book extra perfect for you. Think: potential settings (the beach, the woods, Europe!), tropes you love, pacing, or types of characters you’re drawn to (ages, experience, quirks, etc).
Two books you absolutely love and one you didn’t like.
I’ll do my best to respond to your comment or email within the week. I hope to offer this more often in the future to paid subscribers, but thought I would open it up to everyone for this first round. Let me know if you’d like to see this type of offering more regularly!
I’m including my Bookshop.org affiliate links in this post. If you choose to buy, I’ll receive a small amount of income from your purpose. But of course, I’m in full support of you filling up those library holds!