One thing to know about me is I'll pick up just about anything to read once, but I'm completely fine DNFing (not finishing) a book if I'm not vibing with it. Over the years, a few stories have held a special place in my heart – I honestly think about The Starless Sea at least once a week and ACOTAR has stolen my heart – but I'm often quick to finish a book, put it on a shelf and forget about it. But I think that's the beauty of reading habits and styles and even different types of books during different times of the year.
My summer reading list is definitely varied across genres from beach reads to magical thrillers. If you're in a reading slump after finishing a Sarah J. Mass series (IKYK) or just looking for a non-technology hobby to pick up, I've shared some of my favorite books across different genres below.
RomCom Books to Read This Summer
The de facto genre of the summer, romcom books – much like their silver screen counterparts – are lighthearted, fun and often quick to read. They're generally not surprising, in-depth, or revolutionary, but gosh are they a cute distraction from real life. Here are my current favorites:
Fantasy Books to Read This Summer
Possibly one of my favorite genres, I've been reading fantasy for forever and it's such an in-depth genre recently made a bit more universally popular thanks to BookTok/Bookstagram:
- Throne of Glass Series
- ACOTAR Series
- Caraval Series (3 books)
- Once Upon a Broken Heart series ( final book coming out in September)
- Shades of Magic Series (3 books)
- Lord of the Rings
- Wheel of Time *a VERY in-depth, very famous 14-book series that is not a light or easy read but gosh is it a triumph of literature.
Magical Suspense Books to Read This Summer
This is definitely a genre I've made up on our own bookshelves and it's quite a unique one at that, but if you're into more magical reading materials with a bit of thrill, suspense, mystery, and intrigue these books are for you:
- 7 1/12 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle *prepare to be in the dark for most of this story but in the best way possible.
- The Starless Sea *Erin Morganstern's writing is not for everyone but I have never been swept away in the same way with any other book.
- The Night Circus
- Gallant
- The Midnight Library
- Piranesi
- The Left Handed Booksellers of London *there's a sequel that is on my reading list this summer
- The Bedlam Stacks
- Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Cozy Mystery Books to Read this Summer
Being a forever fan of Agatha Christie, cozy mysteries are about my only speed when it comes to suspense, mystery, crime, etc. Nothing too graphic, nothing too intense but still a lovely little twisting story. These books have a very similar feeling:
- Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen *I believe there are 17 books in this series but you can read them independently if you want
- The Guest List *we also read The Paris Apartment by Lucy Folley and much preferred The Guest List
- Phyrne Fisher Series by Kerry Greenwood *22 books in this series
- Thursday Murder Club series * 3 book series
- Lady Dunbridge Mystery Series by Shelley Noble *4 book series
- The Vintage Caper *4 book series
Non-Fiction Travel, Food, and Lifestyle Books to Read This Summer
I have a very hard time reading fiction before clicking out my light to go to sleep. My mind will turn any cliffhanger, plot hole, or unsolved mystery into a series of very wild dreams all night long so my safest course of action is having a lovely nonfiction book to read before bed.