By Laura Honan
Summer is truly here and with it comes beach reading. So, for those heading abroad, staycationing or enjoying this weekend’s sunshine, here’s a list of what I have dubbed as the must-read books of summer.
Happy Place– Emily Henry
Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple- that was until they broke up six months ago. Now they must spend a week pretending to be together for their annual weeklong trip to Maine surrounded by all their best friends.
The book explores friendship, navigating romantic, platonic and familial relationships throughout your twenties and what it truly means to find your ‘happy place’.
Promise Me Sunshine– Cara Bastone
Grieving the loss of her best friend Lou, Lenny feels lost in life. Avoiding her parents and the apartment she once shared with Lou, Lenny spends her time floating from jobs to parties. Until she meets Miles. A grumpy stranger in her life, he promises Lenny to help her live again. Doubting that she will ever be okay again, Lenny learns that sometimes it is only when you have truly lost yourself that you can find who you are… and maybe find love along the way.
Dealing with grief, loss, friendship and heartbreak Promise Me Sunshine is an inspiring story of finding love even through life’s most difficult times.
Just For the Summer– Abby Jimmenez
Justin and Emma both believe that they are cursed. Every partner they date goes on to meet their soulmate the second they break up. Emma is a travelling nurse and doesn’t have time for long term love. Justin’s life becomes complicated when he takes guardianship of his three younger siblings. When the two meet on an AITA Reddit post Emma changes her next work assignment to Minnesota to see Justin. It is supposed to be a quick fling- just for the summer. But the pair are quickly navigating more than they bargained for. Can they finally manage to break the curse?
You And Me on Vacation- Emily Henry
Poppy and Alex are polar opposites, yet they are the best of friends. Each year Poppy and Alex take a summer trip, a tradition the pair started during university. Until two summers ago when everything fell apart. Now in a desperate attempt to save their friendship Poppy arranges one last summer trip. One week to fix everything, just as long as she doesn’t talk about that night in Croatia or address that one question that has always stood in the middle of the friendship. What could possibly go wrong?
The Favourites– Layne Fargo
Katarina Shaw always knew that she would be an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in foster care an instant obsession and connection is formed- on and off the ice. The pair would become the most infamous names within ice skating, but just when it seemed as though they had everything it all came crashing down. Ten years later a tell all documentary is to be released. But Katarina is ready to tell the full story in her own words.
Seven Days in June- Tia Williams
As teenagers Shane and Eva spent one week falling madly in love. Now twenty years later Eva is a single mom and best-selling writer and battling chronic health conditions. Shane is an award-winning literary author. The pair reconnect at a literary event in New York and with it come all their feelings from twenty years ago. Eva isn’t sure she can trust the man who once broke her heart but before Shane disappears from her life again, she needs answers about that faithful summer.
Daisy Jones And the Six- Taylor Jenkins Reid
They were the talk of the music industry. Everyone knew their names. Daisy Jones and the Six were on track to be the biggest band of all time. But after recording one album and performing half a tour the group split up. Now they are sitting down for a tell all interview so the world may finally know what happened to one of music’s biggest legends.