With all the trashy beach reads out there, it can often be hard to find one with a little more…substance. Here are five of my picks, taken directly from my spring break reading list (I went on vacation with my mom, I had a lot of free time, okay?) that still qualify as light summer reading, but also deliver a poignant message.
If you loved The Help, pick up Glow, by Jessica Maria Tuccelli. A ghost story meets tale of female triumph, this 2012 novel uses five dialectic voices to tell a moving tale of race relations and the power of motherhood.
If you’re obsessed with Sex and the City, check out Girls in White Dresses, by Jennifer Close. This modern tale follows the lives of three young women navigating jobs, sex, and love in their 20s, as friend after friend announces her engagement.
If you liked The Vow, try reading What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty. While their premises are similar, Moriarty’s witty novel follows a middle-aged divorced woman who hit her head and last remembers being pregnant and in love. Alice must learn to accept her rambunctious kids, her now ex-husband, and the new life she finds herself living.
If you’re a fan of Jane Eyre, pick up, The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. This novel follows Victoria, a foster child who’s grown immune to emotion, and how she uses the secret meanings behind flowers in order to give meaning to her own life.
If you loved Midnight in Paris, check out The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain. This historical fiction tale of Ernest Hemingway’s life with his first wife, Hadley, chronicles their move to Paris, which envigorates and eventually destroys their relationship.
Happy reading!