Greetings. I hope everyone in the States has a very happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. We had our long weekend last weekend in Canada, which was rainy. Actually it’s been rainy here for about 10 days now, which should help the drought a bit, but it’s been hard to do any planting, golfing, or bicycling, lol. I guess it’s the unofficial start of summer. Yay! It’s very green outside right now … and soon the clouds will clear and it will turn hot and dry.
I was debating about whether to make a summer reading list. Sometimes they are more fun to make than to follow, lol. I usually like to be free to pick up whatever books happen to suit my mood at the time or that I can access from the library. But still making a summer list is fun and I like linking up with Cathy’s blog at 746 Books who hosts the lovely Summer Reading Challenge each year and to see what others are reading. I will tip off my summer reading now and end after Labor Day and see how far I get.
This year instead of choosing many light summer beach reads and thriller type books, which at times don’t live up to the hype, I’ve picked a list of my usual kinds of reads that have gotten past me, or that I haven’t been able to pick up just yet. Many of these I’ve talked about before on previous Preview posts. Do any of these below look good to you? Only two are nonfiction books and the rest are recent fiction, except for Octavia Butler’s 1979 novel Kindred, which I’m reading for my July book club discussion. I tried to get books from an equal amount of female and male authors. And I’m sure that there will be other books that slip in as I go about my summer, but here is an outline of the 15 books I’m aiming for.
- James by Percival Everett / Doubleday / 320 pages / 2024
- Clear by Carys Davies / Scribner / 208 pages / 2024
- The House of Doors by Twan Eng / Bloomsbury / 320 pages / 2023
- How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair / 37 Ink / 352 pages / 2023
- My Friends by Hisham Matar / Random House / 416 pages / 2024
- The Women by Kristin Hannah / St. Martin’s / 480 pages / 2024
- Long Island by Colm Toibin / Scribner / 304 pages / 2024
- A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda / Mariner / 256 pages / 2024
- The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson / Crown / 592 pages / 2024
- River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure / Morrow / 352 pages / 2024
- The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon / Doubleday / 448 pages / 2023
- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch / Atlantic Monthly / 320 pages / 2023
- The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring / Europa / 250 pages / 2023
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler / Beacon / first published 1979
- My Beloved Life by Amitava Kumar / Knopf / 352 pages
Also I looked ahead to see what novels are coming out this summer that are on my radar, and these below fit the bill. They’re written by authors whom I’ve read and liked before, or whom I’m looking to read. Do you see any that appeal to you?
- Bear by Julia Phillips / Hogarth / 304 pages / June 25
- The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan / Knopf / 384 pages / July 2
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore / Riverhead / 496 pages / July 2
- Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner / Random House / 464 pages / July 9
- Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa / Pantheon / 288 pages / Aug. 13
- Burn by Peter Heller / Knopf / 304 pages / Aug. 13
And now it’s time for me to get cracking. I look forward to getting out the sunscreen, the hat, the deck umbrella and to plopping in a deck chair when time permits and enjoying my summer reading. What about you — will you make a list, or simply wing it?
I an not familiar with most of those books or authors, so I look forward to learning more about them, if you review any of them. I have only recently (late in 2023) purchased a copy of Brooklyn by Toibin and haven’t read it yet. My husband will be buying a copy of The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson as soon as our book buying ban is ended. I have enjoyed all I have read by Larson but not sure about this one. I do hope you review Kindred by Butler. I have read nothing by that author.
Re the upcoming books, I haven’t read anything by Yoko Ogawa but I would like to. Mina’s Matchbox sounds very good.
Hi Tracy, always great hearing from you. Yoko Ogawa is an interesting writer … her novels are a bit mysterious and I have read 2, which I think you’d probably like, and I’m really excited she has another one being translated, coming out.
