 Hello cuties, how are you doing? How's everyone doing? Welcome back to my channel, and Megan, if you don't know, if you stumbled across me, today we're going to be doing a video I'm really excited for. We're going to be doing a summer book recommendations video. It's summer, summer, summer, summer. And I love summer. I know a lot of booktube book girlies are autumn girlies. I am not. I am a summer girlie. I love the heat. I love not having seasonal depression. I thought it was going to be allergies. Plot twist. It was not allergies. Turns out depression. So yeah, I love summer and I thought I'd put together a list of summer book recommendations for if you're going on holiday, be that if you're going holiday in your home country or going abroad. Some books I think would be great to read or just books I think would be great to read at home in summer. These are my picks. These are my definitive recommendations. With these recommendation videos, I always try, these aren't necessarily my favorite books of all time. Do you know what I mean? But they're books that I think fit the vibe. We're going for a vibe. I know it's not summer for everyone, but it's summer for me. And a lot of you are in, is it Northern Hemisphere? That's the right term, right? I think like 80% of my viewers, it's summer for. So we're making the video. And I'm really excited. I love summer. And I love recommending books that I think are just great to read in your garden in the sun or by the sea when you're on the beach. Let's just get into it. It's not wasting any more time. Summer, summer, summer, summer. Now the first book that definitely came to mind, it was like a media. It was actually the book that kind of was like, oh, I have to do this video because I have to recommend you guys read this in a summer. And it's because I had a wonderful experience reading it in the summer on holiday. And that is Koso to his back by Taylor Jenkins Read. I read this last year, actually it was like September time, but it was so freaking hot. We went to holiday in Palermo in Sicily and Italy. And it was so hot. And I read almost this entire book on the beach one day, just like lying by the sea. If you don't know, this is Taylor Jenkins Read latest book. We're following Carrie Soto, who is a tennis player. We meet her in Malibu Rising, which I also think Malibu Rising is a good, you know, summer holiday read. But yeah, we meet her Malibu Rising and she's the other woman of the husband of our main character, Malibu Rising. So we don't really like her. And this book, we're getting to know her and her story and her determination. We follow her career where she's been this greatest tennis player and she's tired, I think, for like five or so years. And then she decides to come back and try to reclaim her title. I think someone beats her record for how many, I don't know, tennis words. I don't watch tennis. Okay. How many opens? Like Wimbledon and, you know, all the tennis tournaments. Dumb dumb. Someone breaks her record. She's like, I'm not having that, not on my watch. So yeah, I read this all on the beach on one day and it was perhaps the most perfect reading experience I have ever had. It's such a quick read. You know, Ted Jigsbury books are so compulsory readable, but I felt like this one, I just, because you're always moving on to like, there's four different tennis tournaments that she plays at. And you're kind of always gearing up for the next one and always like excited for the next one. And then you do it and then it's something the next one. And I don't know, I think the story moves along at such a great pace that I just think this is perfect. If you're going to a beach, take this. Like, there's generally nothing better. I think also, I mean, I don't know when this is all set, but I feel like a lot of the tennis tournaments tend to take place like when it's warmer in that country, maybe. I don't know, like Wimbledon here is always in the summer. So I associate I think tennis with the summer. I don't watch Wimbledon. Wimbledon just happened. I don't, I don't get it. I like watching football. Football is what I watch. But I think tennis is arguably more an interesting book to a protagonist playing that sport than football because tennis is like, it's a solo sport. It's all on her. And just the journey that we see her go on as a person, I think was incredible. So yeah, I cannot recommend this enough as a holiday pick. Then another one that was very easy for me to choose was Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. So in this, we're following these characters who go to this deserted island and, you know, relationships start to crumble. Maybe people start to die. That's what you need to know. I think this is the quickest I have ever read per page of a book. It is like, I think almost 300 pages long. I think I read it in an hour and a half. I am not kidding you. It is the fastest page turn of a book I've ever read. And obviously it's set on this island in the heat. You know, I think it's perfect for summer. I don't think it's the best throw ever in, but you're going to read it fast and you're going to have a wonderful time while doing it. It's fun. It's camp. You know, it's a bit silly. Something fun, something for the summertime. But I really enjoyed it. And I think it's just a great example of a compulsively readable thriller. Do I remember a lot of what happens in this? No, but there's drama, you know, people falling out, people breaking up, people getting murdered. What, you know, one of those things is not like the other, but that's okay. Yeah, I haven't read any more. Have I? No. I haven't. Leave. I've read any more Rachel Hawkins books, but I would like to. So yeah, it's set on a deserted island. It's summer. It's fun. Read it. Then I wanted to pick a graphic novel recommendation, and I wanted to go with one that was perhaps a bit different that you guys didn't expect. And that is Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savannah Gagniccio. I read this in the summer of 2020. So quite a while ago, I think maybe I read some of it on the beach as well. I remember I read it on quite a hot summer's day. And we're following these characters. It's summer, school has ended, and one of them is working at his father's bakery, and the other boy is, I think, working there as well. And it's, yeah, it's a love story that it's in summer and they're baking. Everything is in these blue tones, which I guess doesn't feel very summery, but it does at the same time. This was like a four star for me, but I really enjoyed it. And I think it has this lovely like heart to it. It goes some places that you don't expect it to go, but they live kind of by the coast in this kind of beachy town. And the baking, I know baking feels autumnal, but in this it just feels so like fresh and summery and like, oh, yes, bread. It kind of has that like awkwardness of a first love to it that I do enjoy reading about. I guess in graphic novels, like Heartstop is kind of similar, that kind of like, oh, it's what, I think when you're an adult, you're kind of just like, I mean, I wouldn't know, because I've been in the same relationship since I was 16. But you're kind of just like, you know, if you feel like they're both putting down the same thing, then it's like, okay, let's just go for it. Whereas when you're young and a teenager, there's that kind of fear of like, I don't know, admitting that there's something going on. So yeah, I think this is just a great summery graphic novel. Then we have another book that I read on holiday. This was one I read on holiday in the UK in the summer. So I read it, we went to stay near Wales, and I read it then, but this is such a good summer book. And let me tell you why. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I think with a summer book, if I'm giving you a summer recommendation, I think it has to be kind of like fast paced, compulsively readable. You can read it in one day in the garden, sitting out in the sun kind of vibes. And you may think that looks chunky, it's such a compulsory readable book. Now, Project Hail Mary is a very difficult book to pitch, because I can't tell you anything about it, or the core of what makes the story great, because it's all a spoiler. If I speak, I am in big trouble. In big trouble. Something happens. I want to say maybe around 100 pages. They completely change the story, but basically all you need to know is that we're following a guy who wakes up on this spaceship, and he doesn't remember why he's there. He's surrounded by corpses of what he assumes to be his crewmates, and he is the only one alive on this ship. If you've read Andy Weir before, if you've read The Martian, his books are just so... I need to read his other book. His other book, I feel like, hasn't been as highly rated, but they're just so readable. You can't put it down. Both This and The Martian are such fun books. They make science fun. Learning is fun. I know what is that. Oh, Taylor Swift's spelling is fun. Yeah. Sometimes references pop into my brain, and I have to grab them quickly. It's the thing with Andy Weir. And, you know, sci-fi, it can be difficult because in order, I think, to have a compelling sci-fi book, you have to have an author who understands science and who understands quite advanced science. But Andy Weir does a great job of having quite advanced, I think, anyway, someone who doesn't know anything about science, advanced science, but explaining it in a way that makes you think you're a fucking scientific genius. Like, he explains shit to me, and I'm like, oh yeah, Andy. I get it. I get how it is. Like, oh, yeah, that. Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, see, I'm telling you, I have the mind of a master master, I have the mind of a master mind. What's that? I don't know. He explains science in a way that just makes it feel accessible to me. And this is just such a quick, fun read. I loved it. Next, I want to recommend the three Dahlia's, Dahlia's. I say Dahlia's. Is that right? Dahlia, Dahlia, Dahlia. Like, I forget if it's someone's name, it's Dahlia. I don't know. We know my pronunciation is questionable at the best of times. So this, I've spoken about quite a few times, but we're following these three women who have all played this very famous character, Dahlia Lively, who is this creation of think-like and acrochristy. She's acrochristy's acupuncture. She's a very famous detective from the golden age of crime, and they've all played her as actresses in different things throughout history. So they're kind of like, there's three different ages of the women. And this fan convention is being held at the author's family home to kind of celebrate the murder mystery genre and her books and what have you. And it's set during August, and it feels like a summer fate. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's set on the grounds of this stately home. There's like, tents of things. And it's such a fun book, right? Murder starts happening, of course. It wouldn't be, it wouldn't be a murder mystery without, you know, and these three women team up to try and solve it. Something that I always think is interesting about this is we do read from all their perspectives, but in chunks, they each take up basically a third of the book. And then at the end, sometimes we kind of splitting between perspectives. But for the most part, they each take a third of the book. And I thought that was a really interesting way to do split perspective, because you kind of got a good time with each of them to like get to know them and the kind of person that they were. I think this is just, I always say, it's such a fun book to read. If you're a fan of murder mysteries, it feels like a love letter to the genre. And yeah, it's got that summer fate. We're in the garden. We're looking for things. I