For the first time ever, I’m sharing a reading list – 25 Best Summer Reads, a collection of stories worth revisiting. These are books I loved for a myriad of reasons. Whether I found them hard to put down, identified with the characters, or enjoyed immersing myself in the other world they provided – or all three – these are the books I recommend to family and friends and give as gifts to my fellow bookworms.
Of course, you can read these books at any time of year, but from the time I was a little girl, I have loved a summer book list. It was so much fun choosing which books to read, and ticking them off the list once I read them. I have enjoyed putting together this list of 25 Best Summer Reads just as much.
There is a printable list of my 25 Best Summer Reads at the bottom of this page.
Love Your Library
I have a serious book buying habit, but I love my local library too. Is there anything more fun than a few hours spent in a library on a rainy summer afternoon? I love the excitement I feel when a book I have requested comes in, and having a date when I need to return the book helps keep me on track with my reading goals too. Be sure to try to find some of the titles from my best summer reads list at your local library.
I have also heard great things about the Libby app to access ebooks, audio books and magazines through your local library.
Audiobooks
Listening counts as reading too! Audio books can provide a way to still enjoying a summer of reading while keeping on top of everything else. I love listening to audiobooks and podcasts if I am walking on my own. (I only use one earbud, so I can listen to nature as well). So audiobooks also encourage me to get outside and take a walk. They are the perfect way to help you read more books on this best summer reads list.
If you prefer to keep your own library of audio books and Audible originals, it may be worth considering a subscription to Audible (affiliate link).
The Types of Books on My Best Summer Reads List
You will see from this list that I love a bit of historical fiction, and I’m not adverse to a bit of mystery either. There are also some light reads and feel-good fiction sprinkled in with a tiny bit of fantasy. Unlike many reading lists, most of these books are not newly published. In fact, you may have read some of these books already, so you can check them off the list straight away!
Don’t feel like you have to read all of the books on my best summer reads list (although please let me know if you do!). Think of this as a book-lover’s buffet—browse, pick what intrigues you, and dive in. And please, please, let me know what you think of these 25 Best Summer Reads – as well as if you think I should create a Best Fall Reads List for September!
Printable List 25 Best Summer Reads
Would you like a printable list of my 25 Best Summer Reads? Scroll to the bottom and press Download!
25 Best Summer Reads
Please note that all links to books are affiliate links.
1. A Single Thread Tracy Chevalier
2. The Clockmaker’s Daughter Kate Morton
3. The Lake House Kate Morton
4. Miss Austen Gill Hornby
5. Queen of The Mist Caroline Cauchi
6. Garden Spells Sarah Addison Allen
7. The Botanist’s Daughter Kayte Nunn
8. Bachelor Girl Kim Van Alkemade
9. Caroline – Little House, Revisited Sarah Miller
10. Rewitched Lucy Jane Wood
11. Darling Girl Liz Michalski
12. The Governess Wendy Holden
13. The Dictionary of Lost Words Pip Williams
14. Lies and Weddings Kevin Kwan
15. Dear Mrs Bird A J Pearce
16. Other Birds Sarah Addison Allen
17. The Library of Lost and Found Phaedra Patrick
18. The Patron Saint of Lost Souls Menna Van Praag
19. The Christie Affair Nina de Gramont
20. Jacqueline in Paris Ann Mah
21. City of Light Lauren Belfer
22. Penelope in Retrograde Brooke Abrams
23. Saving Saffron Sweeting Pauline Wiles
24. The Ministry of Time Kaliane Bradley
25. Marilla of Green Gables Sarah McCoy
I hope this list gives you lots of inspiration for your summer reading!
Have you read any of these? Or do you have a book I must add to my best summer reads list? Let me know in the comments—I always love discovering new books.
You can find some of my other book recommendations and reviews by clicking here.
25 Best Summer Reads – Printable List
Press the Download button to save this list to your computer and then you can print it. Depending on your print settings, you may need to change the paper size when you print but the list prints well on both A4 and Letter Size paper.
Photos in this post are by Terry Joshi Images.
Comments & Reviews
Oh my, you are too kind! What a surprise to find myself in this list, amongst truly esteemed company. Thank you.
It’s my pleasure, Pauline! I loved the Saffron Sweeting series, and I think Saving Saffron Sweeting is my favourite of them all 🙂
What a great list of books! I’ve only read a few of them. Thanks for the suggestions.
I’m so glad you like it, Joanne! I hope you enjoy any you choose to read 🙂
Thank you for these suggestions! You can never have too many books you would like to read I think.
I agree! And I am so glad you liked them, Nicole. Thank you.
Wow! This is a book lovers buffet for sure. I have a few of these on my Kindle want to read list. I’m going to check out some of the others.
I’m so glad you like it Paula! I hope you will enjoy some of my recommendations 🙂
I love bookish posts! I totally agree about audiobooks. I started them when we moved to our present location and had more of a drive to my mother-in-law’s facility than we were used to. I chafed at all the time in the car until I tried audiobooks. They made the time go so much faster. Plus I don’t often think in the accents of the characters when I am reading, but a narrator who employs the accents in the book really enhances the experience. I listen to audiobooks not only while driving, but while getting ready in the morning and for fifteen minutes when I get in bed.
I think the only one of these I have read is Marilla of Green Gables. I tend toward historical fiction, too. But I also like contemporary fiction and sometimes mystery or suspense. Some of my favorite authors are Roseanna M. White, Amanda Cox, Amanda Dykes, Melanie Dobson, and Gabrielle Meyer.
I also like classics, too–Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Gaskell, D. E. Stevenson, and many others.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post, Barbara! I am working on more bookish posts for the future. I love to encourage people to read more.
I definitely agree about the accents – I too rarely think of them when I am reading but hearing them in audiobooks does enhance the experience.
I will check out some of the authors you mentioned. I like some of the classics as well. In fact, I am currently re-reading Little Women. I read it last when I was in my early teens and I am finding it fascinating coming to it with an older perspective.
Have you read The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper? It is about the life of Louisa May Alcott’s sister May, who became a painter. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Yes, I did read The Other Alcott! It was fun to learn more about May. I’ve reread Little Women a few times at different intervals and gotten a different perspective each time. First Jo resonated with me, then Beth. Then in my twenties and thirties, I felt more like Meg and understood those passages about her early married years better. I identify more with Marmee these days. 🙂
Another book I enjoyed is The Orchard House by Heidi Chiavaroli, a fictionalized account of Louisa and a friend. It has a modern timeline where some of their old letters are found as well as Louisa’s timeline.
I’m so pleased you enjoyed The Other Alcott too, Barbara!
I was interested to read your experience reading Little Women at different times in your life. Have you heard of the book Marmee by Sarah Miller? It is in my to be read pile so I’m not sure what it is like but it definitely caught my eye.
Thank you for recommending The Orchard House. It sounds like a book I will really enjoy!