Summer Book Suggestions

Book recommendations for summer reading

Summer is almost here! You know what that means–fun in the sun (or on an airplane, or a long car ride, or are we there yet?)! I know students often have summer reading assignments from their English classes, and while those are often preparing you for the next year’s curriculum, you may also just want a read that fulfills your interests.

Reasons for picking up a book this summer that hasn’t been assigned by your English teacher:

1. YOU get to choose!
2. Anytime you’re reading, you're improving your skills. This will translate to higher SAT/ACT scores, better grades, and overall well-being.
3. A number of colleges ask you about your reading habits as a part of the application process (UGA, Elon, and Wake Forest are just a few).

Now, for my recommendations on a range of topics:

Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Read if you like:
-short books
-big thoughts
-the Earth

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Read if you like:
-a love triangle
-NYC in the 30s

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Read if you like:
-interwoven stories where all the loose ends get tied up nicely
-octopuses

Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island by Will Harlan
Read if you like:
-nature
-local stories
-Cumberland Island

Circe by Madeline Miller
Read if you like:
-a fresh take on Greek mythology
-a good story

The Power by Naomi Alderman
Read if you like:
-Sci-fi, but mostly the effects on all of society

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
Read if you like:
-adventure
-having an idea and taking it to its fullest extent

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon
Read if you like:
-evolutionary biology
-thinking about a subject through a new lens

Ways of Seeing by John Berger
Read if you like:
-art
-expanding the way you look at the world

Our Moon by Rebecca Boyle
Read if you like:
-nature
-easy-to-understand explanations of physics and the universe
-the Earth

Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynne Olson
Read if you like:
-archaeology
-Egypt
-France

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
Read if you like:
-adventure
-mountain climbing

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
Read if you like:
-true crime
-hiding under your covers while reading

Happy reading!