Summer: [noun] a time to catch up on one’s reading.
Books are a perfect and necessary mini-vacation from the annoyances of daily life, which we are all so desperate to escape in the summertime. Whether your poison is dystopian fiction, young adult romances, or hilarious autobiographies, this reading list should satisfy your deepest literary desires.
10. Eleanor & Park Though this new Rainbow Rowell novel falls into the young adult genre, don’t let it fool you. The book’s two teenage protagonists confront the same issues as anyone else who has been through the awkward period we call adolescence. Eleanor & Park is utterly relatable in both its hopefulness and its heartbreak.
9. Fin & Lady Eleven-year-old Fin and older half-sister Lady have been orphaned in 1964, and must now make it on their own. Bestselling author Cathleen Schine sets her new novel in an era of confusion and discontent—the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War—for two characters who must navigate their own confused, suddenly-altered lives.
8. The Fault in Our Stars John Green’s most recent novel tackles a heavy subject: dealing with a terminal illness as a teenager. The novel’s intense details and themes contribute to a melancholic realism rare in young adult novels, while retaining Green’s trademark sense of humor. Shailene Woodley is slated to play protagonist Hazel in a film adaptation directed by Josh Boone.
7. Divergent Love The Hunger Games? Try Veronica Roth’s Divergent series and you’ll be dying for the third book, Allegiant, set to be released this October. Beatrice Prior lives in dystopian Chicago, where the world is divided into five factions. After taking a test, which suggests a faction choice, all sixteen-year-olds must choose the factions to which they will belong for the rest of their lives—a choice between staying with your family or leaving them. Even Beatrice herself is surprised by her own choice.
6. The Hobbit With The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug set to be released this December, there is no better way to prepare than brushing up on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings prequel. The classic fantasy novel is as sure to please as the two upcoming film adaptations, directed by Peter Jackson.
5. The Casual Vacancy Though J.K. Rowling’s new novel isn’t along the lines of her phenomenally famous Harry Potter series, its tragicomical tone is sure to please any lover of slightly-twisted and meaningful literature. She eloquently manages to bring to light dark issues such as class, politics, drugs, prostitution, and rape in an unusually entertaining fashion.
3. Bossypants Well…Tina Fey wrote it. But if that is not enough reason to read this hilarious book…Fey’s comedic abilities in all forms are practically legendary. This autobiography is nothing but laughs and endless entertainment, as her work on SNL and 30 Rock always was.
2. The Great Gatsby Is there a better way to reflect on, or prepare for, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby adaptation than reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel? Though nearly every high school English class covers this book, it can never hurt to re-read such a beautifully-written, intense, and meaningful story.
1. Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls In the realm of comedic autobiographical writing, it doesn’t get much better than David Sedaris—if it gets better at all. His latest collection of tales from his childhood and adult life is no exception. Changing it up from his usual routine, he hilariously satirizes a few stereotypical Americans in six fictional essays scattered throughout the book. Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls will make the perfect addition to practically anyone’s summer reading list.