Book Buzz, Summer Reads
By: Jill Gunderson
Summer is officially here, and I have some ahh-mazing beach and poolside reads just for you!
I’ll start with traditional beach reads. These are total Rom-Coms, light, and fun that make you smile your way through…for the most part. (What good books don’t have a little drama,
after all?) Carley Fortune has two books that you will devour, Every Summer After and Meet Me At The Lake. Set in the Canadian Muskoka’s (where yours truly grew up every summer)
these books will take you on vacation! Meant To Be by Emily Giffin is very loosely based on the Kennedys and a tale that will stick with you long after you’ve finished reading. Hello
Stranger by Katherine Center was such a surprisingly fun but serious book about an artist with facial blindness and an ending that’ll have you smiling ear to ear! One to Watch by Kate
Stayman-London is a dating reality TV show read with a plus-sized fashion blogger as the “Main Squeeze” (aka. who we know as The Bachelorette). Beach Read by Emily Henry is a legit
quintessential beach read! One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle will make you want to pour a glass of wine regardless of the time of day and transport yourself into the pages of Italy!
Now where are my thriller fans? I highly recommend The Senators Wife by Liv Constantine, and I’m pretty sure if you have hours to read, you’ll definitely finish this in a day!
Twist and turns galore! The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is another Italian read with a mix of rock stars, past and present timelines and a true whodunit. Now, I have to ask, are you a club
member? Well, The Club by Ellery Lloyd will make you second-guess your membership! If you’re looking for historical fiction, then you need to grab a copy of Meet Me In Monaco by Hazel Gaynor. It’s set in the 1950’s about Grace Kelly’s real-life whirlwind romance with a prince and the fictional tale of the surprising friend she grows close to. The Lost Summers
of Newport is by one of my favorite authors, Beatriz Williams. An East Coast summer and a convoluted past mixed with summers of parties, money, and secrets.
Who loves a good series to dive into? I have two that you’ll adore! The Perez Family series by Chanel Cleeton is a five-book series. Next year in Havana, When We Left Cuba,
The Last Train To Key West, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, and Our Last Days in Barcelona. Friends, they are captivating!! And for a fun and wildly humorous series, you’ll want
The Girls by Rachel Hollis. Party Girl, Sweet Girl, and Smart Girl. You will laugh out loud and channel your inner youth through the lives of these three friends as they make their way
through adulthood.
Finally, I have to include two of my favorite memoirs. The first one is for all my fellow foodies. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci was phenomenal! Learning how he
battled cancer and the odds he defied all for the sake of his taste. Loved!! Open Book by Jessica Simpson is such an uplifting story of her life as a child star, her marriage to Nick Lacey, and
finding peace in who she is and not who others want her to be is seriously such a satisfying read. I also have two others that I had to include but didn’t fit into any category. If you’re a
sports fan who loves drama, you need to read Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Have you read Malibu Rising? Carrie Soto is one of the characters in that book that now takes on one
of her own in this documentary-like drama, and I was hooked! And lastly, The Hotel Nantucket by the amazing Elin Hilderbrand. It’s a beach read/summer ghost story, and while it’s something
I didn’t ask for, I loved it!
Find me on Instagram @ThatShelfLove, and let me know if you picked any of these up. I’d love to hear what you think!
Happy Summer reading, Neighbors!!
Meet Jill Gunderson:
Hi! I’m Jill. I am a Canadian living in California (Newport Beach) with my husband, four kids, and labradoodle (Ryan, Jackson, Ava, Scarlett, Isla, and Bruce…respectively). When I’m not making beds, school lunches or chasing my dog down our street, I’m usually lost in an Audible while folding laundry and sipping wine. I can also be caught stealing my friends and family’s food at restaurants ‘just to taste’. I can’t wait to share with you all the books I have loved along the way!
