I have a backlog of Libro.fm credits which means this month is full of summer releases. Truly what a treat, especially since some of my favorite authors, like Lucy Foley and Riley Sager, have new books.
Also, if you’re on the fence about some of these reads, I’ve added a “read if you like” section. Maybe that’ll help you find a new fave (or avoid something that might be a waste of time for you). Anyways, on with the summer reads!
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley • 🎧 • ★★★★☆
Lucy Foley does summer reading right. In The Midnight Feast, she transports you to a remote yet dreamy vacation destination in northern England. At this manor turned luxury retreat, the wealthy mingle and bask in the glow of health guru turned hotelier Francesca.
But what’s Francesca’s deal? What’s the only single traveler doing there? What’s up with all the feathers?
This story took some time to unravel, and I delighted in every moment. Bring this new release on vacation!
Read if you like: The Club by Ellery Lloyd, The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager • 🎧 • ★★★★☆
It’s hard to believe that the first Riley Sager book I picked up (Lock Every Door) had me less than impressed. Since then, every book from Sager has been four or more stars.
In the latest outing and great summer book, Sager plops you right into suburbia. There, Ethan reckons not only with returning to his family home after years away, but also to where his best friend disappeared decades prior.
Sager does a great job of making a pleasant subdivision and its residents seem unseemly. And maybe there is a phantom in the woods?
Read if you like: Any other Riley Sager books, The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore • 🎧 • ★★★★☆
This new summer book definitely hit on a lot of themes you’ll see on my read shelf: mystery, rural settings, summer camp, wealthy families, not-so-wealthy locals. But just because the themes are familiar, doesn’t mean The God of the Woods is one to skip.
I got pretty invested in listening to this one! In this novel by Liz Moore, a young teenage girl goes missing at summer camp. It’s scary and sad; it’s also suspicious since her brother went missing in the same area years prior. So are the two connected or is this fancy family just cursed?
You’ll want to find out, and I won’t spoil it for ya!
Read if you like: Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Funny Story by Emily Henry • ★★★★☆
I think that Emily Henry books sell themselves at this point. They are always charming, always satisfying and always are read in just a few sittings.
I did love the new-to-me setup of Funny Story: Daphne’s fiance breaks off their engagement; meanwhile Miles’s girlfriend dumps him — to couple up with that same fiance. While the dust settles, Daphne and Miles are thrust together to sort out their lives in the small town where all four live.
I have to say this was a smash for a summer read. It’s set over the course of the season on a coastal town in Michigan. While Michigan isn’t the same as Wisconsin, it definitely gave me a Door County feeling — always a plus in summer.
Read if you like: Any other Emily Henry books, One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer • ★★☆☆☆
The premise of We Used to Live Here had me from the jump: A couple moves into an old home with hopes of flipping it. During renovations, a family drops by asking to see inside since the father grew up there. Despite assurances that they’ll be 15 minutes, the family does not leave. This terrifies me. It’s the very basic premise of Funny Games, a movie that still haunts me if I think about it for too long.
This core made We Used to Live Here pretty scary to me! Plus, some of the supernatural elements really gave me the heebie jeebies. But overall, this book fell flat for me for a few major reasons:
- This book originally began as installments on Reddit. It still read that way to me. It could have used some more sophisticated editing, IMO.
- The structure of this book included prose, found documents, and reports. The latter devices felt a bit lazy to me. Or online forum-y.
- It just ended. I felt like the author didn’t quite know how to wrap up the story or, at the very least, provide a satisfying cliffhanger. This lack of of a conclusion felt very Reddit/comments section to me.
Read if you like: Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie and Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal • ★★★★☆
I picked this book up at the end of the summer last year, right around the time my family visits our favorite supper club together (that’d be The Ranch in Hayward, WI). But it was a tender time, and I didn’t want to read about the rise and fall of a Midwest supper club. But this July, I did, and I’m glad I cracked this one open.
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club follows four women across four generations. Each has a totally different relationship with the family’s Minnesota restaurant and those who work there. I liked the tension between each generation and the hominess of the woodsy part of the Midwest. It made me wish I had a family business to love and gripe about.
Read if you like: Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne • ★★★☆☆
One more scary tale to cap off the month! I was in the mood for thrillers and ghosts and supernatural scares. Diavola delivered.
In this newer release, a family vacations together in an Italian villa. The trip is fine. Sure, the siblings have their snits and the brother’s new boyfriend is insufferable, but nothing a quaint town and some past can’t fix, right?
Wrong. After snooping around the rental, suspicious things start to happen: there are noises at night, food starts rotting overnight, and everyone is on edge. Or maybe just one person?
I enjoyed the family drama and the spookiness of Diavola quite a bit, but I didn’t fine any of the characters to be people I wanted to root for. It was a fun read, great for summer (particularly when you’re reading from a raft in a lake far from Italy).
Read if you like: HBO’s White Lotus season two, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
Keep up with what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.
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