Recommendations: Summer Reads!

I’m trying out a new feature on the blog featuring posts dedicated to recommending a slew of amazing books that fit certain requirements. Today it will be all about summer reads but coming up are: road trips, gritty contemp, fantasy, paranormal, forbidden love and tearjerkers! Let me know what you think in the comments and on Twitter!

Remix, Non Pratt

Chicken House|2^nd June 2015

It’s the summer after their A-levels and Kaz and Ruby are recently single. The cure for their blues? Three days at Remix music festival for some quality girl time. But it doesn’t turn out like planned…

Remix is a fun, touching and excellently written story about love, friendship and music and it’s the perfect thing to read when you’re stuck in the back garden instead of at a festival. Non gets the teenage voice spot on and she isn’t afraid to fully explore all of the experiences of a teen.

Second Chance Summer, Morgan Matson

S&S|7^th June 2012

Taylor’s family get along fine, but they’re all a little busy and sometimes family time slips by the wayside. Then Taylor’s dad gets some terrible news and they decide to spend their last summer together up in the Pocono Mountains at their old lake house. It’s been five years since they were last there and her old boyfriend is still cute and living next door and will her former best friend still be as angry with Taylor as she was five years ago?

Morgan Matson is the perfect author for summer. I could easily have recced any of her books, but this is set at a lake house so yeah, has to be! Second Chance Summer has that hazy, veiled quality that good US summery contemps has but with a hefty dose of emotion. Gorgeous.

Did I Mention I Love You?, Estelle Maskame

Black and White Publishing|1^st July 2015

Eden Munroe has agreed to spend the summer with her absent father in Santa Monica, but he appears to have gained a whole new family in the years since she’s seen him. Now she has a stepmom and three stepbrothers to deal with while she tries to get to know her dad again. Luckily, Tyler’s friends take Eden under their wing and she starts to enjoy her California summer, but Tyler’s hiding something. The more she digs, the more she starts to fall for the one person she really shouldn’t…

Wattpad star Estelle was only 13 when she started publishing her writing, but this is her first novel to be on the shelves. She perfectly captures the intense, sweeping summer months and how easy they make it to fall in love with someone you shouldn’t. This is addictive and perfect for those who dream of an intense summer romance.

Lorali, Laura Dockrill

Hot Key Books|2^nd July 2015

Rory doesn’t expect to find a naked girl washed up on Hastings beach on his sixteenth birthday, but that’s exactly what happens during a storm. He also doesn’t expect the fantastical stories she tells of where she’s from and what she is. Lorali is a mermaid, a princess and she’s run away from home. There are lots of people looking for her, and not all of them are looking to return her home safely…

Laura Dockrill’s writing is unbelievably beautiful. She blends prose and poetry in a mesmerising way to give a voice to the sea and help tell the story of Rory, Lorali, the other Mers of the Whirl, the pirates hunting Lorali down and the strange Abelgare brothers. Original, beautiful and one to fall in love with.

My Life Next Door, Huntley Fitzpatrick

Dial Books|14^th June 2012

The Garretts next door are loud, messy, and affectionate and there are lots of them. They’re everything Samantha Reed wants and doesn’t have, until Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and she’s suddenly a part of them. The tragedy strikes and Sam must make a horrible decision, both with awful consequences.

My Life Next Door is everything I look for in a summer read: family drama, tragedy, impossible dilemmas and a first love that’ll melt your heart. There’s no way you can read this and not fall in love with Sam and the Garretts.

The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jenny Han

Puffin|3^rd June 2010

Every year Belly and her parents spend the summer with family friends at their beach house. There’s a pool, a sandy beach on their doorstep and Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher who’s grown up with. Belly has been in love with Conrad for forever, but Jeremiah has always been a good friend to her. This summer, both boys notice Belly in a whole new way and it’ll never be the same again.

I adore this series. Even writing this is making me want to re-read it. The beach house, the tension between Belly and the Fisher boys, the secrets and the kisses and the miscommunciations – ugh. I’m genuinely jealous of everyone who gets to discover this trilogy for the first time this summer.

I’ll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson

Walker|2^nd April 2015

There’s been a crazy amount of hype for Jandy Nelson’s second novel, but just in case you missed it, I’ll Give You the Sun is about Jude and her twin Noah. Once upon a time they were joined at the hip, but then a family tragedy tore them apart. With a little help from art and love, they may just find their way back to each other and remake the world.

This novel blew me away. It’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, and I don’t say that lightly. Jandy Nelson’s weaves together two narratives along different timelines together seamlessly. It’s sad, beautiful, hopeful and inspiring all at once and you really should give it a go.

So there you have my summer reads recommendations! Have you read any of these? Any other books you think I’ve missed? Let me know!

Sophie