I have not read Octavia Butler either but my book club wanted to *try* sci-fi so we will be reading Kindred. I will let you know what I think. Also I received a copy of the Erik Larson book but have only just started. It might take me all summer lol. And I have only seen the Brooklyn movie … so I should really read it but for some reason I want to go straight to the second book, figures. Hope you have a nice holiday weekend and I look forward to your reviews as well. Cheers!
I have read four novels on your summer list. I can recommend James a lot, and Clear, Long Island, and The House of Doors, to a lesser degree. From your interest list I have my eye on Bear. I usually don’t make a special list for summer reading, but all year round I go picking up books chosen among the “best of the month” by Amazon editors and lately by Barnes&Noble and Apple Books editors as well. It’s been three years or so that I’ve complemented my summer reading with the Booker longlisted titles, hoping to get it right by award time.
Hi Carmen, that’s awesome you’ve read four on my list! Great. I don’t even really know how I came up with this list — but I think I tried to pick ones I’d heard or seen the best reviews about it – either from critics or blogs or whatnot. I hope they will be good. I’m trying to play catchup with some earlier titles. Hmm. Perhaps you will get to Bear before me – and can vet it. lol. Good luck with the longlist titles and keep posting on GR about them. You seem to be on a roll, nice. Have a great weekend.
Hi Susan, good luck on the challenge and with the exception of House of Doors which I liked I haven’t read the other books but I really look forward to your reviews.
Planning ahead with one’s reading is a great idea. I’m committed to the Historical Fiction Challenge but next year the Summer challenge!
Hi Kathy, thanks – this is a lot of books for me – so we will see how it goes. I tend to be very slow. Argh. But I’m curious about your reading challenge as I really like historical fiction, so I will keep an eye for your reviews. I just finished such a historical novel on Ulysses Grant so I will review that book sometime. Have a great long weekend. & happy reading.
What a great list Susan! I adored My Friends and am sure it will be one of my books of the year. Happy reading!
Thanks Cathy. And I’m so glad to hear that My Friends is a good one! Yay. I had looked at these choices carefully and many had great reviews so that’s how I put my list together. I’m playing catchup on many of these that got past me. Thanks for hosting this fun challenge again and good luck on your list!
I just finished reading The Women and really liked it. She does such a good job of showing what the Vietnam War was like for all those combat nurses. And while I haven’t read My Friends I did really like Hisham Matar’s other book. You’ve got some good summer reading ahead of you! I have a list of books I hope to read this summer, too, but I always try to leave room on it for changes in my mood, and for all those new books that always seem to come along. 😀
Hi Lark. That’s great to hear about The Women. Yay. So many seem to be liking the Hannah book. I had to put it on my list since I’m curious about Vietnam from the nurse perspective. Must have been so tough. I will check out the Matar book and let you know. This one has received some high praise. & Good luck on your list!
Hi Susan,
I’m trying to pull together a list to post by the end of this weekend (Monday). One book I know I will read and finish is God of the Woods by Liz Moore. It has received starred reviews fr. Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus, and Booklist. It’s set in the Adirondack Mountains some decades ago.
Another is The Women by Kristin Hannah. I’m going for it because lots of my friends (and me as well) lived during this era. These friends say it’s spot on.
So, I’ll look forward to all your reading this summer.
Hi Judith, Wow it’s great to hear from you! So glad you’re back. I will check your site for your upcoming summer list. Yay glad you’re making one. I agree Liz Moore is usually so good. I loved her last novel Long Bright River so I will likely feel the same about this one. And I’m looking forward to The Women too. It’s good we have both of these novels on our radars. They look great! Happy reading. & summer.
The Women is also on my summer reading list. I went ahead and made a list of twenty books I’d like to read knowing full well I won’t stick to it. If I did I’d be listening to audiobooks 24-7 all summer since many of the books are on hold as audiobooks and many are over 20 hours long. Oh well. Love your list.
It is rainy here, too. As a retired teacher I used to love it when it was rainy the end of the school year so that the students were calmer.
Hi Anne, thanks. Yeah I don’t think I will get thru all these but I will give it a go. Some of them I will try on audio. I will check out your summer list, yay. It’s good we both chose The Women. It seems a lot of people have picked that one.
