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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tampa chapter.

The semester is almost over, and that means summer is near! The time to let the semester’s stress fly away with the wind and start relaxing is nearing. It’s time to go home and/or to travel the world. While we explore and chill, we watch movies and TV shows, draw, journal, write, or read. While I do all these things, the first thing I do when the semester ends is buy a book to read. I have loved reading since I was a little girl, but during the semester, it is hard to read for fun, especially when all I read are textbooks. No matter where you go in the summer, the first thing you can do is go and buy a book. Going into a bookstore and browsing for almost an hour in it, trying to decide what I want to read, brings me peace. So, if you also like reading or are trying to get into reading, I have a few recommendations for you below:

  1. “The Inheritance Games” series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
    • This is a five-book series (the fifth book will be released on November 12th, 2024).
    • Once you start to read the books they are hard to put down because they are exciting and filled with puzzles and secrets.
    • The story starts when Avery Grambs inherits Tobias Hawthorne’s fortune, a billionaire who she has never met, but to receive it she needs to move into the Hawthorne’s Mansion with the dispossessed family and play the game to survive and find the truth. 
  2. “Shatter Me” series by Tahereh Mafi
    • A 10-book series.
    • This is a dystopian romantic thriller.
    • In this story, the Reestablishment, a harsh dictatorship,  rules the world and the environment is damaged, but Juliette, the girl with the deadly touch, is here to change everything. 
  3. “XOXO” by Axie Oh
    • Standalone book
    • A cute rom-com story
    • Jenny, a cello prodigy, has an encounter with a mysterious boy, Jaewoo, in Los Angeles and three months later moves to South Korea to take care of her grandmother where she discovers Jaewoo is not just a normal student at her new school but a K-pop idol. Both fall in love, but he is forbidden to date, so what will happen? 
  4. “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson
    • A crime thriller trilogy 
  5. The story follows Pippa, who investigates the murder of a high school student, Andie Bell, who was killed five years prior as part of her senior year final. Pippa starts uncovering the truth of what happened to Andie Bell on the night of the murder while others try to stop and silence her.
  6. “Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
    • Standalone Stem Romance
    • A cute fake-dating and enemies to lovers, a science romance between experimental physicist Jack and theoretical physicist Elsie. 

Honorable Mentions:

  • “Little Monsters” by Kara Thomas
  • “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” by Rick Riordan
  • “Heroes of Olympus” by Rick Riordan
  • “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series by Sarah J. Mass
  • “Crescent City” series by Sarah J. Mass
  • “Lore” by Alexandra Bracken
  • “It Only Happens In the Movies” By Holly Bourne
  • “ The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig
Anngelyk M. La Luz Maldonado is a writer at Her Campus at Tampa Chapter. As a Her Campus writer, her articles cover topics revolving life experiences and entertainment. Aside from Her Campus, Anngelyk is a senior at the University of Tampa majoring in Marine Science/Biology with a minor in Environmental Science. She works for the Department of Biology as a head mentor for the general biology (199L) lab and an office assistant. Anngelyk, also, is a researcher at the Durkin Lab working to gain better understanding of Macrocheles sp. mites. When not writing or studying, Anngelyk enjoys watching Asian dramas, listening to music, and reading. She likes to read books about high-fantasy, mystery solving, and lately she is into romance books such as “Love, Theoretically” by Ali Hazelwood. She also enjoys spending time with her friends and calling her family.