We’ve had the most gorgeous, perfectly warm weather the past couple of days. I’ve been able to read sitting outside on my bench and it’s brightened my mood significantly. Now, I’m not fool enough to think the cold is completely gone. Around here the weather likes to play mind games with us and we won’t get consistently nice weather until the end of May. But it’s got me thinking about my summer TBR and I thought I’d highlight a few books that really give off those sunny vibes.
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
What I really love about this book is that the characters felt genuine- sometimes annoying, sometimes clueless, sometimes incredibly insightful. This is a beautiful book of unlikely friendships.
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova eventually playing a role in solving her sons disappearance.
With the Fire on High, Elizabeth Acevedo
I love Elizabeth Acevedo’s writing. This book is so wonderfully crafted and Emoni’s story enfolds so perfectly. It’s a reminder that sunshine can be found even through dark times.
With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen. Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain.
But even with all the self-imposed rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.
Book Lovers, Emily Henry
Emily Henry’s books can be hit or miss for me. Book Lover’s was thankfully a hit. This one was really fun and perfect when you need a happy and light-hearted read.
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
