Hello Summer. No introduction needed since you seem to have arrived early this year with the heat of mid-July even before Solstice. Here we are at the 'longest' day of the year. I think a new reading plan is in order, so from Solstice to autumnal Equinox I am setting aside my (feeling like a slog this year) monthly reading prompts in exchange for some nice, summery, seaside, beachy reads. I love beachy reads--not so much books you might read at the beach (those books could be any book really), but books with a seaside or general summertime setting.
I have already started with Meg Rosoff's The Great Godden, a YA novel set during the summer "in a sun-drenched house by the sea". It was compared to I Capture the Castle, so that closed the deal for me and indeed is proving a nice escapist kind of read. Just a random perusal of books on my shelves have become this stack (and this, without much effort-I know there are far more in hiding). From top to bottom:
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Beachcombing by Maddie Dana
Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer
A Year of Marvelous Ways by Sarah Winman
The Summer House Party by Caro Fraser
The Girls by Emma Cline
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I Found You by Lisa Jewell
The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess
Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan
And two graphic novels that might peripherally work:
Summer Spirit by Elizabeth Holleville
Breakwater by Katriona Chapman
This is easily one of my favorite settings and I do have a fair number of books that could join this pile, but of course I am always looking for something new (or new to me), so if you have any suggestions please do share.
One more Solstice inspired read . . . Buried in Print and I are working our way (in a so far sort of roundabout way) the Dark is Rising sequence of books by Susan Cooper. I'm starting Greenwitch today with the hope that the last two books will be Equinox and Solstice books to finish out the year. While a good fantasy/adventure story is good any time, somehow this seems just right to begin today.
I hope this post finds everyone healthy and happy and reading some good books!