The Best Books I’ve Read Every Summer For The Past Four Years!

School is starting again, and it’s (fortunately? unfortunately?) my senior year. So in honor of me ignoring this terrifying milestone in my life, I’m looking back at the best books I’ve read during the summers of 2018-2021*.

*or…i guess if you live in the down under then it’s the winter months for you.

2018

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• Legendary is such an interesting read to me, because while it lacks a lot of the mysterious, circus-y magic of Caraval, it introduces Jacks and a card-based magic system. And Jacks is funnily enough getting his own book next month so I honestly think that this is due a reread.
• Buried Beneath The Baobab Tree broke my heart. And yes, it is non-fiction. There are years when I read one non-fiction book for fun, thank you very much. Anyways, the fact that so many girls and women are being gaslit and abused by their kidnappers, and still haven’t been recovered is a tremendously humbling, horrifying thing to think about.
• Uh…2018 was what I like to call Shadowhunter Summer. Or literally just the year of Shadowhunter books. City of Lost Souls, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess were my favorites that I read in the summer. Also, I might have just shed a tear by simply looking at the cover.
• The Wicked Deep is a book I’ve uh…sorta forgot about. However, I can still taste the salt of the sea in the wisps of the wind, and sense the caress of silvery beams of moonlight upon the soothing waves. Ernshaw is one of my favorite writers when it comes to atmosphere, because while I can’t remember most of the plot, I do remember falling into this world. And that’s what counts.

2019

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• Yona of the Dawn Vol. 1 introduced me to my first and only manga series that I’m still in the process of reading! I loved it when I first read it, and the series has only gotten better since.
• Archenemies was a slower-paced sequel to the quick action of Renegades but we got so many cute Nova/Adrian moments. And the political intrigue kept me invested. But mostly I associate this book with Nova and Adrian so yeah.
• With The Fire On High is technically the first contemporary on my list. I’m no good at the whole “reading contemporary in summer” because fantasy brings me back every season of the year. Anyways, I truly do love this book with my whole heart and soul. It’s a feel-good story of a young mom who wants to chase her passion of cooking, and she’s mixed too which makes me so happy!
• A Thousand Perfect Notes basically gave me all the pain of Your Lie in April in book form. I still freaking love this book. C.G. Drews has a way of writing contemporary stories that are heartbreaking, funny, emotional, and memorable.
• The Tea Dragon Festival was my second ever graphic novel. Actually…have I read a graphic novel since then? Uh, moving on, this was adorable and beautiful and diverse in so many ways.

2020

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• If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought I read all of these in fall/winter wow. In An Absent Dream is tied with Down Among the Sticks and Bones for the best atmosphere in the whole series, with great character development.
• The Gilded Wolves and The Silvered Serpents are so, so good. Seeing them reminds me that the finale comes out soon and I am most certainly not ready for the level of emotional toil Roshani Chokshi is going to destroy me with! I am scared!
• A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder is easily the best YA mystery I’ve ever read. The plot twists, the suspects, the true-crime podcast format, everything about it makes it so memorable. Hot girl summer has nothing on murder girl summer.
• The Starless Sea is beautifully written, and artfully confusing. I’m still not sure what exactly happened but I do know that I had a good time reading, marking tabs, and gaping at quotes.
• The Companion is creepy and unsettling. I have no idea why I didn’t save it until closer to Halloween but here we are.

2021

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• 2021 hasn’t been the greatest summer for reading but Good Girl, Bad Blood is very much a fantastic follow-up to its predecessor. The mystery might not be as enticing but the emotional pain got me time and time again.
• Speaking of emotional pain, Queen of Air and Darkness hurt my soul. I still need to write my review up but gosh dang a lot went down.

So that’s it! Tell me: what one of the best books you’ve ever read in summer?

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