Summer is all about being busy, but if there’s one thing you should always make time for, it’s reading. So whether you’re out working on your suntan or whiling away those rainy days, here are five great books to get lost in during those long summer months.
1. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.
I don’t think there’s a single book being released this summer that’s more eagerly anticipated than Isla and the Happily Ever After. It’s the concluding installment in a trilogy of loosely-connected young adult love stories which includes long-time favorites Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. The release of Isla has been pushed back again and again over the past three years (for the reasons behind this, I highly recommend you read the author’s thought-provoking blog posts on dealing with depression while writing “happy” books), but it’s finally set to hit shelves in August of this year.
2. Black
Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein
Emilia and Teo’s lives changed the instant the plane their stunt pilot mothers were flying went down — killing Teo’s mother and destroying the world they once knew. Seeking a home where her white daughter and black adoptive son won’t be held back by ethnicity or gender, surviving pilot Rhoda brings Em and Teo to Ethiopia, a place completely unlike the 1930s America they’ve left behind. All three fall in love with Ethiopia’s beauty and people — but their peace is shattered by threat of war with Italy. As their home becomes a warzone, teenage Em and Teo know they must fight for what they believe in — but what if it means losing each other?
Elizabeth Wein is the queen of young adult historical fiction. Black Dove, White Raven joins the critically acclaimed Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire in this writer’s résumé of books on heartbreak, friendship, and magnificent flying machines.
3. The Bone Se
ason by Samantha Shannon
It is the year 2059. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of alternate-universe London. The work she does is unusual: she scouts for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in a world dominated by the all-seeing security force known as Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It’s only when Paige is captured and sent to a prison city thought no longer to exist that she encounters a powerful, otherworldly race who may just be even more of a threat than Scion. The Rephaim value the voyants highly — as soldiers in their army. Paige isn’t going down without a fight, and she’ll do anything to regain her freedom, but with the Rephaite keeper Warden on her tail and secrets being kept, the question is: will she ever make it out alive?
The Bone Season was released last year, but it makes my list because a sequel, The Mime Order, will be published in October, making this summer the perfect time to catch up on the first book if you’ve haven’t read it. The world created by Samantha Shannon is so complex that the possibilities for this series are endless — and with a rumored seven-book deal on her hands, I have no doubt that this is one young author to watch.
4. The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel
Some sixteen-year-olds babysit or work at the mall for extra cash. Becca Williamson breaks up couples. Becca knows from experience the damage that love can do. It was love that ruined her oldest childhood friendship and love that left her older sister devastated at the altar. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Becca strikes back by offering to trick and manipulate any couple’s relationship into smithereens — and all for a reasonable fee. Business is booming when Becca receives her most lucrative assignment yet: to break up the most popular couple in school. It will be her most elaborate scheme to date — starting rumors, sabotaging cell phones, breaking into cars — not to mention sneaking back into her ex-best friend’s good books. All while fending off feelings for a boy she knows she can’t have. No one said being a break-up artist would be easy.
The Break-Up Artist looks like the ideal summer read for fans of David Levithan and Daniel Handler: snarky and cynical but surprisingly romantic and full of laugh-out-loud humor. It has a fantastic concept and a great cover. What’s not to love?
5. The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life should follow a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight — but she doesn’t. She is expected to marry a prince she’s never met for the sake of a political alliance without question — but she won’t. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village and settles into a new life, ordinary and free. But when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive — one the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her — it is clear that deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets. She must make a choice: flee again or stay and fight, knowing that the mysteries she’s uncovered may once again bring her back to the palace and into danger?
I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this book back in March, and it totally blew me away. I haven’t read such a fast-paced, captivating, high-fantasy novel in a long, long time, and I can’t wait until you can all read it this July. There are so many ways I could describe this story, and none of them would do it justice. It delivers on every level: It’s well-written, action-packed, unpredictable, and full of characters you’ll fall head over heels for.
So there you have it: five brilliant books you won’t regret reading this summer. What do you think of our choices? Are there any summer 2014 reads you think deserve a place on our list?