Summer reading part 3: What the writers are reading
(And the bookstagrammers.) Even more brilliant books to add to your list. Excess luggage, anyone?
I hardly dare type the words, but could it be….summer? (UK readers will hear me on this, after a June characterised by chilly downpours and winds as brisk as a headmistress). If you sensibly live in a country with predictable seasons and a proper summer, then you will now be furrowing your brow in puzzlement.) QUICK. Put up the deckchair. Pour the ice tea. Grab all the summer books. This week, I present for your reading delectation, what people other than me are reading. Although I’ve already added several of these to my own list, so we may well end up reading them together…
Before we settle down, I must add that I’ve had a thrill of a week. On Wednesday, I was in Brighton interviewing Fearne Cotton about her debut novel, Scripted. I also filed three features - including one I wrote in two hours, which made me feel like Lois Lane - AND I had two meetings about promising projects. As anyone who is freelance will know, there are times when it feels insurmountable, but this does mean that the highs feel all the more wonderful.
Coming up: on 11th July, I’ll be interviewing Lauren Bravo and Georgina Moore for summer reading special at Percy Langley in Islington, London. There will be wine, nibbles, the chance to shop and peruse Lauren’s sustainable fashion edit for Percy Langley. Style and substance. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance - you can do this here.
Coming up on Book(ish): non-fiction picks for those who prefer their stories to be made from the stuff of real life. Plus historical delights and the best of July/August. Subscribe here to ensure you do not miss a single post. Perish the very thought.
And onwards to what those of excellent taste think you should slip into your suitcase…
’s debut novel The List of Suspicious Things is a Sunday Times bestseller. Find her on here at The Crow’s Nest, where she ponders the process of writing, creativity and life.“The Husbands by Holly Gramazio is about a single woman who gets home one day to a man who claims to be her husband. And it turns out her attic is full of them (husbands). I absolutely LOVED it. If I can have two I would also recommend a narrative non-fiction that reads like a novel: Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst - a couple who were shipwrecked by a whale in the 1970s. I found it incredibly moving.”
Harriet Evans is the author of 13 novels, including The Stargazers. Her latest outing, D is for Death, under the pen name Harriet F. Townson, is the first in a brilliant new Golden-Age-inspired detective series.
“This summer I want to read The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, reread some PD James because I read an old one again and I’d forgotten how amazing she is, and I am recommending three new novels: The Household by Stacey Halls, which is so beautifully done you only realise halfway through you’re holding your breath; The Search Party by Hannah Richell, a glamping thriller set in Cornwall - I chewed one of my gels off reading it; and North Woods by Daniel Mason, the mesmerisingly immersive and fantastical story of a strip of land, the house, the people and the orchards that grow there over 400 years. It is one of my favourite books of the year. In July, I recommend you purchase Ordinary Time by Cathy Rentzenbrink, about a vicar’s wife who moves to Cornwall. It is the kind of book they don’t make any more - absorbing, funny, heartbreaking, an English Anne Tyler. Any of those will see you right. Have a wonderful summer, y’all.”
is a podcaster - I LOVE You’re Booked - and the author of several works of fiction and non-fiction, Her new novel, Pity Party is published on 11th July, and she can be found on here hosting the inspiring, reassuring and exuberant Creative Confidence Clinic
“The Motherless Land by Nikki May is delicious, delightful and propulsive. I think May is a writer we’re still going to be talking about in a hundred years. I adored her debut Wahala, but this is the work of a top talent at the peak of her powers. This spirited retelling of Mansfield Park is vibrant, energetic and tender. I fell head over heels for Funke and think you will, too. (Published 18th July.)”
Helen Whitaker is the Books Editor at Grazia, the Editor of BA High Life and an author - her latest book is Flying Home for Christmas.
“The TV rights to Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe have already been bought - with a super starry cast attached (Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer) so read it before it hits the screen.
19-year-old Margo is pregnant following an affair with her college professor (a feckless man who - surprise, surprise - is not up for being a present father) and has no money and no parental safety net to help bring up the baby she decides to have on her own. So what to do? Well, after her attempts at traditional work fail due to a lack of childcare (relatable) she turns to OnlyFans as something she can do from home. But it turns out it's not as simple as setting up an account and watching the money roll in. With the help of her cos-playing flatmate, Suzie, and her father Jinx, who is a veteran of the wrestling circuit - and therefore a whiz at timing, storytelling and getting an audience on side - she experiences the highs and lows of an online life while getting to grips with motherhood.
Margo is funny, pragmatic, self aware and totally loveable, and so is this book. You'll chuckle at Margo's bonkers relationship with her father, even as you're outraged by the state of mothers' choices when it comes to going back to work after having a baby.”
Georgina Moore’s debut The Garnett Girls is a bestseller, and, quite honestly, summer in a book.
“Girls by Kirsty Capes has everything I want in a novel. Lots of family drama, emotional damage and characters you are rooting for. It is also a brilliant study of fame, addiction and what it is like to live in the shadow of a star. Kirsty is a huge talent whose first novel Careless was long listed for the Women’s Prize. If like me you adore novels about sisters, the ties of a complex family history and a portrait of narcissitic parents then you will love this novel too. It’s not just a literary family saga that will appeal to fans of Meg Mason and Claire Lombardo but also a road trip novel and the American landscape reflects back the emotions of Mattie and Nora as they try to make sense of their past. Bold and brilliant and moving.
