what to read on a summer vacation
The Lit List No. 11
I can be prone to bouts of sadness in the summer, which is as dramatic as it sounds. So much possibility hangs over my head that I can’t ever feel like I’ve done enough. There’s not enough time (or time off) or money. I can’t be in two places at once: at home, not missing out on time with my friends and family, and away, traveling to the hundreds of places I want to go. I can’t have a perfect day every day just because the sun is shining and everything is so green.
It's a similar feeling to looking at your bookshelves, or scrolling through yet another “new releases you need to buy ASAP” list, and realizing that you’ll die before you get anywhere close to reading all the books you want to.
And inevitably, during each Lana Del Ray summertime sadness era, I start obsessing over the possibility of vacation. And like looking at our impossible TBRs, I think a lot of us feel overwhelmed by all the places we want to see. I definitely do, despite being so damn privileged that I just got back from a long weekend in the Caribbean to celebrate the wedding of two very dear friends. I have no room to complain or be sad! Please, hate me.
The beauty of books, though, is the cliché that they provide an escape when reality can’t give you one. Everyone’s idea of a perfect escape read is different, but here are a few to take on vacation or to make you wish you were taking a summer vacation, plus a few that I’m hoping to read this summer for that purpose.
My criteria aren’t too specific — it needs to be entertaining, which doesn’t necessarily mean fluffy but it does mean I don’t want to be squinting at wikipedia on my phone in the sun, brightness all the way up and battery overheating, to look up obscure literary references and philosophical concepts. The genre doesn’t matter, though I tend to move further from lit fic when I’m trying to relax. And most crucially: Paperbacks are key. It’s not that I won’t bring a hardcover on vacation, but the only thing worse than stuffing a nice new hardcover into your carry-on is trying to read it on the beach1. I know I left some good ones off this list, but that just means you get to tell me what your favorite summer reads are (please).
Romance
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan — This retelling of classic romance movie A Room With a View made me want to jump on a plane to Capri immediately. It’s slightly over the top at times, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from the author who gifted us Crazy Rich Asians. And while it might not deliver the complex storylines and character development fans of CRA expect, the setting and soapy storyline is perfect for summer.
Anything by Emily Henry — I recently finished Book Lovers and I’m quite literally telling everyone, even romance skeptics, to read it. It might be my favorite of hers, but if you’ve somehow been sleeping on People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read, don’t count those out. In a world of romance books with stilted dialogue, predictable plots, and cringey sex scenes, Emily Henry is simply delightful.
The American Royals trilogy — This YA trilogy isn’t strictly romance, which broadens its appeal. Book series are great in the summer for when you binge read a book and get upset that it’s over. Now it’s not! The premise here is that instead of becoming president upon the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington followed in his oligarch forefathers’ footsteps and accepted the crown instead. The American Royals follows the modern-day Washingtons an, the other royal families, also names you’ll recognize. The funniest part to me is that D.C. still exists but in slightly altered ways? I’ve yet to read the third book, which only just came out, but know that I’m very eager to after the antics of the rich, angsty teens in the first two books.
The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta — this one is for my fellow deuxmoi fans and girlies who not only watched the original Gossip Girl but who had to convince their moms it was totally appropriate before they could it live weekly on The CW. I didn’t expect to enjoy this one so much, but it was the perfect amount of breezy, inconsequential celebrity drama without exhausting (ha ha) the reader.
Books best read poolside
The Guncle by Stephen Rowley — I’m almost embarrassed at how emotional this book made me feel. It’s an objectively sad premise — Patrick, the dramatic guncle himself, takes in his young niece and nephew for a summer after their mother dies and their father, Patrick’s brother, has a health crisis — but it’s still heartwarming, and not in a way that completely downplays the trauma. It’s a book that brings you both happy and sad tears. My own ~guncles~ are so important to me, and this book felt really special. The Palm Springs setting doesn’t hurt.
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle — this is technically a romance novel, but that’s not what I took away from it. Instead, I saw it as a love story to mother-daughter relationships, with a side of questionable romantic choices. Fair warning that the protagonist’s mom has died here too, so it’s not light-hearted and you’re probably going to cry (no surprise to anyone who’s been a victim of Serle’s In Five Years) but it is reflective in a full-circle, endearing way. I wanted to hug my mom when I finished this book, and maybe just spend a summer with her in Italy.
The Girls by Emma Cline — this book had its summer moment years ago, so someone please tell me if it’s aged poorly. I mostly remember the hype around this because Emma Cline was paid so much, so she’s surely somewhere having a great summer herself. Since The Girls is based off the Manson murders, it’s not particularly original (dare I say not worth a $2 million advance), but I still think it’s an easy one to flip through on a languid pool day, with enough intrigue to keep your attention but not so much suspense that you forget to reapply sunscreen.
Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon — This one might make you forget your sunscreen. Thrillers aren’t necessarily beach reads, but they are sometimes perfect for lazy days when you need your book to do the work for you. Bath Haus is a masterclass in gaslighting told through a gay couple that can’t stop lying to each other, and after one of them is almost murdered at a bath house, things turn sinister fast. I also loved that it took place in D.C. but on the normal side of things, because real people live here too, even if they are being manipulated by their partners!
Books that just feel like summer but don’t ask me to explain
The Atmospherians by Isle McElroy — this book is one of my go-to recommendations, and I rarely do blanket recs. I’m continually surprised I don’t see it all over bookstagram because all of us like cult shit and laughing at incels. Also, you’ll want to read McElroy’s debut novel before their second comes out this year.
Eleutheria by Allegra Hyde — a surprise 2022 best books contender for me. It takes place mostly in the Bahamas, which automatically qualifies it for this list, but really it’s unique climate fiction with one of those frustratingly naïve narrators we hate to love but really do. It’s also cult-y, if that’s what will convince you.
The Country Life by Rachel Cusk — surprisingly my only Cusk so far, this Jane Austen–esque parody is funny, clever, and sometimes dark. The hapless, inexperienced narrator moves to the British countryside to nanny for the disabled teenage son of a wealthy, dysfunctional family. It’s the kind of novel that lets you in on the joke, which is always a delight for me. And crucially, it takes place in the summer, which you can’t miss with the countless references to the heat and one awful sunburn scene.
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi — I cannot tell you why this book feels like summer to me, but it does. Maybe it’s just because it’s about love and coming home or finding home, the kind of repairing that seems to come best in muggy heat.
The Lightness by Emily Temple — Slightly ominous teenage girls discovering their power and agency at a Buddhist summer camp. It’s not fast-paced, which is sometimes hard for a summer read, but it’s eerie and atmospheric enough that you’ll want to keep turning the page to see what happens anyway.
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn — a tender family saga, well-done magical realism, the scenic setting of Hawaii — and not just the tourist-y, colonizer version of Hawaii — all elements that made SITTOS one of my favorite reads of 2020. Maybe it’s unfair to include this book just because it’s set in Hawaii, but setting and weather really make the vibes for me.
The Shimmering State by Meredith Westgate — I already wrote a whole substack on this book so I’ll spare you here, but this book felt like the kind of mirage you only see on the horizon when it’s hot enough to kill you if you stay outside too long. If that’s not summer!
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh — Three sisters, raised by their father to believe that the outside world is uninhabitable and all men are bad, are forced to think independently for the first time after their oppressive, abusive father disappears just before three men wash ashore. Goodreads calls this a “feminist dystopic revenge fantasy,” which I can’t say is inaccurate. Its prose is sparse, revealing very little, which lends itself well to an increasingly disturbing feel. While certainly not a light-hearted beach read, The Water Cure reads quickly — the other best quality in a summer read. I also enjoyed Mackintosh’s The Blue Ticket, which is another dystopian novel about reproductive rights and motherhood.
Mess
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams — I sometimes wanted to shake Queenie while reading this book, but mostly I wanted to hug her and yell at her until she believes that she deserves better. Summer is for friendships, and everyone should be friends with Queenie.
The Sally Rooney trio — I think we’ve all read at least one of Sally Rooney’s books by now, but her messy, imperfect characters in Conversations With Friends, Normal People, and Beautiful World, Where Are You are so fitting for reading on the beach that I might do a reread at some point this summer. You hate them, you love them, you get caught up their quotation mark–less dialogue. BWWAY just came out in paperback as well, for poolside/seaside/airplane reading purposes.
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano — good lord this woman creates trouble for herself. Not quite romance, not quite thriller, Finlay Donovan is humorous because the premise is so ridiculous: Finlay gets confused for a hit woman and decides to just follow through with it, as one does. She’s going through a divorce, trying to write a book, and taking care of two small kids in the process. There’s also a sequel, which I plan to read at some point.
TBR
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi — I preordered this one so I have no excuse for not reading it this summer. I still have to read most of Emezi’s work, but I couldn’t wait for this one because it seems so polarizing. Most of the reviews I’ve read have said that nothing could have prepared them for the mess that unfolds. Yes, please.
Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O’Connell — more mess, I hope. The cover is great, but the few screenshots and quotes I’ve seen on instagram had me running to buy it. And honestly, maybe it’s not summery at all and I just saw the naked man swimming on the cover and declared it as such.
Thanks for reading this whole thing and/or scrolling to the bottom. I hope everyone has a great summer and finds a healthy escape, whether that’s a literal vacation or getting some rest or just surviving the hellscape that has become our normal.
Just yesterday I saw someone in the pool reading a hardcover copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land, which is a large book, WITH THE DUST JACKET STILL ON. So if you’re a chaotic hardcover-in-the-sun person, do what makes you happy and/or gives you carpel tunnel.