5 summer reads that will make you feel things

Hello friends of the Internet,

this is the first post in my month of collaborations! And for this collab I had the pleasure of working with Sophia from survivalguideforyourlife. We both decided to recommend you 5 summer reads each. You can find the link to Sophia’s post at the end of this one.

Side note: The links in blue will lead you to the Goodreads page of the given book. Oh, and you are of course more than welcome to add me on Goodreads as well 🙂

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On Love by Charles Bukowski

“In On Love, we see Bukowski reckoning with the complications and exaltations of love, lust, and desire. Alternating between tough and gentle, sensitive and gritty, Bukowski lays bare the myriad facets of love—its selfishness and its narcissism, its randomness, its mystery and its misery, and, ultimately, its true joyfulness, endurance, and redemptive power.

Bukowski is brilliant on love—often amusing, sometimes playful, and fleetingly sweet. On Love offers deep insight into Bukowski the man and the artist; whether writing about his daughter, his lover, his friends, or his work, he is piercingly honest and poignantly reflective, using love as a prism to see the world in all its beauty and cruelty, and his own fragile place in it. “My love is a hummingbird sitting that quiet moment on the bough,” he writes, “as the same cat crouches.”

Genre: Poetry, American Literature

On Love is a poetry collection and is a little different from Bukowski’s other work. He shows us a softer, toned-down version of himself, a side to him that I like very much. Bukowski explores different types of love and dives deep into the meaning of lust, desire and affection. I particularly loved the way he wrote about his daughter. It’s a light read, perfect for summer.

My favourite poems from this collection are “sleeping woman” and “bluebird”. In addition to On Love, Bukowski also published two other books; one titled On Writing, the other On Cats.

You can read my review on Goodreads here.

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Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

“Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.”

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl), is a shocking dark and twisted story, that will have you clutching at your book in horror. It gripped me right from the start and left me feeling shock, pain, disgust,… the ending is like a punch in the face to say the least. If you want well-rounded and complex characters, then this is the thriller for you.

HBO also released a series based on the book, which is very close to the book, so if you are planning on watching the series but want to read the book as well, I recommend starting with the book first!

You can read my review on Goodreads here.

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Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

“What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?

Frances is been a study machine with one goal. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside. Then Frances meets Aled, and for the first time she’s unafraid to be herself. So when the fragile trust between them is broken, Frances is caught between who she was and who she longs to be. Now Frances knows that she has to confront her past. To confess why Carys disappeared…Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has. Engaging with themes of identity, diversity and the freedom to choose, Radio Silence is a tor de force by the most exciting writer of her generation.”

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Radio Silence is centered around friendship, self-discovery and -expression, mental health issues, sexual identity, school and university pressures and so, so much more. The main friendship in this book is simply beautiful and heart-warming and got me invested from the start.

What I liked about this YA novel is that romance is not the centre of attention for a change. It is friendship that is at its core and that ultimately made the book as enjoyable as it was. I sped through this book in a day and can’t recommend it enough!

You can read my review on Goodreads here.

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Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg

“At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?

Some of our problems are unique to our time. “Why did this guy just text me an emoji of a pizza?” “Should I go out with this girl even though she listed Combos as one of her favorite snack foods? Combos?!” “My girlfriend just got a message from some dude named Nathan. Who’s Nathan? Did he just send her a photo of his penis? Should I check just to be sure?” 

But the transformation of our romantic lives can’t be explained by technology alone. In a short period of time, the whole culture of finding love has changed dramatically. A few decades ago, people would find a decent person who lived in their neighborhood. Their families would meet and, after deciding neither party seemed like a murderer, they would get married and soon have a kid, all by the time they were twenty-four. Today, people marry later than ever and spend years of their lives on a quest to find the perfect person, a soul mate.”

Genre: Non-Fiction, Humour

Modern Romance is a hilarious take on dating in the digital age, based on interviews, studies and research administered by both Ansari and Klinenberg. I recommend this to anyone from 16-35 years of age.

I was pleasantly surprised at how funny and light-hearted this book is while still managing to convey the real-life struggles all millennials face nowadays. Aziz Ansari was able to create a tasteful balance between humour and facts, which made it all the more easier to read the results of different studies and research. 

You can read my review on Goodreads here.

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

“The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.”

Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction

With ist 850 pages, Diane Gabaldon’s Outlander is definitely not a light summer read. The story and world building has a way of pulling you in, it is filled with love, friendship, SCOTLAND, war, conflict, clans and (of course) time travel.

Overall I can only recommend Outlander especially as a book, but I wouldn’t advise to miss out on the series! Both the book and series are brilliant and suitable for all age groups. Even my grandma is reading the book series! Side note: don’t repeat my mistake and watch the show first.

You can read my review on Goodreads here.

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Books on my TBR list for this summer:

❀ The Wicked King by Holly Black

❀ A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

❀ To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

❀ Emma by Jane Austen

❀ North And South – Elizabeth Gaskell

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❀What are some of the books you are planning on reading this summer? Do you recommend any in particular? ❀

Let me know!

Don’t forget to check out Sophia’s list of summer reads for even more summer book recommendations!