don't know. I think it has a real summery feel to it. So if you love murder mysteries, I would recommend picking this up, because I think, like I said, a love letter to the genre. If you're a fan, it kind of plays on certain tropes and certain stereotypes that I think are fun. Then we have one I don't have the cover for. I just have the book from Book of the Month. I don't have the dust jacket. But it's the last time I lied by Riley Sager. Now this is my favorite Riley Sager that I've ever read. I think it's his best. It's set at a summer camp, summer camp. I mean, come on. Summer camp. The protagonist watched the three cabin mates sneak out of the room in the night and no one ever saw them again. So she has a lot of guilt surrounding that. And then she goes to the owner of the camp. And it's been shut since the girls disappeared. And the owner of the camp has decided to reopen it. So she, the protagonist decides to go there as like a camp counselor, but things obviously start going wrong. And I think it's just perfectly paced. It's a perfect thriller. It has a great amount of intrigue and mystery to it. The reveal as to what's happened is incredible. The reveal, there's one of those last minute, like, oh, they can go right or wrong. But one of those last minute thriller twists, you know, like last page thriller twists at the end. This is definitely my favorite Riley Sager. This and the house across the lake, I think for me are his favorites. But I haven't read there anyone left yet. And I know that's been getting really good reviews. But if you're going to read a Riley read the last of my life, because I feel like not a lot of people talk about it. Everyone speaks about lock every door and home before dark, perhaps because it's a bit older. But I think it's his best. I think Riley told you slapped. Oh, big slay. Wait, like big slay? Yeah, big slay. You're killing it. Stop it, girl. I love your look. Then we have You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno. This is a very special book. I actually read this in December one year. So I did not read this in the summer. I don't know if this takes place during the summer, but it feels hot with anger. It's the way that I would describe it. So we're following Magpie, whose parents have just gone through a very messy breakup. Her mother is really, really struggling. So Magpie is really fending for herself. And we know that something has happened to her recently, Magpie. That is very, a very traumatic experience has happened to her lately, but we don't really know what it was. She starts writing about this mythical world of Nier, where everything is as she would love it to be, you know, her ideal world. But then Nier actually materializes through her garden shed. And this is still my favorite Katrina Leno I've ever read. And I just think it's such a special book. It is difficult. I think a lot of the other books that I've recommended are kind of like, you know, as light-hearted as my recommendations can get. This one deals with some heavier topics, but I think it handles them all really well and the way that it explores the topics through magical realism and tackles, you know, trauma and pain through magical realism forms, I think is really, really interesting and incredible really. So yeah, I don't want to say too much about this one because I, again, I want, I went into this completely blind and I think it's a good way to go into it. But we're following Magpie and this mythical world through her garden shed there's lots swimming in the pool as well. So I think it must take place in the summer. Yeah, this is a really special book and one that I try to recommend a lot, but I try not to say too much. But if you do need to look up trigger warnings, do look up trigger warnings for this because it does deal with heavier topics. And then my final recommendation, a bit of a curveball, but I want to recommend Yerba Brenna by Nina Lacour. This isn't my favorite Nina Lacour. My favorite Nina Lacour is Watch Over Me, but I thought this is a good summer recommendation. So in this we're following these two women and kind of their pasts and then how their paths cross and their romance and the way that they come in and out of each other's lives. This is set over the course of many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many years. So I don't know when the majority of the book is set. It is set in Los Angeles, which I feel like as a British person, like I feel like it's basically permanently summer in LA. Yeah, one's a florist and one is a bartender. And it's just such an interesting book. It's one of those books that's quite slow. It's short though. It's like a fast read, but it's slow and it's pacing and it's intimacy. It's a very intimate book and it's a very deep look at these characters. And it's not the kind of book that I think necessarily follows typical story structures or typical where we expect a romance to go and want it to do. It's a bit more of like a literary take, I think, on a romance. But I think it's beautiful. I think it's tragic. I think it explores, again, a lot of different human emotions and the core of human emotions. So yeah, I would recommend it. So yeah, I would recommend it. I think a lot of you would enjoy it and I think it's a very unique book. I don't think I've necessarily read anything like it before. Okie dokie. So there we have it. Those are some top summer recommendations. I tried to pull some books that I haven't spoken about in a while or just ones that I really think are great for summer that I think you guys should pick up. So yeah, let me know if you've read any of these. Let me know if you're thinking if you have any of these on a TBR. You might pick them up during summer. If you got to the end of the video, comment a sunshine emoji and I hope you get some of this video. Maybe you read one of these this summer and I will see you very soon in another video. Bye!