Many can, I believe, agree on that summer is meant for reading. And this year is no exception. 😉
Below you will find a list of 10 books I plan to read this summer. There is a bit of everything; romance, fantasy, YA and poetry. But we all know that these lists are more for show than reality. Which means, if five books I read this summer are on this list I will be pleased with myself 😉 Anyhoo let’s get to it!
Vow of Thieves
Kazi and Jase have survived, stronger and more in love than ever. Their new life now lies before them―the Ballengers will be outlaws no longer, Tor’s Watch will be a kingdom, and the two of them will meet all challenges side by side, together at last.
But an ominous warning mars their journey back, and in their rush to return to Tor’s Watch, just outside the fortress walls, they are violently attacked and torn apart―and each is thrust into their own new hell.
Unsure whether the other is alive or dead, Kazi and Jase must keep their wits among their greatest enemies and unlikeliest allies. And all the while, Death watches and waits.
Last month I read ‘Dance of Thieves’ for the second time. And I am now impatiently waiting for ‘Vow of Thieves’ to arrive from the US. Hopefully, it will arrive any day now. I can’t wait to see what happens with Kazi and Jase <3
Conversation With Friends
Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind–and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa’s orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman’s sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil–and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances’s intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.
‘Normal People’ broke my heart. Simply as that. I have never read a book that touched something so deep inside me as it did. Therefore I am trying my luck with another book my Sally Rooney. Please don’t let me down!!
Women Without Men
This modern literary masterpiece follows the interwoven destinies of five women—including a wealthy middle-aged housewife, a prostitute, and a schoolteacher—as they arrive by different paths to live together in an abundant garden on the outskirts of Tehran. Drawing on elements of Islamic mysticism and recent Iranian history, this unforgettable novel depicts women escaping the narrow confines of family and society, and imagines their future living in a world without men.
I got this book at lasts year’s BogForum, a Danish book convention. I haven’t got the time to read it yet. But this summer I will. I hope it will be thought-provoking and enlightening. Read my post on BogForum 2019 here!
The Last Time I’ll Write About You
The Last Time I’ll Write About You is popular Filipino YA and romance writer Dawn Lanuza’s debut collection of poetry. Featuring beautiful, relatable poems about first love, this book is the perfect companion for anyone who has loved, lost, and emerged anew.
I don’t read enough poetry. Therefore this book. I love poetry by Rupi Kaur and hope this will be in kind of the same ally.
The Kiss Quotient
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he’s making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…
Okay, this book!!! I first discovered it when Ahana @Hearts Content recommended it in my post “Romance recommendations from three book bloggers” and later I heard more people talking about it. It seemed like the perfect summer read so I found it on my Kobo last night started reading right away. And I LOVE it! I have only a few pages left so I will probably finish it tomorrow… If you are looking for the perfect beach read, this is it!
Sadie
A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about.
Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.
But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.
When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.
Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.
Everyone seems to love this book. I currently have this on hold on Libby and can’t wait to read it. I hope it will be a mix of ‘One of Us Is Lying’ and ‘Girl in Pieces’. Let’s see.
No True Believers
Salma Bakkioui has always loved living in her suburban cul-de-sac, with her best friend Mariam next door, and her boyfriend Amir nearby. Then things start to change. Friends start to distance themselves. Mariam’s family moves when her father’s patients no longer want a Muslim chiropractor. Even trusted teachers look the other way when hostile students threaten Salma at school.
After a terrorist bombing nearby, Islamaphobia tightens its grip around Salma and her family. Shockingly, she and Amir find themselves with few allies as they come under suspicion for the bombing. As Salma starts to investigate who is framing them, she uncovers a deadly secret conspiracy with suspicious ties to her new neighbors–but no one believes her. Salma must use her coding talent, wits, and faith to expose the truth and protect the only home she’s ever known–before it’s too late.
This sounds like such an important book. Where I live Islamaphobia is sadly an increasing thing. I hope this book will be entertaining while still being informative and pushing my way of thinking. I hope this will teach me more on today’s society, as we can still all learn.
Assassin’s Quest
King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz—or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest—perhaps to death. Only Verity’s return—or the heir his princess carries—can save the Six Duchies.
But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him—currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was
This is the third book in the Farseer trilogy. I loved the first two so I don’t know why it has taken me such a long time to read the last book… Still, I can’t wait to know what Fitz’s destiny will be.
Lolita
Awe and exhiliration–along with heartbreak and mordant wit–abound in Lolita, Nabokov’s most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love–love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.
I recently read ‘Consent’ by Vanessa Springora. In ‘Consent’ Springora mentions ‘Lolita’. It piqued my interest in the book while at the same time makes my dread reading it.
The Poet X
A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.
But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.
So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.
Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.
Sadly ‘The Poet X’ has been on my TBR for far too long. But I recently discovered it on Libby. Which means I can loan it on my library either as an ebook or an audiobook. :))) I believe this book could be very interesting in both formats. This is also a book I hope to learn from.
I feel like this summer is going to be a bit of a catch up for me. Many of these books are back listed. But I don’t mind. It is nice to catch up on those books you want to but haven’t read.
Best, Nicoline
What are you planning on reading this summer? Do you know or have you read any of these books? Are there a book I should add to my list?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week’s TTT is the 500th topic!