It’s that exciting time of year again: Time for a summer to-read list! Thanks to my current in-between state of having just graduated undergrad but not yet started law school, I have an entire Glorious Summer of Reading for Fun ahead of me, which I haven’t had in years. The past few summers were filled with prep reading for studying abroad at Oxford and research for my honors thesis, so I haven’t had full reign over what I’ve read in a while. But now we’re back in that sweet spot, and I can’t wait to dive into those books! Here are just a few of the books that I’m hoping to read this summer:
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
When I was in middle school I bought a used copy of this book for a dime from the used book room in my library’s basement. Let’s all take a minute to acknowledge that it is a full decade later and I still have yet to read it?!?! I’m making it a mission to finally get around to reading it this summer.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
I love a good empowering memoir, and this seems like a perfect next place to turn! I’m also hoping she talks a bit about her career as an attorney–as someone starting law school soon, I could use all the advice I can get.
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
I finally watched the movie adaptation of this book for the first time this past semester, and I think it’s high time that I finally read the book series that goes along with it. Not only was the movie hilarious, but I also love how it’s set in Brighton, England, a place I visited one weekend when I was abroad. It has a little soft spot in my heart!
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
This is another book whose movie adaptation I recently watched and loved. Although this story is adorable, I’ve heard that the movie differs quite a bit from the book in terms of tone, characterization, and small details of the family and her relationship. I’m really intrigued to see what the differences are and how it affects my thoughts on the story overall.
This Common Secret by Susan Wickland
A friend lent me this book around the midway point of the semester and then things got really hectic and busy… and I still haven’t finished it (whoops!). This book is also high on my list due to the intense, terrifying abortion controversies going on the United States recently… definitely a relevant book for this summer!
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
It’s a secret dream of mine to be a judge someday, so what better book to read than the memoir of a Supreme Court justice? I’m about a third of the way through the audiobook version now and it’s already inspiring, powering, and incredibly moving. I can’t wait to read the rest!
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
My friends and I at Wheaton always used to joke that we were like the girls in this book–connected by our random objects that we all shared. But seeing as I have yet to see the movie or read the book, I didn’t get that reference very much. It’s definitely time to fix that!
What books are you hoping to read this summer? Any thoughts on the ones I’ve listed here? Let me know in the comments section below!
Yours,
HOLLY
I LOVE Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging!! Enjoy!
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I can’t wait to read it!!
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This is such an amazing reading list, and there is so much variety. Also I love how you started out with the thicker, more serious books… and ended with The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
I think it’s going to be a great summer (in books!) for you!
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Haha got to have a little bit of everything in the mix! I feel like summer is such a great time to explore a bunch of different genres. Thanks!!
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Good…
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Happy reading! Looks like a great list
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Thanks!!
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Yah…
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I just got Becoming for myself to read this summer. Somehow found it at my library’s used book store for $4 – still amazed that they had it there, considering that means someone already donated it to them haha
Congrats on finishing undergrad, btw!!
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Thank you!! Oooh that’s an awesome find! I love when unexpected gems show up in used book sales 🙂
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Good
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Your summer of uninterrupted reading sounds lovely! I remember loving that freedom to just read whatever I felt like when I first graduated. Then I invented stresses about my TBR, haha.
You’ve got some good ones on this list! I love the Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging series. It has a very special place in my heart, as I read it when I was an actual teen – and especially now that Louise Rennison has passed away. I met her at a book signing once and she was the kindest lady! She talked to me and my mum for a really long time and told me she liked my dress. They are FUNNY books. I hope you enjoy!
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Aww that’s such a lovely story about meeting Louise Rennison! I’m really looking forward to reading that series–I wish I had read it when I was younger too! Thank you!
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I’m happy to see Jenny Han’s book on your list! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did last year 🙂 I will say, I watched the movie after and couldn’t stand it lol. I’m glad you and so many other people enjoyed it, but there were a number of things that the film ruined for me that the book did better. You’ll have to tell me when you finish it so I can tell you — it’s too spoily if I say anything ha-ha!
Good luck on your summer TBR list!
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Oooh I’m very intrigued!! I love seeing the differences between books and their film adaptations–always interesting to see what gets left out/added in. I’ll definitely let you know when I finish it so we can discuss!!
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To all the boissssss is the bestttt
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I can’t wait to read it!
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Yay for a summer full of reading! I’ll be posting my summer reading list when they do the topic for Top Ten Tuesday, but there aren’t a ton of new releases I HAVE TO READ NOW coming out this summer, so I ended up creating a list of backlist books I wanted to read and used a random number generator to pick mine, LOL. I hope you enjoy these!
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Hahaha an overflow of books to read sounds like a really great problem to have!! Thanks, happy reading to you as well! 🙂
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Enjoy your reading!
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Thank you!!
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Ahh this is a lovely TBR, Holly! I’d love to read Michelle Obama’s book someday, I can’t wait to hear what you think of it. And the lara jean books are amazing, I loved them 🙂
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Thanks, Marie! I’m about halfway through To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before at the moment and it’s so great! Really enjoying listening to the audiobook ❤
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The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is SUCH a good book! I hope you enjoy it.
I read the first four or five Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging but I stopped there as there wasn’t much development in the main character. As a standalone it’s quite entertaining though!
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WHOA there are more than four or five Angus books?!?! I figured it was probably just a trilogy. That’s wild!
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I love this…
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I recently read Becoming and it is really well written, empowering and inspirational. Also To All the Boys is one of my favorite romantic contemporaries the movie is different from the book, but both are adorable.
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So glad to hear that you enjoyed Becoming! Makes me want to read it even more 🙂 Looking forward to seeing the differences between the book and the movie!
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I’m also reading The Silmarillion this summer–hopefully next month! And Becoming is so good; I hope you enjoy it!
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Oooh fun!! If you want a buddy to read The Silmarillion with, let me know! 🙂
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Yes, that’d be so fun! I’d love to! Admittedly, I’m a little intimidated by it, haha.
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Wooo! Oh don’t worry, I’m super intimidated by it haha–that’s why it’s taken me so long to read it… this will be so much fun! 🙂
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It will, I’m so excited! 😄 I was planning on starting it either this weekend or Monday at the earliest and trying to finish it throughout the month. Do you wanna set goals or something? This is my first buddy read aside from throwing books at my physical friends, haha, so not sure how it works entirely.
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Sure!! I haven’t done many buddy reads either haha, but some goals would be good! Maybe easier to do it over email or something? Mine is nutfreenerd@gmail.com, or if you have another media you’d prefer to chat via?
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So many great recommendations. Thank you! I hadn’t even heard of this Tolkien book so I am VERY excited to check it out. My summer reading list is becoming a little unmanageable but I am up for the challenge, haha! My most recent summer read was, “The King Who Disappeared” by Hank Quense. The world of Gundarland is a world of wizards and other amazingly funny and unique creatures like dwelfs (dwarf/elf half breeds) and yuks (similar to orcs but not as friendly)… The Godmother, who is essentially a mafia boss who runs all the “families” of the elves. She is a hilarious character and there are many more memorable characters throughout. Quense is the king of satire and I found this to be a quick and enjoyable read that I recently pitched to my book club too. I definitely recommend checking it out – http://hankquense.org/wp/
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Oooh that book sounds really good!! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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