One of the things I miss most about the summer of 2020 was how much time I spent at the beach with a book in my lap. The last year has been a bumpy one, but as I’ve adjusted to my new reality and made more time for myself, I’ve squeezed in a few sizzling summer reads. These have been my favourites so far.
Signal Moon, Kate Quinn
I was terribly excited to find out how Kate Quinn planned to pull off time travel, but she totally made it work. This short story was a wonderful but unexpected surprise part-way through the summer and left me itching to find out what else she has in store. After all, her short stories are often appetizers for much-anticipated larger works of fiction, like The Three Fates was for Lady of the Eternal City, or The Tumbril was for Ribbons of Scarlet. What does this say about her forthcoming novel? I can’t wait to find out.
Yorkshire, 1943, Lily Baines gave up her white gloves to do her part for the war effort as a Y station listener sending intercepted German messages to Bletchley Park for decryption. One night, she picks up a mysterious signal from an American warship taking heavy fire in the North Atlantic. But what she hears seems entirely wrong. Naval officer Matt Jackson on the other end of the line says the year is 2023. Across an 80-year timespan, Lily and Matt make contact. She must help him stave off a war that is brewing, while he gives her hope that the war she is fighting can be won.
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles is a story of the golden boy who would become the greatest warrior the world had ever seen, as told by his childhood best friend turned lover, Patroclus. From the halls of King Peleus’ court to the grove where the centaur, Chiron, trains Achilles to be a killer to the beach of Troy where he earns his fame, Miller will transport you back to ancient Greece.
I read The Song of Achilles several years ago, but who knows how long it will be before Miller’s new Persephone novel (cue squeal of excitement) hits shelves, so I needed to whet my appetite. The second time around, I thought it was even better. It’s lush with detail, and it opens up a whole realm of possibilities about the heroes of The Iliad that we only thought we knew.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid
Inspired by Hollywood icons like platinum blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor—who famously made seven trips down the aisle—The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows small-time writer Monique Grant, whom aging star Evelyn Hugo has unexpectedly plucked from obscurity to write her biography. Who was the real love of Evelyn’s life through all of those sordid marriages? And why has she insisted that her story end up in the hands of Monique? I was hooked from the first line. This is a wonderful story about the Golden Age of Hollywood and the price of fame.
Portrait of a Thief, Grace D. Li
Harvard Art History Student Will Chen is staring down graduation and an uncertain future when he gets a tantalizing offer from China Poly—pull off one of the most daring heists of the twenty-first century in exchange for fifty million dollars and a place in history.
The team? His sister, Irene, is a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of any sticky situation as well as any con artist. Pre-med student Daniel Liang’s steady hands are as good at lock picking as they are suturing. Irene’s roommate, Lily, races the streets of Durham after dark. And Alex Chen, an MIT software engineering dropout who has the potential to be a serious hacker.
Together, the team attempts to pull off five heists before the end of senior year and reclaim the zodiac heads that were looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing at the end of the Opium Wars. Portrait of a Thief is copious amounts of fun that throws the team into daring situations with jobs planned down to the minutia that somehow always veer off track. It gives insight into the uncertainty of soon-to-be grads wondering what to do with their lives (if they remain out of prison long enough to graduate) and offers commentary on the role of colonialism in art.
Book Lovers, Emily Henry
The babe is back! I’ll admit that last summer’s People We Meet on Vacation just didn’t do it for me. The best friends to lovers trope didn’t sit right with me when Poppy and Alex simply reminded me too much of myself and my ex to properly enjoy it. But she’s back with another flat-out stunner!
First thoughts—literary agent Nora reminds me of Sandra Bullock from The Proposal. She’s a force to be reckoned with and an absolute workaholic. So, Sunshine Falls, North Carolina is the last place you’d expect her to agree to a vacation with her sister, Libby. Even more surprising is the fact that it’s the hometown of Charlie Lastra, a cutthroat editor who has only ever been a thorn in Nora’s side. Until now. A series of meet-cutes brings these two together. At last, Nora is finally free to confide in someone who might just get her, but when she does her seemingly perfect life begins to unravel. It may be Henry’s best summer romance yet. The only thing it’s missing is a sweaty, shirtless Charlie rage carving a canoe. Not sure what I’m talking about? Watch The Proposal again.