We continue to have rain most days. hmm. Enjoy your reads! & Good luck with your list.
Those are great lists! It will make it hard to choose. I think I’ll make a list when it comes up in the Top Ten Tuesday calendar, which is closer to the summer solstice, so I have a few weeks yet.
Thanks Joy. Making the list is half the fun. I look forward to seeing your list when it is ready. Cheers. & Enjoy.
That’s a challenging summer reading list for sure. I’m really looking forward to James, especially after my recent re-read of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I really enjoyed that one more than I thought I might, and was pleased that Twain could still make me laugh. I suspect that James is not going to make me laugh a whole lot because of who the narrator is. I see a couple of the Booker titles on your list, too, so I’ve read three of the fifteen you chose, and there are four or five others I’d like to get to eventually. Good luck.
Thanks Sam. Good to hear that you’ve read three on my list. Excellent. I think I was particularly influenced by your positive reviews of House of Doors and Prophet Song when I added them to my list. It should be a crazy summer with all these. I’ll give them a whirl. Enjoy your reads!
The only ones I have read from your list above are The Women and The Road to Dalton. I do have Long Island on my list of holds at the library though and wondered if I should refresh my memory of Brooklyn first. I didn’t knkow about the Peter Heller book and I do like his books.
I’ve never done the Twenty Books of Summer before and jumped over to check it out. Sounds applealing ut if I join in I will probably do ten books for my first time. Also need to be sure this WP comment issue is resolved because I would hate to have my abilty to comment restricted on WP blogs.
Hi Tina, yeah I’m sure your thoughts about The Women influenced me putting it on my list, as well as The Road to Dalton. You gave them both high marks, so I hope to get to them.
It’d be fun if you joined in with your 10 Books of Summer. I thought about doing 10 too … but then I’m trying to catch up with some titles. It’s probably too much for me. Do you think the comment issue has been resolved? That is frustrating. I’m not very tech savvy with these blog issues, sigh. But I hope someone can help fix it. Fingers crossed. Have a nice weekend.
You are correct – half the fun is making the list of books to read for the summer event! I started a list with 10 books and am adding a few more in case the ones I want to read are bombs/DNF. Thank you for the inspiration 🙂
Oh, the WP blog issue is because I had a book blog called Novel Meals for many years. Therefore, anytime I want to comment on a blog which is hosted at WP, I am always asked to sign in and have it direct to the Novel Meals site. I deleted the blog a few weeks ago so I hope that solves it.
OK, on to my book list and blog post!
Oh good. I look forward to your list! It is fun to make one. I hope your comment issue is resolved. It seems like it might be now. Can you test it? Hmm. You had some old blogs I didn’t know about. The new one looks good.
I have The Demon of Unrest on my list. My copy came in for me at the library but I was busily reading other things and didn’t get a chance to read it before I had to return it.
I was delighted to find a copy of James at the used bookstore portion of the Galveston library yesterday. And, even more amazing, the price for it had been left off; the library clerk said he was advised to charge one dollar for any books that are unpriced. What a bargain!
Hi Deb, Wow that’s a great find! One dollar for James! The library was selling James already? I bought James at a Montana bookstore on our way back from Calif. But it was the full deal. I’m looking forward to it.
I have Demon of Unrest on ebook but I haven’t read much yet. Glad your copy came in. It’s going to take me awhile to read that tome.
Enjoy your books!
I’ve just finished James, so I had to pop back here and tell you how much I enjoyed reading it.
(BTW, as I was writing up a review, I noticed a small red sticker on the spine. Oh my goodness! It said $12! Neither the library clerk nor I noticed this sticker. I shall make things right by giving it back to the library when I return there Tuesday!
Oh Deb, so glad you liked James! I think you’re about the third person who’s told me it’s great. And I’m really looking forward to it … on my summer list.
