Category: summer

Hello Summer!

Summer 2022 is for sipping ice-cold lemonade and bucket hats and escaping day-to-day routines into someone else’s life. In Edmonton, we are getting those long hot summer days where the sun doesn’t set until 11:00 pm. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of clean beaches nearby, so I choose to dive into any book describes refreshing bodies of water and rays of sunshine. I try to read books that coincide with the season, summer vacations, and summer romances and prefer easier reads that I can consume in a day or two. I’ve compiled a list of the books I’ve enjoyed this summer and still have a few to get through. I get my recommendations from the Chapters website, Good Reads, and even Book Tok! Here is what I’ve read and what’s left on my TBR (to-be-read list) for summer 2022. I will be traveling to Europe to see my grandparents this fall so that it will feel like an extended summer (I’m so lucky), and I am looking forward to having a great story to accompany the mundane travel commutes. Let me know if you have any books I should add to my list!

My Summer Reading List (2022)

Every Summer After-By Carly Fortune

Written by a Canadian author, the setting of this book is Barry’s Bay, Ontario, where Percy and Sam begin their childhood romance. The story goes back and forth to how their relationship evolved over the summer and back to their current lives, where they harbor emotions they still can’t process. I love a good beach read, and since I’ve spent my summer vacations at Lake Skaha in Penticton, I can relate to some of the scenes in the book, but since I’m not going to a lake this summer, I will be able to live it vicariously through this book!

It Ends with Us- Collen Hoover

This book is an easy read, full of twists and turns. Lily goes through so much in this story, I don’t want to give too much away, but she struggles with the men in her life and seeks comfort from watching Ellen. She writes diary entries to Ellen that showcase her character’s backstory quite well. The book demonstrates a tricky topic. We root for our sweet-girl-next-door Lily, who becomes surrounded by unhealthy relationships. It reads like a movie, and I could picture each scene easily in my head, and lo and behold, I just discovered this book would become a film. So, if you want to get a peek at the story before it hits the big screen, grab a copy.

Black Cake- Charmaine Wilkerson

This book was so good it made it to Barack Obama’s 2022 summer reading list. Have you ever had to move and re-invent yourself? How would moving affect your family and the people you meet? When Eleanor Bennett passes, she leaves behind a tape of her life; the story shows how Eleanor’s children Byron and Benny learn about the past and unveil their mothers’ secrets. The sea, family dynamic, and a black cake are potent ingredients in this book that is worth consuming.

The Hotel Nantucket- Elin Hilderbrand

If you’ve never read an Elin Hilderbrand book, you are in for a treat. She comes out with a classic Nantucket romance each summer, and I have read one of her summer hits since I was 17. The latest summer read’s setting is posh Hotel and complex characters whose lives we get to peel back chapter by chapter. The Hotel has a complete renovation, and Elin’s descriptions are of its picturesque architecture and include every luxurious detail. Elins describes the delicious food as culinary porn, and the staff gossip is hotter than Chris Hemsworth in Thor (cue air-conditioning). I’m halfway through, and as the character’s predicaments intensify, it’s hard to leave this book on pause. Oh, and there is another character who is privy to the secret lives of the staff and the guests, a ghost named Grace who haunts the Hotel so she can serve justice to any rotten individuals who think they can stir the pot without getting reprimanded. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of characters in the book, but they are so diverse, and the writing gives them exceptional narratives with juicy secrets, and I’m beyond excited to see what they reveal. I can’t remember when I didn’t have an Elin Hilderbrand book on my summer reading list; I guess I’m just an addict, and I hope you become one too.

People We Meet on Vacation- Emily Henry

From the book’s title, I expected this book to be about a romance that features a foreign country with a sultry foreign love interest. That might be because I may have found a love interest of two abroad, maybe I should write about them? Instead, the book was about a friendship turned into romance and how travel and life have impacted this hot and cold relationship. I liked how this is a classic story of opposites who attract each other; there’s Poppy, who’s outgoing and impulsive, and Alex, who is a wallflower. I enjoyed that the book describes a lot of travel destinations, and they do so realistically; I like the random encounters and that, hey, traveling is not always perfect, but when you have an excellent travel partner, that can change the entire experience. This story lacked a bit of depth for me, but it’s an easy summer read about a travel influencer and her dorky crush.

Sorrow and Bliss- Meg Mason

This novel is not a classic beach read, but it’s a story about Martha’s struggles in life. She ended up in bad relationships and meaningless jobs and learned how much of her predicaments are affected by her external and internal circumstances. Meg Mason’s writing is clear and raw, her book was well written, and I immediately felt empathy for Martha’s character, who amusingly struggles with her mental health. If you’ve ever felt like an outsider or guilty for making the wrong choice, you’ll relate to and enjoy reading about Martha making her mistakes. This novel isn’t the typical effortless beach reach I’m attracted to, but I found it through a book blogger who gave it a 5-star review, and I have to agree!

The To Be Read (TBR) List

The Spanish Love Deception – Elena Armas

I want to read this book as it is a romance novel where the protagonist ends up in Spain. I will be making a pit stop in Spain this September, so this might be inspiring in some way. I discovered this book from a Book Tok list; I think it’s pretty amusing to find out that what once was an app for dancing and singing for teenagers has led to so many more hobbies. So I am curious to see if this BookTok recommendation is worth the hype.

Verity – Collen Hoover

Colleen Hoover has several books on the bestseller list. After stalking Collen’s Instagram page, I discovered that it happens to be one that made it into the hands of Haily Bieber. I read a few reviews about this book, and it seems that the story is a bit edgier than Colleen’s previous novels, and she is receiving great praise for pushing those boundaries.

The Last to Vanish – Megan Miranda

A suspense book set in a resort town, the summer vibes with a thrill, I’m in!

Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

After reading My Life in Paris by Julia Child, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I found this gem which also depicts a woman in the kitchen. This novel is set in the 1960s, when the protagonist Elizabeth Zott is a scientist who isn’t respected in the workplace and how fights for her place in the man’s world. I love a good dose of feminism, so this should be fun!

Summer Readin’- Happens so Fast!

Let me know if you have read any of the books on this list, or let me know what’s on yours! I love to discuss plots and characters with fellow bookworms 🙂