The Girls is still in hardback, so if you are looking for something light to balance your luggage look no further than Absolutely And Forever by Rose Tremain. It is a coming of age story set in 60s London. I loved every line and immediately wanted to read it again. Marianne’s tragic love for her first boyfriend Simon alters the course of her life and the sharp, pared back prose makes this a hugely moving read, with gorgeous period details. It reminded me of Invitation To The Waltz by one of my favourite writers of all time, Rosamund Lehman.
And if your holiday reading is not complete without a sexy, smart thriller to keep you company on the beach, there is a new Louise Candlish coming on 5th July called Our Holiday. I was lucky enough to read it in proof and Louise is a very clever. I love the satirical eye with which she portrays her cast of privileged second home owners, whose cosseted world overlooking a stunning beach for the summer suddenly comes under attack. I loved the twists and turns and it has a setting where you can smell the pine, seasalt and rose!”
Ericka Waller is the author of Dog Days, and a new novel Goodbye Birdie Greenwing - which features one of this summer’s finest heroines.
“Clare Lombardo's new one. Same As It Ever Was comes out in June and you need to get it. She has tackled an unlikable mother with emotional depth and maturity that I could never master. The whole book is a trip and I never wanted it to end.
An older book I loved is The Feast by Margaret Kennedy. Set in Cornwall, Midsummer 1947: Pendizack Manor Hotel is buried in the rubble of a collapsed cliff. Seven guests have perished, but is it murder, and what brought this strange assembly together for a moonlit feast before this Act of God - or Man?
For non fiction - and it is not out until the end of August, but please all get My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss. A memoir about thinking and reading, eating and not eating, about privilege and scarcity, about the relationships that form us and the long tentacles of childhood. I warn you, it will break your heart, but it is essential. It will make you unthink so many things. No matter how many books I read, this one will stick close to me.
If you use audible, The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is the best book I ever listened to. Yes, it is fantasy but trust me, the characters, the setting. Oh Gods, it is divine.
Hang on, I'll shove it a couple more while Natasha is not looking... The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason (read somewhere warm as you will freeze) and Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (t's 412 BC, and Athens' invasion of Sicily has failed catastrophically. Thousands of Athenian soldiers are held captive in the quarries of Syracuse, starving, dejected and hanging on by the slimmest of threads. but it's hilarious!)”
is a writer, preloved and such a sustainable fashion guru that she’s even written a book about it) and novelist. Her new novel Probably Nothing, is published on 4th July. AND she has just launched a Substack, Nobody Wanted This.“It has to be Daisy Buchanan's Pity Party (out July 11th), which shares a lot of literary DNA with Probably Nothing – tragi-comic funeral scenes, a skewering of the wellness industry and a preoccupation with other people's mothers... Like everything Daisy writes, it's screamingly funny, but also tender, thoughtful and profound. A brilliantly written depiction of grief and healing in all its raw, human messiness, I think it's her best book yet and definitely deserves a spot in your suitcase.”
Sarah Gwonyoma is a writer, interviewer, and bookstagrammer - find her at @WhatSarahReadNext . She also runs the virtual bookclub, What We Read Next.
“I’m rather tardy to the Deborah Levy appreciation club. It’s only in the last year or so that I’ve discovered her writing. Hot Milk will forever be that modern and timeless classic summer read. A coming-of-age novel that explors the strange and monstrous nature of womanhood. It is dreamlike and utterly compulsive. Oh and it’s set in Almeria, a place that has a very special place in my heart (my best friends got married there and it’s where I found out I was pregnant with my son). Could I love this book any more?”
’s 73 Dove Street is available now, and her new novel, Circus of Mirrors, will be published in September. She share her insider’s perspective on writing and publishing in Fictionland.“The Women by Kristin Hannah is an epic tale of love, courage and female friendship as young American women serve as nurses in 1960s Vietnam. Completely engrossing.
But if non-fiction is your thing then The Success Myth by Emma Gannon made me rethink what we’re all striving for and re-define a successful life. Plenty of food for thought. And in coming attractions: Pity Party by Daisy Buchanan. Daisy’s best book so far exploring the messiness of life as a young widow. (Out July 11th.)”
Tilly is a Brighton bookseller and bookstagrammer @TillyLovesBooks
“Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is sharp, addictive, very funny and with a glorious dose of Italian sunshine.”
L.V. Matthews is a master (mistress?) of the psychological thriller. Her most recent book is Silent Waters and her new novel, To Love a Liar will be published next March.
“The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (published 4th July) elegantly combines a dysfunctional family saga with a propulsive family mystery, Tw writing is superb, and the characters beautifully layered. I felt about it how I felt reading The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair: it is a book I wanted to savour, but I finished it in 48 hours. Trust me: it’s that good.”
If you found this as delightfully helpful as I did, please do feel free to share it far and wide. Every little helps spread the word. Thank you - as ever - for reading, liking, sharing and being all-round terrific.
My reading wish list has just got a whole lot longer! Good thing I'm taking a summer sabbatical.
So many books I haven't heard of that I now get to dive into! Thanks, Natasha ◡̈