That’s noble of you to give the library the novel back. It’s a good deal at $12 to get that recent a published book. So somebody will be very happy with it. I bought a copy of it at a Montana indie bookstore since I didn’t want to hurry with it. So it awaits me. Have a great week, thx for filling me in.
Kindred is a very powerful book, and it defies classification into a single genre. Definitely not just Sci-fi. I really admire it. Of your list, it’s the only one I’ve read, and two of your choices are also on my list, the books by Larson and Toibin. I’ve liked their earlier books. I think you will have a great summer of reading!
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks Mae. Glad to know about Kindred. It’s a pick for book club that we’re discussing in July. The story sounds a bit scary.
I think the Larson will take me awhile to read. And I’m curious about the Toibin. I will drop by to check out your list if you put it up. Happy reading!
House of Doors and How to Say Babylon look good to me and are waiting in my ebook pile to be read. I also enjoyed River East, River West, a good book for Asian American Pacific Islands Heritage Month in May.
Hi Harvee, great to hear about River East River West. I’m looking forward to it. I think the Babylon memoir is going to be powerful. And House of Doors a bit different. Thx for your input on these. Have a great week.
I enjoy this challenge but am not taking it on this summer. I will read more than 20 books but I don’t want the pressure of making a list. I resolved to doing NO challenges this year since I have stressed myself out over the last few years, LOL! Good luck!
Thanks Cindy. I understand. Don’t stress yourself out. Summer should be an enjoyable time. So I hope not to get stressed over these. We will see.
Take a load off and happy reading.
I went for about a year choosing which books I would read each month (trying to cover different genres and challenges) and somehow got out of the habit a couple months ago. I don’t quite have it in me to pick summer readings though I wish I did. Maybe I still will….
I am hearing such good things about James, it’s definitely on my list to read this year. And The Women is super well done.
Hi Helen, yeah I guess the list is helping me organize a bit … and maybe pointing me in the direction of what I think I should get to. But usually most months I just pick up whichever books. So this will be a bit different.
I’m glad you liked The Women. I think I took the vibes from you & other bloggers about that one and put it on the list. I hope to get to James soon!
Enjoy your week.
The rain does interfere with so many activities, but all that green is beautiful! I haven’t read any on your list, but I did see a few positive reviews for The Frozen River. Hope you enjoy all on your list!
Thanks Rachel. The list should be good. I also saw a lot good reviews for The Frozen River and its Goodreads rating is very high. I have high hopes for it being excellent. And it sure is green here! It’s rained for two weeks! Crazy but it will hopefully it will be helpful to the drought and fires.
Have a great week.
Making a summer reading list is more fun than trying to stick to it, lol! I don’t think I’ll make a list for the summer, but will make a list for each month. Usually there are two that I plan to read and a couple which depend on library holds, but I like to save space for impulse reads, too.
From your list, James and The Road to Dalton were both 5-star reads for me. Clear, House of Doors, Long Island, and The Women are on my library hold list… we’ll see what happens to arrive at a time when I can read it.
The Cliffs and God of the Woods sound good to me. Other summer releases I’m looking forward to are new books by Claire Messud and Claire Lombardo.
Hi JoAnn, I agree making the list is the fun, easy part, lol. But sticking to it is quite harder. I do like impulse reads but I think I’ll do less of that now.
It seems we often share many of the same titles in our reading, which makes it fun to compare thoughts. I think I took The Road to Dalton from your review & others and put it on the list. It looks like something I’d like.
I’ll be curious to hear what you think of the new Messud and Lombardo books. Enjoy your time in the North!
Since I usually participate in the Big Book Summer challenge hosted by Sue at Book by Book, I usually select which big books I’m going to try to read over the summer, but I am really liking the rabbit hole (currently Civil War) and whimsey approaches to book selection.
You have some great titles on your summer list–I’ve heard James is terrific, and I want to read Demon of Unrest myself. I thought Road to Dalton was pretty good. I didn’t know Peter Heller had a new one coming out–I still need to read The Last Ranger, but this sounds too dystopian for me.
