Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Books that Give Off Summer Vibes (or winter if you live in the southern hemisphere) (submitted by Kristin @ Lukten av Trykksverte)

Hello Readers! I hope you’re all safe and well. June has arrived and that means it’s time to read alllll the summer books! I’ll be sharing six that I’ve read and four from my to-be-read shelf, in no particular order. And they all have summer in the title. It doesn’t get much more summer-y than that!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

Books I’ve Read

1

Summer Hours by Amy Mason Doan

Synopsis:
“A perfect summer read.”
—Booklist 

From the author of The Summer List, a warmly told novel set in the mid ’90s and 2008 about the idealism of youth, the seductive power of nostalgia, and what happens when you realize you haven’t become the person you’d always promised to be.

Becc was the good girl. A dedicated student. Aspiring reporter. Always where she was supposed to be. Until a secret affair with the charming Cal one summer in college cost her everything she held dear: her journalism dreams; her relationship with her best friend, Eric; and her carefully imagined future.

Now, Becc’s past is back front and center as she travels up the scenic California coast to a wedding—with a man she hasn’t seen in a decade. As each mile flies by, Becc can’t help but feel the thrilling push and pull of memories, from infinite nights at beach bonfires and lavish boat parties to secret movie sessions. But the man beside her is not so eager to re-create history. And as the events of that heartbreaking summer come into view, Becc must decide if those dazzling hours they once shared are worth fighting for or if they’re lost forever.

Currently $2.99 on Amazon!

If you’re a regular reader, I can hear you thinking from here. Summer hours again?? I know I’ve been pushing this one hard, but it’s such a perfect summer read. And it deserves more attention. 🙂

2

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan

Synopsis: Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.

But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…

Currently $5.99 on Amazon!

And now I can hear you thinking, Another Amy Mason Doan book?? No, I do not work for Amy Mason Doan, but I also enjoyed her debut, The Summer List. From my Goodreads review: “The Summer List was the perfect summer read. The only thing that could have made it better was if I had read it while relaxing in the mountains near a lake.”

3

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable

Synopsis: The ocean, the wild roses on the dunes and the stunning Cliff House, perched atop a bluff in Sconset, Nantucket. Inside the faded pages of the Cliff House guest book live the spellbinding stories of its female inhabitants: from Ruby, a bright-eyed newlywed on the eve of World War II to her granddaughter Bess, who returns to the beautiful summer estate.

For the first time in four years, physician Bess Codman visits the compound her great-grandparents built almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Bess must now put aside her complicated memories in order to pack up the house and deal with her mother, a notorious town rabble-rouser, who refuses to leave. It’s not just memories of her family home Bess must face though, but also an old love that might hold new possibilities.

In the midst of packing Bess rediscovers the forgotten family guest book. Bess’s grandmother and primary keeper of the book, Ruby, always said Cliff House was a house of women, and by the very last day of the very last summer at Cliff House, Bess will understand the truth of her grandmother’s words in ways she never imagined.

From my Goodreads review: “The Book of Summer is the quintessential beach read. It swept me off my feet and had me in vacation mode while I did nothing else but read this book.”

4

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

Synopsis: Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak. 

That is, until the Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.

Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelcome specter from Lily’s past: her former best friend and her former fiancé, now recently married—an event that set off a wildfire of gossip among the elite of Seaview, who have summered together for generations. Budgie’s arrival to restore her family’s old house puts her once more in the center of the community’s social scene, and she insinuates herself back into Lily’s friendship with an overpowering talent for seduction…and an alluring acquaintance from their college days, Yankees pitcher Graham Pendleton. But the ties that bind Lily to Nick are too strong and intricate to ignore, and the two are drawn back into long-buried dreams, despite their uneasy secrets and many emotional obligations. 

Under the scorching summer sun, the unexpected truth of Budgie and Nick’s marriage bubbles to the surface, and as a cataclysmic hurricane barrels unseen up the Atlantic and into New England, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional cyclone of their own, which will change their worlds forever.

From my Goodreads review: “I can always count on Beatriz Williams to deliver a solid, engrossing, entertaining read. I love historical novels. Especially ones that have some truth. This is the perfect beach read. I’m just really wishing I would have saved this one for the beach.”

5

Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy

Synopsis:
‘I find myself yearning for the rain-soaked watercolour writing of Maeve Binchy’ JENNY COLGAN, GUARDIAN Best Comfort Reads

Every summer the four Ryan children play in the ruins of Fernscourt, the once-grand house on the bank of the river.

But when the estate is bought by Patrick O’Neill, the wealthy Irish American, his grand plans for its development threaten to shatter the peace. A new luxury hotel promises to breathe new life into the village, and yet it could also spell disaster for the Ryan family.

And as old values and traditions begin to crumble away, no-one – not even Patrick – can predict what his big dreams will do to the heart of their quiet village.

From my Goodreads review: “Reading Maeve Binchy was like taking a slow, meandering stroll through the lush Irish countryside—or at least what I would imagine such a stroll to be since I’ve never visited Ireland.”

6

Summer by Edith Wharton

Synopsis: A tale of forbidden sexual passion and thwarted dreams played out against the lush, summer backdrop of the Massachusetts Berkshires.

Edith Wharton called Summer her ‘hot Ethan’. In their rural settings and their poor, uneducated protagonists, Summer (1916) and Ethan Frome represent a sharp departure from Wharton’s familiar depictions of the urban upper class.

Charity Royall lives unhappily with her hard-drinking adoptive father in an isolated village, until a visiting architect awakens her sexual passion and the hope for escape. Exploring Charity’s relation to her father and her lover, Wharton delves into dark cultural territory: repressed sexuality, small-town prejudice, and, in subtle hints, incest.

Maybe you’re in the mood for a quick, classic read? Summer by Edith Wharton (one of my favorite writers) will give you plenty to think about.

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Books from my TBR shelf

7

Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Synopsis: Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century! It’s 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer with their grandmother in Nantucket: but this year Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, a nursing student, is caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests, a passion which takes her to Martha’s Vineyard with her best friend, Mary Jo Kopechne. Only son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother who is hiding some secrets of her own. As the summer heats up, Teddy Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, a man flies to the moon, and Jessie experiences some sinking and flying herself, as she grows into her own body and mind.

I love a good Elin Hilderbrand novel, and this one sounds like the perfect summer read!

8

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Synopsis: Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

I own this entire series—and have for several years—but I still haven’t read it! Hopefully I can change that this summer.

9

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Synopsis: In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

In a humorous and breakout book by Williams-Garcia, the Penderwicks meet the Black Panthers.

Maybe you want to read something this summer with your kids? One Crazy Summer sounds memorable and educational! (I just requested it on Paperbackswap!)

10

Summerlost by Ally Condie

Synopsis: It’s the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar’s father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. 

Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.

Summerlost is another one I own, but haven’t read. This one was mostly a cover-buy for me, but the story also sounds super sweet!

Have you read any of these? Did you add any to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!