Summer Reading!
10+ book recs and more for your summer travels
Shitters! I had originally planned to send a different letter this week, but with so many people heading on trips soon (myself included!), I thought it would be fun to share some book recs to bring along! (Just call today’s newsletter Shit I Read and Liked.)
This time of year especially, there’s nothing better than plopping down onto a beach or deck chair and getting lost in another world for a few hours. My taste definitely leans towards mysteries and thrillers that you’ll want to devour quickly (if you haven’t picked up a book in a minute, several of these are perfect to get you out of a reading rut), but I included options in a few other genres too—here’s hoping there’s something for everyone!
Also for your summer travel consideration
This is the single most perfect raffia tote bag I’ve maybe ever seen? It reminds me of The Row’s, but I actually prefer this one! Fill it with a face mist to keep you cool and SPF to keep you protected, and don’t forget your book and a beach towel! I’ve been wanting to upgrade mine for a minute, and I love the vintage look of these.
I’m obsessed with the skinny straps on this suit, and I always reach for an oversized button up to wear on top (that one is a staple at a great price point!). Can also confirm that this hat is as good as it looks—the brim is wide enough to protect your whole face, and I love the chocolate brown!
Post-beach evenings call for natural hair (this* helps you air-dry frizz-free, and is the perfect size for travel), barely there makeup*, and a little post-sun recovery (this feels so nice on the skin and smells amazing!). Throw on an easy breezy top—I’ve been living in this linen tank, and this little number is at the top of my personal shopping list—and you’re good to go! P.S. While you’re there, Doen is running their annual warehouse sale—my picks include this tried-and-true dress, this simple oversized cashmere cardigan, and this romantic white dress (hello, summer engagement photos!).
*PRIYANKA15 gets you discounts at both Crown Affair and Violet Grey! You can always find the rest of our discount codes right here.
The Books
There’s nothing I love more than browsing for books in person, so I highly recommend pulling this up at a local bookstore the next time you’re there! But if you prefer the convenience of online shopping/shipping, most of the following links direct to Bookshop.org, which donates the profits from their sales directly to local bookstores (you can select the one you’d like your purchases to support here). It’s a really cool concept, and they’re currently running an Anti-Prime Day sale that lets you get free shipping, while still supporting small businesses that are integral to the fabric of our communities.
Happy reading!
To Have and Have More- Sanibel. This one wasn’t a thriller, but I found myself wanting to read it just as quickly! It’s set at an East Coast prep school circa 2007 (that alone sold me), and it follows Emery Hooper, a teenage girl who was adopted from Korea as a child by a wealthy white family. It touches on themes of race, power, and privilege with nuance, and I think of it like a grownup version of The Clique books, if race was a thing in the universe of The Clique books. I devoured this in a few nights and then passed it on to my sister who did the same!
The House Across The Lake- Riley Sager. This story centers around a recently widowed actress who’s hiding out with her nightly bottle(s) of wine at her family’s lake house. From her window, she takes to watching the couple in the house across the lake—tech millionaire Tom Royce, and his former model wife Katherine. One day, Katherine disappears, and she becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. I could NOT put this book down. I get motion sickness, but this came along with me on the subway—that is how badly I wanted to get to the bottom of it! People had mixed feelings about some of the twists, but this one kept me on my toes for pretty much the entire time, and I appreciated that!
All the Colors of the Dark- Chris Whitaker. I finished this thriller two nights ago after getting more than a few recs from people whose taste I trust, and wow—what a ride! I will caveat that it’s a bit of an undertaking. It’s a long book (600+ pages), and the middle drags a bit, but it’s SO worth it for the way it all comes together. I was really impressed by the intricacies of this plot, and how the author wove it all together. The story follows a one-eyed boy called Patch, and his best friend Saint from childhood. At 13, Patch rescues a local girl during an attempted assault, but he himself is taken afterwards. What follows is a years long journey to hunt a serial killer, find a missing person, fulfill a love story or two, and more. If you are used to tearing through thrillers, this one might frustrate you for a minute. The author takes his time developing the characters and their lives over the years—it’s really more of a character-driven drama—but the writing is excellent and the payoff is worth it!
Mad Honey- Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Lynn Boylen. Jodi Picoult is a prolific author (My Sister’s Keeper being among her most well-known titles), but I had never read anything of hers before this, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect, or if I’d like it. Turns out that worry was for nothing—this book was really well done, and I tore through it! The story centers around Olivia, mom to teenage son Asher, who finds herself back in her hometown after her picture-perfect life implodes. There, Asher meets Lily, a new girl in school, and their relationship appears to be budding—that is, until Lily winds up dead, and Asher seems to be at the center of it. Olivia believes her son is innocent, but as always, there is so much more than what meets the eye. This book touches on many more themes than your typical who dunnit thriller—again, more than meets the eye!—and I thought it did all of it really well. In terms of can’t-put-down-ability, I polished it off in one (very late!) night!
The God of the Woods- Liz Moore. This was THE book of last summer, and if you didn’t get around to it then, it should absolutely be at the top of your list this time around! It starts at a summer camp where 13-year-old Barbara van Laar—the daughter of the family that owns the camp—has gone missing. This would be bad enough, but she isn’t the first van Laar child to disappear. Fourteen years prior, her older brother went missing too, and he was never found. As the search goes on, the story becomes more layered, and the secrets of the family, as well as the community that surrounds them, start to unfold. This one isn’t particularly short, but I read it in all of a day and a half on the beach last year—I was HOOKED. Don’t just take my word for it—it won Favorite Mystery & Thriller of 2024 with over 82,000 votes on Goodreads!
Becoming You- Suzy Welch. I had to put one self-help-y book in here, though this leans towards ther career/business categories too. This book is modeled off of Welch’s popular course at NYU’s business school, also called Becoming You. It’s aimed at helping people determine their true selves, and what they should do with their lives. This sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky, but there’s a real methodology (and lots of research to back it up!) here—Welch walks you through identifying your personal values (an exercise that has incredible value beyond the workplace), aptitudes, and how to get from where you are to where you want to be. I don’t mind a bit off woo-woo personally, but this is NOT that—it’s very clear, evidence-based, and practical, and I personally found the exercises to be illuminating.
Five more recs (fiction, thriller, memoir, plus the wine book I’m working my way through this summer) below the fold!