Glad you got some rain–it is always welcome down here in CO, where the wind has been blowing and drying things out.
Happy summer!
Thanks Jane. The list is a bit ambitious for me and I probably won’t get to all but I will give it a go. Good to know about Road to Dalton. And I’m curious about your Civil War reading and look forward to your reviews. I have a copy of James (print) and Demon of Unrest (ebook). Some on the list are over 400 pages so perhaps I’ll join Sue’s challenge as well. Those reads might take me forever, lol.
Good luck with your reading and your garden too. That takes my time! Cheers.
I love making reading lists, but it’s true, I hardly ever follow them! Still, it’s fun to create those lists, and I think even if I only read a few of the books on the list, it helps to keep me focused and make a dent on my TBR! I’m hoping for better weather this week too, I hope you have a wonderful week regardless! ❤️
Thanks Haze. I’m hoping the list will make a small dent in my TBR … even if I don’t get to all. These lists are fun to make. But like with you, lists are hard to follow! I’ll give it a try. I think summer weather is on the way this week! Enjoy.
That’s an impressive selection Susan.
I have James on my list too, and I could quite possibly swap in Long Island, My Friend, Clear and/or Prophet Song from my TBR.
Julia Phillips has a new book coming? I had missed that news – thanks for the heads up. Burn has turned up on a few socials – it sounds interesting too.
Good luck with youor summer reading.
Thanks Brona. Great hearing from you. The list might be a bit ambitious for me — with some longs ones — but it points me in the direction. I hope to make a dent in the TBR but we’ll see. It seems like you have some of these books on your radar too. I will visit your site to see your list. I missed Julia Phillips first book but I’m definitely curious about her new one. I hope you have great summer reading as well. Cheers!
I don’t usually do the ‘Summer’ event, but I like to hear about what others are planning on trying. I have The Frozen River, The Women, and A Great Country on my list to try at some point. The Babylon book is going to be a book group selection for my afternoon book group, but I think we might be gone for that meeting. I need to check. Anyway, so many new mysteries are out or will be out soon. My cup runneth over….
Hi Kay. Great to hear. We have a few overlapping books to read. I will stop by to see which books you’re into now. I agree there’s lot to read now. I hope all is well. And you have a great start to summer.
This is a very vigorous list but lots of good things on it. I liked The Women a lot but some of these others could take weeks! I appreciate long books, however, and usually only notice the length of a book if I am not enjoying it. We spent half an hour at my book group last night suggesting possibilities for the future. I was astounded when one of my friends started raving about a book called Remarkable Creatures. “You’re obsessed with the book about the octopus?” I asked and she said, “Well, I love dinosaurs,” which made no sense at all. It wasn’t until the end of the evening when we had finished the (short) discussion about Mercury Pictures Presents (I got bored and did not finish) that I realized she was talking about Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, an author my book group admires, and I was talking about Remarkably Bright Creatures. I know some have really enjoyed the latter but only the former went on our list for the future!
Hi Constance, yeah I agree. I didn’t like Bright Creatures much but Tracy Chevalier’s novels are often good. She’s a good author to suggest for book club. I think I will suggest that one for my book club in the fall. Those two titles are similar! I’d mix them up too.
Too bad about the Mercury Pictures Mara novel … I will skip it.
I agree my summer list is likely too much for me. What was I thinking? I didn’t realize several are over 400 pages. Maybe if I finish ten I will be happy. I should have stayed with 10 as I’m a slow reader to begin with. Glad you liked The Women. I hope you have some good books for summer. Happy reading.
Susan I hope you have a great time reading your books. This is such a fun way to kick off summer reading. I am going to join as well but need to put together my list. I haven’t read any of the books you’ve listed but definitely curious about some of these. Especially House of Doors. Hope these will all turn out to be great reads!
