Well, COVID-19 has us all shut in before spring even starts, so—surprise!—I’m giving you my summer reading list early this year! Social distancing doesn’t mean you can’t make friends with characters in books or escape to faraway times and places within a book’s pages. So stop watching the news (please!), and start a new book! Friend your fellow readers on GoodReads (including me), and maybe start a virtual book club! Make the most of this downtime and remember how often you wished you had more of it in the past!

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The Huntress

Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn quickly became one of my favorite authors when I read The Alice Network. She can weave a tale together in a unique way, and this book in particular had me absolutely hooked! It’s about a female Russian pilot during World War II (I know, you’re shocked, it’s a WWII novel!), but also about a single father and his daughter in Boston. And also about the War Crimes Trials after the War. This is a twisted tale that will definitely keep you wondering who’s the good guy, who’s the bad guy, and whether or not people can or do change. I think you’ll be captivated!

My Kind of Place

Susan Orlean

This was a fun read! It’s a series of short stories from “here, there, and everywhere,” by a long-time travel journalist. She really has been pretty much everywhere, from a taxidermy convention in Springfield, Illinois, to the Khao San Road in Thailand! Susan Orlean (maybe you’ve read her recent best seller, The Library Book) takes you with her on one trip of a lifetime to another! It’s an easy plane read or just something to keep you occupied between trips!

The Moroccan Girl

Charles Cumming

I read this book before our trip to Morocco last summer, and it got me excited for my trip! I’ve really gotten into spy books lately, and this one kept my interest the whole way through. It took a few unexpected turns along the way, which makes for an entertaining airplane or beach read, but also a good one if you’re stuck at home on the couch!

Meet Me in Monaco

Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Monaco and the Cote d’Azur keeps making its way up on my “Must Go” list, and this book only increased my wanderlust! I wouldn’t really say this is a novel about Grace Kelly’s wedding (although that’s what the book jacket says), but it is a well-told story about family, love, loss, and making Grace Kelly’s favorite perfume! It’s set in the 1950s, so historical fiction lovers and fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will love it!

The Unhoneymooners

Christina Lauren

Okay, full disclosure: this book is kind of dirty in a mistaken honeymooner kind of way, but oh my stars, it was funny even without the dirt! It truly had me laughing and staying up too late just to see what happened next. It’s about the best man and maid of honor (who is also the bride’s twin sister), who end up taking the honeymoon in place of the newlyweds because literally everyone at the wedding got sick except the two of them. You can imagine how it ends up, but getting there was all the fun! It’s a great beach read, great plane read, great road trip read, great destination wedding read… and a great at-home read, too!

The Only Woman in the Room

Marie Benedict

If you’ve been following me on Good Reads or here on my reading lists the last few years, you already know I love a good World War II novel, but the only thing that makes a book set in this time period more intriguing is the inclusion of characters from real life. This book takes a look at the real life of actress and scientist Hedy Lamarr. It’s a tragic story, but I think it’s an important one to know. Her fame had nothing on her brains.

The Paradise Series

Elin Hildebrand

This is one of the best series I’ve read in a long time! I accidentally started with #2 (it came up for me at the library first) and I thought, “No big deal, I’ll just read this one first and then catch up on the first one later.” In doing so I quickly realized I wanted to read the first one first! Luckily book 1 came in for me at the library a day or two later. I quickly tore through the first two, and now I’m already waiting for #3 Troubles in Paradise coming out this summer!

Want more summer reading suggestions? Check out my Shop Page for all my Summer Reading Lists, and don’t forget to follow me on Goodreads!

And don’t forget to check out my Health and Wellness Page for all my posts about COVID-19 and how we’ll all get through this together!

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