10 of the best books for summer reading

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The ultimate summer books list to help you find the perfect books for summer reading.

Summer is always the time that I seriously up my reading game. It’s the perfect time to get into a good book, right?

I’m a big reader anyway so I normally average around 1 book every week, or every 2 weeks, but during the Summer months, I find myself getting through even more than that!

If, like me, you’re preparing for a good Summer of reading, I’ve picked my top 10 books that I think you’re going to love.

I’ve got a mix of non-fiction and fiction books across a range of different genres, so whatever your reading taste is, there will be something for you!

I also keep a goodreads account to keep track of the books I read, so please do follow me on there if you want to keep up to date. I also do book updates on my Instagram @volumesofbeauty – there’s plenty of ways to keep up on my reading throughout the year!

Here are the top books for summer reading!

Range – How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

David Epstein shows you that the way to succeed is by sampling widely, gaining a breadth of experiences, taking detours, experimenting relentlessly, juggling many interests – in other words, by developing range.

If you’ve recently graduated, or still feel like you haven’t figured your life out yet – read this book! I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of the most important books I’ve read in a long time.

It goes through lots of examples of highly successful people who spent time working in plenty of different jobs and industries – developing range, which was the key to their success.

I found it so great because it proves that there’s no pressure or rush to pick the one thing you want to do in your life, you can test out different interests and career paths – and still be successful!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper.

I know people can often be put off by historical fiction, I feel like you often need to do a bit of background reading so that you can understand the plot. But with The Song of Achilles the author does a really good job of explaining everything so you never feel lost, or out of the loop.

It’s such a beautiful book, the last quarter had me crying so much! Even if you’re not into Greek mythology, I really think you’d still enjoy it because it’s such a powerful story about the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

When Emira is apprehended at a supermarket for ‘kidnapping’ the white child she’s actually babysitting, it sets off an explosive chain of events. Her employer Alix, a feminist blogger with the best of intentions, resolves to make things right.

This book is pretty popular at the moment so you may already be aware of it, but if you haven’t had the chance to read it yet – let this be your sign to go and pick it up because it’s so worth the read.

The book delivers a really important message and is especially timely considering what’s been going on in the world over the past year. It really made me think and reflect. It’s a fiction so it’s very readable and fast-paced so I think it would be a great book for everyone.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance.

If you’re into fantasy or sci-fi, this book is for you. This is the first book in a trilogy by N.K Jemisin and is probably one of my favourite books of all-time.

It’s one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read, when I started it I literally couldn’t put it down until I finished it… and then I picked up the next book in the series and repeated the process. There’s so much that’s going on in the book but you never feel like it’s too much.

One of the best things about this is the character development. I love a good character arc in a book, and I feel like in this book, every single character was really fleshed out and contributed to the overall storyline. All of the characters have stayed with me for such a long time after I finished reading it.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman sit across from each other every day…and they hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight approach to his job and refusal to smile. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and desire to be liked. Now they’re up for the same promotion, and Lucy, usually a determined people pleaser, has had enough: it’s time to take him down. But as the tension between Lucy and Joshua reaches its boiling point, it’s clear that the real battle has only just begun….

Summer is the time for reading quick, page-turning romances in my opinion – and this is the best one. I’ve read this twice because I loved it so much the first time and both times I read it, I finished it in a day because I couldn’t put it down.

This book is everything that a romance should be, I was on the edge of my seat with the ‘will they, won’t they?’ storyline at the start and then couldn’t stop myself from smiling for the rest of the book. It was just great.

I’m currently trying to get all of my friends to read this book, and now I hope I will get all of you to read it too!

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

Andre Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

When I first started thinking of putting this post together, the first book that came to my mind was Call Me By Your Name.

It’s a beautifully written romance which is already one box ticked for my summer books list. But more importantly, it’s set over a Summer in Italy and the descriptions of the holiday really transport you so you feel like you’re sat next to a pool in the Italian Summer heat.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control.
By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

Now we’re starting to move onto the books that I haven’t read yet, but that are on my summer books list. The first being the new book from Taylor Jenkins Reid.

You may be familiar with the name, as she’s the author The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and The Six – both books that I absolutely loved, so I have super high hopes for this book.

From the sounds of it, this book is going to be more of a mystery but still has the Hollywood gossip-style plot that we’ve seen in her other books.

I’m super excited!

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she’d yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa’s world is shattered to the winds.

Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey? Or will their experience challenge every ounce of strength they possess?

Kristin Hannah is another super popular author, and The Four Winds is her newest book and it sounds right up my street. I’m a big fan of any kind of Western family drama kind of book (I’m a big fan of East of Eden!) and this seems be a nod towards that genre.

Outline by Rachel Cusk

Outline is a novel in ten conversations. Spare and lucid, it follows a novelist teaching a course in creative writing over an oppressively hot summer in Athens. The people she encounters speak volubly about themselves, their fantasies, anxieties, pet theories, regrets, and longings. And through these disclosures, a portrait of the narrator is drawn by contrast, a portrait of a woman learning to face great a great loss.

This book has been sat on my bookshelf for a while now and I think that this Summer is going to be the time when I finally get around to reading it. I mean, it’s about a hot summer in Athens so it definitely is going to be one of the top summer books to read!

I’ve heard so many good things about this, and there’s also a couple more books in the series so I’m glad that if I do end up liking, I’ll have even more to read after!

Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

The final book! It’s going to be a long month of reading if I get through all of these!

I’m rounding this post up with another new sci-fi book by Kazuo Ishiguro, which seems so interesting! I’ve seen a few positive reviews about this so I have high hopes. I’m quite interested in AI too so I think it’s going to be a very interesting read!

This is written by the same author as Never Let Me Go which is super popular – and inspired the movie of the same name!