While summer is definitely not my favorite season, it is absolutely my favorite reading season! The new releases pour in all summer long! We’ll help you decide what to read with our 2022 summer reading guide!
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Books to Read This Summer
In preparation for this reading guide I got my hands on as many advance reader copies of books as I could. Some of them were hotly anticipated. They did not all make the list.
In fact, if you want to know the book by a popular author I definitely don’t recommend this summer, message us on Instagram!
Romance Books For Your Summer Reading Lists
Available now!
I read this back in November 2021, but knew in that moment that it would appear on our next summer reading guide. Here’s the review I left after my original reading:
Three cheers for Kate Spencer! This is a charming and warm love story that is about so much more than just the couple at the center. I love that this book is really about relationships and Kate does an incredible job fully realizing all of them! We have the love between parents and children, family members, friendships and multiple romantic relationships. And, of course, we have Franny learning to love and cheer for herself. This book is like one big happy sigh. While this will definitely be in beach bags around the world next summer, it was also a great read for the holiday season.
Release Date: July 19, 2022
While I don’t imagine this book will be on any lists for the most provocative read this summer, it’s perfect for anyone who wants a cozy read.
If you’ve ever dreamed of having a Little Free Library at the end of your driveway, this book is for you.
Available Now!
Look, I’ve talked incessantly about my affection for the writing team of Christina Lauren. Their books hit the sweet spot for me.
I loved that this summer’s book is everything I want in a Christina Lauren book, but added a bit of a puzzle, a bit of intrigue and a little bit of danger.
Summer’s Hottest Anticipated Follow Up Novel
Release Date: August 30, 2022
The only reason this book isn’t at the top of the list is because it isn’t available until the end of the summer. It felt mean to tease you with a book you can’t have for three months.
That said, Carrie Soto is worth the wait! Fans of Malibu Rising will remember Carrie Soto’s brief cameo as the other woman. This book takes it all the way back to her childhood, through her rise to tennis stardom, her retirement and her comeback.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the master of writing unlikeable characters and making you root for them (Hello, Evelyn Hugo.) Carrie Soto is no exception.
Sci Fi To Read This Summer
Release Date: July 12, 2022
Blake Crouch is back again with a brain bending science fiction novel. This time the topic is DNA hacking.
Blake Crouch has become a summer staple for me, but usually I find myself with a headache trying to understand what is actually happening.
While I don’t claim to understand the science at play here, I found this the most accessible of all of Crouch’s novels with a humanitarian twist.
If Recursion left you saying, “What….?” I think Upgrade is the novel for you.
A Deliciously Meta Summer Reading Choice
Release Date: August 2, 2022
I read this entire book about an audiobook narrator without realizing that Julia Whelan, the author of My Oxford Year, is herself a renowned audiobook narrator.
In fact, I didn’t realize until she started reading Book Lovers, in which she does the voice of the male love interest in such a compelling way that I didn’t even both to speed up the narration as I usually do.
But! Back to Thank You For Listening. I liked the peek behind the scenes of the life of an audiobook narrator. I LOVED the characters in this book. They’re funny, they’re cynical, and protagonist Sewanee has a lovely cast of characters in her corner.
The Summer Book You Won’t Be Able to Put Down
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Release Date: July 5, 2022
I was fairly certain I would love the latest from Gabrielle Zevin, the author of The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. (If you haven’t read that, read it while you wait for this new release!)
The entire time I was reading I was reminded of The Animators. The books are similar in their tale of a creative pair’s rise to success and the toll it took on their friendship. There are also hints of Ready, Player One, but without the science fiction element.
Don’t take that to mean this book is predictable, or in any way the same old story. It’s lovely. It’s heartbreaking. You’ll root for and scream at the characters. There is one chapter that you’re not entirely sure if it’s a drawn out metaphor or not.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is easily one of my top two books on this guide.
We Can’t Wait to Read These This Summer!
Available Now!
Is now the time to admit that I didn’t swoon over Station Eleven the way many people did? I’m sorry! The HBO Max is drop dead gorgeous to watch, though.
That said, I am looking forward to giving Emily St. John Mandel another chance because so many people love this book. The way that people aren’t quite able to fully describe the genre of this book makes we want to read it even more. Plus, add in shifting timelines and I’m sold.
Available Now!
If ever there was a book not to judge by it’s cover, it’s this one. Nothing from the title to the cover art gave me any inkling about what to expect with this one.
This is a love story that follows two women from their early teens through adulthood. If you shy away from YA, my guess is that this will work for you.
This Goodreads review sold me: traumatized lesbians and difficult family dynamics and meet cute type shit over the course of like a decade?
Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals
Available Now!
The title leads you to believe that this will be a quirky story with funny animal anecdotes. Like a 2020 James Herriott!
But, we also get the writer’s childhood. The synopsis is giving me The Glass Castle or Educated vibes, and I’m pleased to give this book the one non-fiction spot on this list.
Check Out Past Summer Reading Guides!
2020 Summer Reading Guide – with an early pandemic twist
Past Summer Reading Guide Favorites
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