What I'm Going To Be Reading This Summer

My holiday book stack which I am very much hoping I am going to be able to get through this Summer whilst spending as much time as possible on a sun lounger.

I started this year with the intention of making more time to read and so far, have failed really quite dismally. I love reading - when I was younger and had no commitments I’d read and reread books endlessly but the arrival of my endlessly time selfish babies meant that I got entirely out of the habit of picking up a book. Plus, the advent of our now technology infused lifestyle meant that I headed for my iPad when I got into bed rather than the cover of a novel. Sigh. I know that Kindles are the way to go (I’ve had not just one, but two) but for me, it’s not the same as picking up a paper copy plus, I never remember whether I’ve read something or not on the Kindle as I can’t see the cover.

My children have been almost book free zones for their entire life, although this isn’t through lack of me trying. For years, I bought them books in the hope that one day they might open them but the occasion was rare; when I redecorated their bedrooms I gave up and donated the whole lot to the school library, admitting full on defeat. I saw a Substack Note the other day posted by a woman who had longed for a child who read books and asked questions and lo and behold, posted five photographs of said nine year old reading books and asking questions in all sorts of places, including whilst on the tourist trail, in the middle of a public square, on the bus and lazing in a field, multiple complicated wordy looking books in hand. Oh the joy, she proclaimed, of a studious child, he was all that she’d ever wished for ! In the words of Prince George, luck luck luck luck lucky you. My children would have been moaning their arses off on the tourist trail, whacking each other in the public square whilst googling the nearest McDonald’s, arguing on the bus about who sits next to the window and complaining about field flies whilst asking, why the hell are we here? Substack is great and all that, but I have never met a child like this and have strong suspicions he might have been AI generated.

Joking, obvs. I know that many children love to read but it is only since my older ones have reached adulthood that they have reached for a book for actual pleasure. In fact, Leo’s entire reading history since commencing secondary school is his GCSE novel list and nothing else. After years of hoarding Rainbow Fairy books during childhood and never reading them, Ella picked up a Colleen Hoover and was smitten (I am not a fan but you know, it’s a book) and I almost fell over when I went into Max’s room recently to discover both The God Delusion and Think (subtitled A Compelling Introduction To Philosophy) on his bedside table. I thought perhaps the Amazon delivery man had posted to the wrong house, but no. His last book prior to that was Tom Gates in Year 5 so keep the faith, non reading child parents across the globe.

Back to books and this year, we have summer holidays planned. In fact, when you read this I am very likely to be lying on a sun lounger in Ibiza perusing the pages of a novel. Holidays are the only time that I can guarantee book reading time so I am full on prepared for it and as such, I have studied endless recommended lists and asked my subscribers for their suggestions as to what I should be packing. As a result, I have bought and listed eight here, which all going well I will be getting through pronto over the next eight weeks.

Here’s my reading list for the summer and if you have any other recommendations (or have read any of these), please do let me know in the comments. And if you are a paid subscriber, there are endless suggestions from our community in the Group Chat, whatever genre you are into! Happy reading.

Trespasses, Louise Kennedy

Synopsis: There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever. As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like 'petrol bomb' and 'rubber bullets'. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.

Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Synopsis: In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins training to be an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond; mission specialists John Griffin and Lydia Danes; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer. As the new astronauts prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined and begins to question everything she believes about her place in the observable universe.

Consider Yourself Kissed, Jessica Stanley

Synopsis: When she first meets Adam, Coralie is new to London and feeling adrift. But Adam is clever, witty, and – he insists – half an inch taller than the average British male. His charming four-year-old daughter, Zora, only adds to his appeal. And yet ten years on, something important is missing from the life Coralie and Adam (though let’s face it, mostly Coralie) have built. Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something she once had: herself.

Shy Creatures, Clare Chambers

Synopsis: Croydon, 1964. Art therapist Helen Hansford is working in a psychiatric hospital, where she has been having passionate but precarious affair with her married colleague, the charismatic Dr Gil Rudden. Helen's structured life is upended when William Tapping - a silent, thirty-seven-year-old man with a beard down to his waist - arrives at the hospital. As Helen helps William express himself through art, she becomes increasingly entangled in his mysterious past.

The Wedding People, Alison Espach

Synopsis: It's a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people - but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn't here for the big event. When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by this sad stranger, she is furious. She has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster - except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another.

What A Way To Go, Bella Mackie

Synopsis: Meet the Wisterns. Rich. Powerful. Morally bankrupt. Anthony is dead. His wife and four children each have a motive. And there’s a true crime-obsessed outsider ready to expose the killer…. With a family like this, who needs enemies?

Evenings And Weekends, Oisin McKenna

Synopsis: London, June 2019. Maggie is 30, pregnant and broke. Faced with moving back to the home town she fought to escape, she’s wondering if having a baby with boyfriend Ed will be the last spontaneous act of her life. Ed, meanwhile, is harbouring secret dreams of his own. Phil hates his office job and is living for the weekend, while falling for his housemate, Keith. But there’s a problem: Keith already has a boyfriend. Then there’s Rosaleen, Phil’s mother, who’s tired of feeling like a side character in her own life. She’s just been diagnosed with cancer and is travelling to London to tell Phil, if she can ever get hold of him.

The Midnight Feast, Lucy Foley

Synopsis: In the shadow of an ancient wood, guests gather for the opening weekend of The Manor hotel – and a sumptuous summer feast. But as the candles are lit, tensions spark. Old animosities reignite. This isn’t a celebration, but a deadly reunion. And time someone got their just deserts…

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