I’m reading 100 books this year.
As of the day I’m writing this, I have read 18 books in 2022. I’m behind on my goal, but I am a binge reader — meaning if a book is great, I will read 100 pages in an hour. With summer on the horizon, I will have many hours uninterrupted by homework to consume every book that comes my way.
I have over 100 books on my to-read list, so choosing the ones that I’m most excited about for this article was challenging (in short, I’m excited about them all!). For my full book list, feel free to be my friend on StoryGraph (my friend Sarah told me about this, and it’s like GoodReads but so much better. It’s created and owned by a woman of color, makes pretty graphs, and has an aesthetically pleasing design).
Sorted by mood, after many hours of consideration, here are the top books on my reading list for this summer:
TL;DR
Lighthearted: Beach Read by Emily Henry
Challenging: Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
Adventurous: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Dystopian: Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Informative: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
LGBTQIA+: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Funny: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
Mysterious: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Read on for the synopses and my thoughts.
Lighthearted: Beach Read by Emily Henry
“Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.” (from StoryGraph)
I will not lie — I am not an Emily Henry fan. Her book, People We Meet on Vacation, has a cult following and even I tried it out thanks to my favorite influencer, Emma Topp — but I was sadly disappointed. HOWEVER, I’m willing to give her another try for Beach Read, which seems like the ultimate (excuse my joke) beach read.
CHALLENGING: Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
“Seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City–and pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school.
But in the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles away, her life is turned upside down. The community she’s known since birth becomes unrecognizable; neighbors and classmates are consumed with fear, bigotry, and hatred. Ultimately, Maya must find the strength within to determine where she truly belongs.” (from StoryGraph)
One of the greatest things about books is that they can show you how people that are different from you see the world. This book seems like the perfect mix of romance and personal reflection, so I can’t wait to read it.
Adventurous: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
“Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why — or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.
To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch — and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he’s determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather’s last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.” (from StoryGraph)
Three of my friends have recommended this book to me, so it’s about time I read it. I love a good mystery, and I’m sensing a love triangle in this one — even better!
DYSTOPIAN: Uglies by scott Westerfield
“Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. In just a few weeks she’ll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she’ll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.
But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world– and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally’s choice will change her world forever…” (from StoryGraph)
This one is kind of cheating because I read it in high school and I loved it, but I think college me will have a few more thoughts.
Informative: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
“For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. F**k positivity, Mark Manson says. Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it. In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is–a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited–not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault. Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.” (from StoryGraph)
Last fall, I went to a networking event for my major where our keynote speaker was the coolest person ever, and she recommended this book. Anyone who knows me knows that I maybe give too many f**ks from time to time, so I’m excited to see what this book will teach me.
LGBTQIA+: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
“On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.
Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.” (from StoryGraph)
I can tell this book is going to absolutely wreck me and that I will read it in one sitting.
Funny: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
“An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.
After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.” (from StoryGraph)
My boyfriend made me watch Wolf of Wall Street with him this semester, and this seems like the book version of that if it starred a man of color. I can’t say I loved Wolf of Wall Street, but it is intriguing indeed.
Mysterious: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
“In horror movies, the final girl is the one who’s left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?
Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she’s not alone. For more than a decade she’s been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette’s worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.
But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.” (from StoryGraph)
This one was especially difficult to choose because I LOVE a good mystery — in fact, 28 of my to-read books on StoryGraph are classified as such. However, I ended up adding The Final Girl Support Group to this article because it seems like a great mix of mystery and #girlbossing, which is perfect for Her Campus.
If you read this far, I love you. Feel free to message me on Instagram if you read any of these and tell me what you thought! Also, let me know if you have any book recommendations — I’m always looking to add. HAGS!