the best summer reads 2019

One of my favourite parts about being involved in the library and book world is being able to read books before they are published. I do this in exchange for reviewing the books and I love being able to check out some great books before they hit the shelves.

Because of this I have been able to read some of the books I think will be real summer hits and ones that will be great reads for the warm, poolside days. I personally tend to read lighter things in the summer and I like being able to escape to vacation spots, memoirs of fun lives, and maybe a full thriller or two. The biggest thing about a summer read is that it should be somewhat easy to pick up and put down and should be easy to take anywhere.

Here are some recent reads that I think will be great summer reading material for your vacation reads, weekend getaways, and warm weather picnics. Pick them up now (or as soon as they have been released)

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory – July 16, 2019

Summer is wedding season and what better than to read a fun summer wedding romance. Maddie and Theo dislike each other, significantly, and have known this fact since the moment they were introduced by their mutual friend Alexia years ago. Now Alexis is getting married and the two of them are both in the wedding party, and more than that they ended up having a drunken night together that was quite good.
Now the two of them have to figure out what they are, while still trying to not get too involved and making a very strong promise that this will be over by the day Alexis gets married, but do things every go that easily?

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – July 2, 2019

Jules takes a job as an apartment sitter in a fancy, ornate, and old New York apartment and the arrangement seems perfect; Jules gets money to get her back on her feet after a break up and she gets to stay in a beautiful place, which is also the setting in her favourite book. However there are some small flags and weird rules such as no visitors ever, and no spending a night away from her apartment.

Over the next week things seem to get stranger and stranger, with Jules being drawn into a mystery of the apartment and not sure of who to trust and wondering why apartment sitters seem to go missing, before it happens to her. 

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Olive is the unlucky twin, the bigger twin, and the single twin. When disaster strikes her twin sister Ami’s wedding she takes her sisters place on her Honeymoon to Maui. Unfortunately the groom is Ami’s husbands brother, and Olive’s least favourite person in the world.

On this trip the two of them run into some people they never expected to, explore the beautiful island of Maui, and maybe get more than they bargained for.

Naturally Tan by Tan France

Ever since the day the first season came onto Netflix I have been hooked onto Queer Eye. Each episode almost brings me to tears and I love watching the Fab 5 help show people how worthy and beautiful they are. I love each of the Fab 5 for different reasons but I have always been drawn to Tan for his calm energy, his care to find something that works for the people that he is working with, and for his respectfulness and care so I was very excited when I saw that he was writing a book.

This book really feels like it is Tan speaking and I love hearing about some of the crazy experiences that he has had in his life. He speaks in such a familiar tone throughout the book which makes it feel like he is sitting next to you telling his life story and it works very well. I like that his stories are interspersed with style tips and tricks (which some I agree with and others I don’t).

I also loved hearing the stories about the beginning of Queer Eye, Tan’s relationship and marriage to a ex-mormon cowboy, and gallivanting off to New York with his friends at 17.

The Bride Test by Helen Huang

Oh my goodness I do not think I could be more excited to get given this book and I don’t think I could have read it quicker and it held up to and maybe even surpassed Hoang’s first book, “The Kiss Quotient.” I raced through this book, fully captivated in the story, the characters, and the problems they were having.

This book focuses on Khai, Michael’s cousin from the first book and Esme, a woman from Vietnam who is convinced to come to America by Khai’s mother in order to convince him to get married. Khai is also autistic however and has no interest in having a relationship with a woman, or so he thinks. I enjoyed that one of the main character is an immigrant working to learn English and create a better life for her family back home.

Overall this book has engaging characters, some great steamy scenes, a fleshed out story, and it really holds up to the first book.

Run Away by Harlan Coben

Sometimes in the summer you need to be swept away into the thrills of someone else’s life and this book is the perfect one for that.

Simon Greene hasn’t seen his daughter for almost a year, until he does playing music in Central Park, but before he can talk to her she is swept away with her seemingly abusive boyfriend. This altercation takes Simon on an adventure into a world different from what he has ever known and snaking across the country. This adventure ends up leading to people that should have never been connected and scenarios Simon would have never imagined.

I hope you pick up one of these books this summer and get transported to a different world whether it is one of thrills, or one of romance.

Happy Reading!