Summer is upon us and this means relaxing by the pool with an ice cold drink and a good book while getting your tan on. Or you can stay indoors with your cat and lounge in bed. It’s your choice.
As we roll into the summer of 2017, it is looking promising, so here are some of the ones you should pick up on your next book haul. There’s a book for everybody!
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
As the author of Divergent, Roth takes us on epic sci-fi adventure through the stars. In a world where its citizens develop currentgifts which will help shape their world, the protagonists Akos and Cyra find their currentgifts to be vices upon themselves. Thrown into orbit together, the two must find a way to navigate a world of tyrants, different intergalactic nations and right the wrongs of the stars.
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
This ‘sort of memoir’ recollects and reveals Fisher‘s Star Wars memories from intimate to outrageous. Having recently unearthed her handwritten journals which contained her musings while filming Episode IV, she found love poems, naivety and a vulnerability she’d never noticed. Now complied into a book, this collection of excerpts from her journals unfold what actually happened behind the scenes of one of the most famous film series of all time. Filled with her sense of humour, the pros and con of celebrity life and Hollywood royalty, this is a diary you want to read.
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
Start summer off with this contemporary romance which follows the story of Griffin who finds out his first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, has died in a drowning accident. Despite not being together and seeing Jackson, he’d always known Theo would come back, that they’d be back and the future Griffin had envisioned is now dissolving into nothing. On a downward spiral, his secrets and history are rising to the surface and the only one who seems to be able to help is Jackson. Filled with heartache, loss and recovery, Silvera’s writing will surely leave you breathless.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Inspired by The Black Lives Matter movement, the books follows 16-year-old Starr who is torn between the two worlds she lives in: the poor neighbourhood where she’s from and the upper class high school she attends in the suburbs. As if the struggle switching between the two wasn’t hard enough, it is completely destroyed when Starr is the only witness to her best friend’s death – a fatal shooting by a police officer. Her friend was unarmed. Now Starr’s voice has power, has meaning, and it can either get her killed or bring justice to her community.
He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly
Summer isn’t right without a good thriller. Eclipse chasers Kit and Laura are travelling the world together to see as many eclipses as possible, following the path of the dark moon. However, one evening at a festival in Cornwall they stumble across a man and woman and Laura knows this is something terrible. Yet the man denies it. So Laura tells a white lie, the victim’s gratitude becomes obsessive and things spiral out of control from there. Hachette Australia are calling this the suspense novel of 2017, filled with controversy, secrets and a truth that may destroy a marriage or prove fatal.
Letters to A Young Muslim by Omar Saif Ghobash
From the Ambassador of the UAE to Russia comes a gripping insight into what it is like to be a Muslim in the 21st century. As a personal collection of letters to his sons, Ghobash discusses his struggles between being a father and an experience diplomat. He also raises the question as to what it means to be a good Muslim and is concerned with how Muslims today can band together to find a voice that is true to Islam while being active in a technologically advanced and modern world. Despite being a heavier read, this will prove to be fantastic exploration of the struggles of Muslims today.
At The Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson
Another diverse read to add to your collection is this YA contemporary romance. From the author of We Are the Ants, Hutchinson brings us the story of Tommy and Ozzie, best friends since second grade and boyfriends since eighth. One day, Tommy just vanishes, completely erased from history and the only person who can remember him is Ozzie. And to make matters worse, it seems that the universe is shrinking around him.
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
From the award-winning powerhouse Roxane Gay whose best selling works include An Untamed State and Bad Feminist, she returns with a collection of stories filled with the words of difficult women. The characters in these stories live through the consequences of beauty, pain, poverty, privilege, passion, human connection. It is described to be a haunting and wry vision of modern America, and its women.
There you have it, folks! Enjoy your summer and dive into some of these books if you get the chance.