Hi Iliana, thanks, great to hear from you. Yes I agree making a book list is sort of a fun way to kick off summer reading. I look forward to seeing what’s on your list. And I’ve heard good things about The House of Doors and I’ve been on a long library wait list for it. Who knows when it will come in. A lot to read, little time, lol. Wishing you a great summer as well.
Great selection! I love lists, but rarely follow them. As soon as I put together my list (posted last week), I picked up a book which wasn’t on the TBR or even on my wish list. Typical! From your selection, I’ve read Kindred (slightly disappointing) and How to Say Babylon (Great memoir, but could have been shorter 😉 ). The Liz Moore book is also on my list, and I might pick up Clear at some point as well.
Hi thanks Stargazer. I agree, I do like lists but I haven’t followed them much in the past either. I’m going to try extra hard this year, ha lol. Is Kindred disappointing? Oh no. Good to know too about Babylon. Often I think books could be shorter than they are. I hope the Liz Moore novel delivers! Though I might wait till fall for that. Wishing you happy reading and I’m going to check your site for your list. thanks!
Ooh, look at all that green! Guess that’s the benefit of all the rain, right? We have been enjoying some beautiful weather while camping on the coast a couple hours north of home, but the rain is returning this weekend.
I love Cathy’s summer reading challenge and will share my list tomorrow. I find it a good way to stay focused on the books I’ve intended to read, but wind up sitting for far too long while others get my attention. We’ll see how I do this year!
Of the books you’ve listed, I’ve read The Women, The Road to Dalton, and Kindred. I loved one of those. 🙂 I’ve heard good things about Bear and The God of the Woods. I wasn’t aware of Peter Heller’s new book. I’m getting far behind on his latest releases!
Hi Lesley, nice to hear your camping along the coast in beautiful weather. Must be gorgeous where you are. I look forward to your pics. It is very green here right now and chilly in the mornings still. Brr. 40 degrees or so. But warmer later.
I will look for your summer list. It does help to get to books one means to read. Books that have been on the radar or sitting around too long. I have a slew like that. So the summer reading list makes sense. It reminds me of school a bit, ha.
It’s good you’ve read three from my list. I will see what I think. I’m not sure I’ll get to the summer releases till later. Happy camping & reading to you!
I love making reading lists but am so bad about following them. This is a great list, Susan. You’ve got some great options here to choose from. The good thing about having a long list is the flexibility of giving into your reading moods too. I am really interested in reading A Great Country, The Frozen River, and The Women. I don’t know if it will be this summer, but perhaps someday. I just read the Kindred and think it will make a great discussion book. I had a hard time putting it down, but it packed a really strong punch. It was my first by Butler, but will not be my last. No matter what you read, I hope you enjoy the books and have a great summer!
Thanks LF. Great input. I’m glad you let me know about Kindred. I’m a bit scared about it, lol. It will also be my first Butler read and the first kind of sci-fi or speculative fiction that my book club has tried. We’ll see what the group thinks. And I’m glad you think my list might have some good ones. I must get to A Great Country soon — that has the OC written all over it. Frozen River and The Women have some high ratings. Hmm. I’m going to *try* to stick to the list this summer but it’s hard to do! Happy reading.
I’m looking forward to The Cliffs and The God of the Woods. There are so many great books releasing this summer that I must have. Right now, I have about 200 hopefuls on my “summer” list for the challenge. I need to do some narrowing.
Hi Diana, I know what you mean. I think my summer list is trying to grow but I’m trying to keep it down a bit. The Cliffs and the Liz Moore book looks good! Narrowing down from 200 will be tricky, good luck! I look forward to seeing your summer list. Happy reading.
We will be reading James for book club in August but I just got my copy. I had not read that author prior to Telephone, which was also a book club pick but Everett is all over the web now. He has SO many books!
Hi Ti, your book club has some good picks. I have my own copy too of James which is awaiting me to read. This one will be my first from Percival Everett. I’m a newbie to him. I’m impressed you’ve read him before … I’d like to read his other books sometime. I hear he is fantastic. What do you think? Cheers.