6 Captivating Books for Your Summer Reading List
Looking for a summer escape? Take a trip to Nantucket, the 70s music scene in Los Angeles, England to Ghana and back again, and more this summer without leaving your home
From the LifeMinute.TV Team
June 3, 2023
There’s nothing like the feeling of getting lost in a book. These 5 will transport you on a series of adventures this summer.
The Five Star-Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
Publication Date: June 13
As the author of more than 25 novels, Hilderbrand is a summer read staple. Among other things, her latest is about self-discovery. “53-year-old Hollis Shaw’s life seems picture-perfect. She’s the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper. So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn’t turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie.”
The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama
Publication Date: June 20
From the bestselling author of The Color of Air and Women of the Silk, this historical novel is based on the life of actress Anna May Wong—the first and only Asian American woman to gain movie stardom in the early days of Hollywood. “The daughter of Chinese immigrants who own a laundry, Wong Liu, and her older sister Lew Ying (Lulu), are taunted and bullied for their Chinese heritage. But while Lulu diligently obeys her parents and learns to speak Chinese, Wong Liu sneaks away to the local nickelodeons, buying a ticket with her lunch money and tips saved from laundry deliveries. By eleven, Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and has already chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At sixteen, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams, defying her disapproving father and her Chinese traditional upbringing—a choice that will hold emotional and physical consequences. After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break—and her first taste of Hollywood fame—starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent aren’t enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles as a helpless, exotic butterfly or a vicious, murderous dragon lady while Caucasian actresses in yellowface” are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden—even as she finds freedom and glittering stardom abroad and receives glowing reviews across the globe.”
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
Publication Date: June 27
“Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it. So overworked publicist, Clementine, forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again. Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future. Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.”
Life in the Fast Lane: The Eagles' Reckless Ride Down the Rock & Roll Highway by Mick Wall
Publication Date: July 11
“From iconic rock journalist Mick Wall comes the definitive account of America’s best-selling band of all time—who have sold more records than Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones combined—exploring the hedonistic days of the ’70s music scene in LA, their ruthless, meteoric rise to fame, and the dark truths beneath their musical façade of peaceful, easy feelings. Surely make you lose your mind…”
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Publication Date: July 18
This is Azumah Nelson’s second novel. His first, Open Water, was an award-winning bestseller. “Set over the course of three summers, Small Worlds follows Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanaian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain path—a university degree, a move out of home—but when he decides instead to follow his first love, music, his world and family fracture in ways he didn’t foresee. Now Stephen must find a path and peace for himself: a space he can feel beautiful, a space he can feel free.”
Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter
Publication Date: August 29
Based on the National Magazine Award-winning story, “Annie, Edward, and their young daughter, Rose, live in a cramped apartment. One night, without warning, they find a beautiful terrace hidden in their closet. It wasn’t there before, and it seems to only appear when their friend Stephanie visits. A city dweller’s dream come true! But every extra bit of space has a hidden cost, and the terrace sets off a seismic chain of events, forever changing the shape of their tiny home, and the shape of the world.”