What I'm Reading This Summer

The different views of motherhood, searching for rare tortoises, travelling to Rio de Janeiro, and self-discovery in a small Greek village - my summer reading list

I love a summer read (I also enjoy spring, autumn and winter ones). In summer, I love a novel that whisks me away on travels to foreign lands, have multiple narrators each telling me their twist of the tale, maybe a little bit of suspense, and I also really enjoy lots of descriptions of good food. Think Still Life by Sarah Winman, which is amazing if you haven’t read it.

Here’s what’s on my TBR list for this summer:

🇬🇷 The House in the Olive Grove, by Emma Cowell

First up, I’m travelling to a cooking school in the small village of Petalidi, where three women each with their own secrets, lies and devastating stories, serendipitously come together. Unlikely friendships blossom and “a season of self-discovery begins.” I can’t wait to find out each woman’s story and see how they all come together to find resolutions and hopefully some peace. This book promises “sumptuous flavours, sapphire waters and golden sands,” just the stuff. My mum used to read Maeve Binchy novels when I was growing up and this blurb reminded me of her books where a group of characters come together and we slowly learn about each one and what brought them to be in the same place.

I’ve already started reading this one and it’s grating on me slightly because there’s lots of cliffhangers, drama-setting imagery, hints of things that are building us up for what’s to come. Ghosts of dead grandmothers to warn of future accidents, mentions of men in beds that aren’t husbands but no further explanation, letters through the door that signal a change in the tide. Do you know what I mean? I just want to get on with the story and find out what’s going to happen without all the hints and suggestions.

But there’s lots of descriptions of cerulean skies, filo-pastry delights, and the soft rustling of olive trees to keep me going with it.

🐢 Welcome to Glorious Tuga, by Francesca Segal

Small disclaimer: my laptop keeps trying to change ‘Tuga’ to ‘tuna’ so if ‘tuna’ pops up at all in the next few sentences, I did try to find them all 🐟

I picked this book up purely because the cover was bright and tropical-looking - perfect for reading with an ocean view. It also slightly reminded me of Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce, which is one of my all-time favourite books. In that book Margery Benson, a rather stuffy and rule-following school teacher suddenly quits her job to travel to New Caledonia in search of a golden beetle that is only rumoured to exist. Going with her, is her new secretary, the pink and pom-pom wearing Enid, who is the exact opposite of Margery. Together they face the journey to New Caledonia (it’s post-WW2), the dangerous terrain once they get there, plus the stowaway that’s followed them from Britain. It’s one of the most magical and endearing books I’ve ever read and I can’t recommend it enough.

Anyway, Welcome to Glorious Tuga promises a zoologist who has crossed the world to research rare tortoises. The blurb states that: “Officially she’s there for the conservation. But the reality is more complicated.” Of course it is! I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into this one - I think it’s going to be another fun ride.

Photo by Raphael Nogueira on Unsplash

🌌 The Seven Sisters, by Lucinda Riley

I’ve heard so much about this book and had a few different people recommend it to me, so when I friend placed a physical copy into my hands - I was excited to finally be able to sit down and read it. The blurb mentions a secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, stories from Rio de Janeiro and travels to Paris, so I already know I’m going to love this book.

Also this is the first book in a series of seven, so if I enjoy it that will be my reading sorted for some time!

🐣 So Thrilled For You, by Holly Bourne

This one is a slightly different tone. Written about a group of women who’ve been friends since university, So Thrilled for You looks at how life has changed for them, and the influence of that on their friendship, now they’re in their thirties. I’ve read online that the book delves into the different viewpoints of motherhood, including those who choose to be child-free, those who struggle with infertility and the challenges of new parenthood. Always an interesting topic, this will be a change after reading about cooking in Greece and tortoises in Tuga.

On the back cover of this book, one review describes it as doing “beautiful justice to life on all sides of the baby divide” and then the review straight below says this is an “unflinching and entertaining take-down of motherhood” - but everyone seems to agree that it’s razor-sharp and utterly gripping. I’m looking forward to seeing what I think of it.

Let me get reading!

As if four wasn’t enough, I had quite the shopping spree in Waterstones. I’ve also got waiting by my bedside:

• Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid - I LOVED Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising, so I’m hoping this one is just as loveable.

• The Artist, by Lucy Steeds - Winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, I’m hopeful. The last prize-winner I bought I didn’t finish. But there was something about this “furiously romantic sun-drenched mystery” that appealed to me. Fingers crossed.

So plenty to keep me going - I’m quick reader once I get engrossed by a good storyline.

What’s on your list this summer? Any recommendations for me?