With only a few weeks left in the semester, I have begun to think about the sunny days, floral dresses, and good times that await me. One of my favorite parts of the summer is that I can read what I choose; no textbooks or assigned readings. Here is a list of my favorite books that I’ve read recently.
Hotel Nantucket
It only feels right to start off this list with “The Queen of beach reads” (New York Magazine). Elin Hilderbrand’s collection of books has been a favorite of mine for the past few summers. Focusing mostly on romance, these books are perfect for the warmer months. Almost all of her books take place in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Her most recent book, Hotel Nantucket, focuses on a fictional hotel that has just opened in town. It had closed down after a fire had killed a chambermaid in the 1920s. The hotel closed and fell into disrepair until a billionaire named Xavier Darling bought it. The book follows the employees and guests through a whole summer. I enjoyed seeing the ups and downs of the hotel business. Hilderbrand has a knack for detailed scenes and characters. It is truly a feel-good book.
Flight Behavior
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver is about a woman named Dellarobia who discovers monarch butterflies in the woods behind her house in Tennessee. This has never happened before. The book deals with ideas about how to deal with the butterflies along with different theories of why they are they, from religion to scientific reasoning. While this book is climate-focused, it also deals with the inner turmoil of Dellarobia’s life. I really connected with the dreams she holds for herself and her own journey gaining confidence and learning how to make the best decisions for herself.
Educated
Educated is a memoir by Tara Westover. She talks about growing up in the survivalist portion of the Mormon faith. It details the struggles she faced in order to find out who she wanted to be. She talks about how being able to go to college and get an education was able to open up her worldview to more perspectives. It was moving to read about Westover’s life and the hardships she faced. While there were some unsettling or disturbing parts, I found them to be an honest retelling of her life events. They made the story stronger.
TW: Child neglect, Domestic violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore.
Wish you were Here
The last book I chose was Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. We meet Diane, an ambitious and driven woman who works for Sotheby’s in New York. She wants her longtime boyfriend, Finn to propose and plans a vacation to the Galapagos Islands in hopes that he will pop the question. When COVID hits, Finn must stay at the hospital helping COVID patients at the hospital. Diane decides to go on vacation anyway and becomes stranded there once COVID stops travel from country to country. She must adapt and reflect on her life thus far. This book was slow to begin but then hooked me halfway through. Usually, I wouldn’t recommend a book if it was slow, but this one is worth it.
I hope that you’ll give these books a try. They’ve all left me thinking about them long after the last page. Some of these aren’t the stereotypical beach read, however, I think that they are worth it!
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/books/best-elin-hilderbrand-books.html