Isn’t summer the perfect season for reading? Taking long road trips and hanging out at the beach and lounging in a camp chair underneath pine trees all provide excellent moments for summer reading. The only problem? All the other library patrons are doing the same thing!
Hold lists can get pretty long during summer reading. To help you find alternate choices to read while you wait for your turn to pick up your long-awaited hold, here’s a list of our most popular books this summer, paired with other options you might also like.
Here’s to a long and happy season of summer reading!
Fourth Wing
By Rebecca Yarros
Adult Fiction
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail never planned on entering the Riders Quadrant, given her medical condition that makes her unusually frail—and thus unlikely to bond with any dragon. But her mother, the commanding general, insists that the Basgiath War College is where she belongs. War gathers at the kingdom’s borders and Violet must find strength she’s never imagined.
What to read while you wait:
Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Connections: epic fantasies filled with dragon riders, political intrigue, and magic
When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Connections: Dragons; strong female characters struggling with their relationship with their mothers
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Connections: Dragons and war
Happy Place
By Emily Henry
Adult Fiction
A group of friends meeting at the cottage in Maine where they’ve come for a week-long getaway every summer for the past decade—sounds idyllic. Except, perfect couple Harriet and Winn are only pretending to be together, to keep their friends happy for one more summer. Emily Henry is the queen of beach reads, striking a perfect balance between lighthearted and meaningful as she explores relationships, and Happy Place is no exception.
What to read while you wait:
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
Connections: Troubled marriage, adult friendships
The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
Connections: A couple trying to hide their troubled marriage, travel
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Connections: The ways that friendships influence romantic relationships
Spare
By Prince Henry
Adult Fiction
Wanting to add a memoir to your summer reading aspirations? Prince Henry’s memoir details the British practice of having a “spare,” an extra child who could step up if something happened to the heir. He tells his story behind the racism, classism, and tabloid rumors that have been a part of his entire life.
What to read while you wait:
Elizabeth and Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters
Connections: the British royal family, private relationship of public figures
Pageboy by Elliot Page
Connections: private life of public figures, being true to oneself
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Connections: the impact of a lost parent
The Covenant of Water
By Abraham Verghese
Adult Fiction
Spanning more than seventy years of one family’s struggles with a curse that sees one person each generation drown, Verghese’s stunning novel also explores the changes in India during the twentieth century. If you want a long historical novel to add to your summer reading list, this beautifully-written story is perfect.
What to read while you wait:
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
Connections: a three-generation family curse, the effects of colonialism
A History of Burning by Janika Oza
Connections: India, generational trauma, families
The Wind Knows My Name by Isabelle Allende
Connections: historical fiction, impact of war on families, dual-perspective narratives
Tress of the Emerald Sea
By Brandon Sanderson
Adult Fiction
Tress, who lives on an island in the Emerald Sea (which is made not of water but deadly green spores that sprout into enormous, destructive vines when they get wet), is best friends with Charlie, who happens to be the son of the island’s ruling nobleman. When Charlie disappears after being dragged off the island to find a wife, Tress sets out on an adventure to find him.
What to read while you wait:
The Magician’s Daughter by H. G. Parry
Connections: A hidden island and a character who leaves it, a character in need of saving
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Connections: Women sailors, treacherous sea voyages
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
Connections: Fantasy romance, lighthearted tone, daring rescues
Written by Amy S. (Outreach)
