Description
Susie Boutry (@NovelVisits) and I share our favorite books that missed last year’s Summer Reading Guides, some nonfiction books we think are great for summer reading, and our #1 picks for four categories, including what I have featured in my 2023 Summer Reading Guide.
This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
Get Even More Summer Reading Recommendations with Summer Shelves:
- In addition to my annual 2023 Summer Reading Guide, I’m once again offering Superstars Patrons ($7/mo) exclusive access to Summer Shelves, featuring even more recommendations for the season.
- Summer Shelves features BACKLIST summer reading recommendations from 17 former podcast guests, our team members, and — for the first time — 20 Superstars patrons!
- The Summer Shelves design is clean, crisp, and unique and you’ll receive it in a PDF file format via Patreon.
- If you’d like to get the Summer Shelves companion guide, you can sign up to be a Superstars patron here. You’ll also get access to a monthly bonus podcast series called Double Booked (where Catherine or Susie and I share our own book recommendations in the same format as the big show) and my Rock Your Reading Tracker.
Summer Reading [4:33]
Books That Missed Last Year’s Summer Reading Guides [5:29]
Sarah
- Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [5:53]
- Red Widow by Alma Katsu | Amazon
- Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer | Amazon | Bookshop.org
Susie
- The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark | Amazon
- Dinosaurs
by Lydia Millet | Amazon | Bookshop.org
- Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson | Amazon | Bookshop.org
Nonfiction Books That Are Great for Summer Reading [22:35]
Sarah
- True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel | Amazon
- Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway | Amazon | Bookshop.org [28:31]
- Still Points North by Leigh Newman | Amazon | [34:44]
Susie
- Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr | Amazon
- Stash: My Life in Hiding by Laura Cathcart Robbins | Amazon | Bookshop.org [30:27]
- Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif | Amazon | Bookshop.org [37:00]
Our #1 Summer Picks by Category [40:16]
Something Light / Fun
- Sarah: A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson | Amazon
- Susie: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld | Amazon
Something Fast-Paced / Intense
- Sarah: Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T. J. Newman (May 30, 2023) | Amazon
- Susie: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai | Amazon
Something With Substance
- Sarah: Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan | Amazon
- Susie: Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah | Amazon
Something Different
- Sarah: Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World by Lauren Fleshman | Amazon
- Susie: Big Swiss by Jen Beagin | Amazon
Other Books Mentioned
- The Only Plane in the Sky
- Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett [4:01]
- Cover Story by Susan Rigetti [9:11]
- The Hunger by Alma Katsu [10:43]
- Red London by Alma Katsu [12:47]
- The Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet [14:45]
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle [18:15]
- Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson [20:52]
- The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel [23:13]
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote [23:57]
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls [35:57]
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed [36:13]
- Falling by T. J. Newman [47:05]
- Miracle on the Hudson by William Prochnau and Laura Parker [48:04]
- Raven Rock by Garrett M. Graff [48:38]
- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai [51:14]
- All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay [52:59]
- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano [53:54]
- Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner [56:32]