You’re Ready for the Summer Reading Season

Bring on the books!

Jun 01, 2021

Hi friends!

Hope you had a great (if rainy) weekend.

While I obviously love reading all year round, there’s something special about summer reading. It takes me back to long lazy days as a kid, lying by the pool or the lake with a giant stack of books. (My plan for the holiday was to recreate those days and sit next to my apartment complex’s pool with a book.)

This year, I’m looking forward to sharing the joy of summer reading with you all. Next week, I’ll be kicking off the What To Read If Summer Reading Bingo challenge — a way for all of us to try to expand our reading horizons (and there will be a prize!).

To start the summer reading season off right, I asked a bunch of my favorite bookish people to share their book suggestions (sometimes, even the recommender needs recommendations). I urge you to check out the books they’ve read — and the ones they’ve written.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be spotlighting more guest recs — and hopefully suggestions from you. If you want to be featured, reply to this email or comment with a book that you’re recommending this summer.

And now, what to read if …

You Loved “Fleabag”

If you love cringe comedy with a big heart like Fleabag, or the dark workplace comedies of Halle Butler, or quirky queer romance, pick up Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Emily Austin’s debut novel about a young woman with so much anxiety she’d rather lie than risk hurting anyone’s feelings. It’s a comedic masterpiece of conflict-avoidance.

- Leigh Stein, author of Self Care and What to Miss When

You’re Looking for Laughs and Love Stories

This summer, my to-be-read pile is stacked with romantic comedies. I’m currently looking at Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto and The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (her adult debut, Beach Read, was one of my favorite books of last year, and is just made for bookish, writerly people).

And as of writing this post, I am staring at my mailbox, waiting for my preordered copy of Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler to arrive. Swoon-filled, belly-laugh-inducing, romantic comedies are really what got me through 2020, and I’m ready to continue finding joy in them this year and the next and the next.

- Eric Smith, literary agent and author of Don’t Read the Comments

You Want Something Revelatory

I’m recommending one fiction and one non-fiction book. Love in Color by Bolu Babalola is a collection of love stories that are as satisfying as they are magical. This is a perfect read for making your feelings match the warmth of the summer months.

As for What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon: Every now and then I read a book that truly challenges me and makes me grow — this is that book for 2021 so far. Revelatory and beautifully written, I could not recommend it enough.

- Destinee Hodge, book club coordinator at East City Bookshop and co-host of Really Reading Romance book club

You’re Ready to Be Transported

I was walking down my NYC block the other week and got talking to an artist who lives nearby. He recommended Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann. And I felt spontaneous so I ordered it. It turned out to be the most wonderful and mythical read, and it’s about the brutal and magical business of telling stories. I’ve been foisting it on everyone I meet.

- Ravi Somaiya, author of The Golden Thread: The Cold War and the Mysterious Death of Dag Hammarskjöld

Thank you so much to everyone who shared their recommendations! I’ll be back next week with picks of my own — and another guest suggestion or two.

On Thursday, I’ll publish a Q&A from my recent interview with romance writer Talia Hibbert. We had a fantastic conversation, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all.

What’s the book your pushing on everyone this summer? Let me know! Oh, and if you want to discuss the “Mare of Easttown” finale, shoot me an email.

What To Read If