Books to Read if You Like the Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

Summer is in full swing and there'due south nothing like heading to the beach — or the park — sitting past the h2o, contemplating the view, grabbing a good book and just immersing ourselves in it. That's why nosotros're throwing out some ideas for the perfect summer novels.

Nosotros are adhering to "beach reads" rules though: well-nigh of the titles hither are either total page-turners or grant some instant gratification — or both. And all of them will transport you to faraway places or the kind of setting y'all'd enjoy spending a vacation at, either because of when they were written or where they are fix.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith (1955)

The oldest book on this listing is the start one in a series of 5 psychological thrillers that Patricia Highsmith wrote about her infamous Tom Ripley character. Even if he's a sociopath with more than than murderous tendencies, the reader can't avert existence on Ripley's side while reading Highsmith'southward engrossing novels.

The whole series is prepare in Europe with the first volume taking its protagonist and the reader to San Remo, Rome, Palermo and Venice. Plus, there'south a abiding longing for a trip to Greece.

This Australian archetype is set in 1900 and features a group of boarders from an all-girls schoolhouse in Victoria as they take a day trip to the nearby geological formation Hanging Rock. In that location are enough of descriptions of proper picnic attire, the beauty of the landscape and the relationships that bond this group of teenagers and their teachers.

And while Joan Lindsay's writing style and the setting for this novel may have you drawing some parallels with other classic coming-of-age novels written by and starring women, the ending of Picnic at Hanging Rock could simply take been written in the 1960s.

"Los mares del Sur" (Southern Seas) past Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (1979)

Permit me the hometown reference with this Spanish novel set up in Barcelona in 1979. Written by the Galician-Catalan author Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Southern Seasis the most famous of his novels starring the private detective Pepe Carvalho. He'southward a gourmet who's equally obsessed with food, literature and the city of Barcelona.

Likewise a methodical description of the metropolis in the late 1970s, the volume as well includes references to a trip to the Southern Seas that never was.

"Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami (1987)

Written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, this coming-of-age novel follows the story of Toru Watanabe, a college educatee who is obsessed with American literature. He's trying to figure out his life in Tokyo in the 1960s and ends up in relationships with two women who couldn't be more different: there'southward Naoko, the one-time girlfriend of his best friend, and Midori, one of his classmates.

The story takes the reader from the bustling streets of Tokyo to the peaceful quietness of a rehab center lost in the mountains nearby Kyoto.

"Go Shorty" by Elmore Leonard (1990)

Pocket-size-time Miami loan shark Chili Palmer travels to Las Vegas, hoping to get a debt paid, and ends upwards in Los Angeles, where he learns about the movie-making business and how to get a producer. Set in Hollywood in 1990, this California archetype masterfully blends suspense, thrills, humor and even the slightest hint of a Western.

This story is so quintessentially Hollywood that there'southward a 1995 movie accommodation starring John Travolta and a 2017 TV bear witness with Chris O'Dowd, but you should definitely commencement with the Elmore Leonard novel.

"Decease at La Fenice" past Donna Leon (1992)

American novelist Donna Leon has been calling Venice home for years. Her first book in the mystery serial that stars the Venetian police detective Guido Brunetti follows the investigation of a music conductor's death after he's poisoned during the intermission of a Verdi opera at La Felice.

Leon has been steadily publishing ane new Commissario Guido Brunetti installment a year for decades. Then if you love the Venitian setting, crime stories and the constant descriptions of all the succulent foods (and drinks) that Brunetti ingests on a daily footing, this could definitely be the series for you.

"Call Me past Your Proper name" past André Aciman (2007)

Chances are nosotros'll never get to run into Luca Guadagnino'due south sequel to his Call Me by Your Name movie adaptation. And while André Aciman'south follow-up novel, Find Me, may leave hardcore fans of Elio and Oliver a piffling fleck underwhelmed, there'due south goose egg like going dorsum to the original fabric.

Ready against the backdrop of the Italian Riviera, this coming-of-historic period story follows the precocious Elio as he falls in dear with Oliver, a graduate pupil and Elio's parents' guest for the summertime. This iconic summer read perfectly captures the feeling of longing for someone and it features plentiful, engaging conversations, early morning swims, leisurely cycle rides, a furtive relationship and a passionate trip to Rome.

"Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sets this story — that deals with immigration, race and the feeling of belonging — in Lagos, London and New Bailiwick of jersey. Her protagonist is Ifemelu, a young Nigerian adult female who moves to the Us to further her studies.

Americanahmakes for a great read not simply equally an engaging and entertaining novel but also as a study almost race in America from the perspective of a non-American Black person. The novel also packs a complex dear story betwixt Ifemelu and Obinze, who moves to London and has to live in that location as an undocumented immigrant.

"Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty (2014)

I don't care if y'all've already seen the star-packed HBO miniseries and know not but who the killer of this story is but also the identity of the person who dies and whose investigation propels the whole plot, Liane Moriarty's soapy thriller yet very much deserves a read.

On the one mitt, instead of the rugged coast of Northern California, the novel Large Trivial Lies is set in the suburban Northern Beaches of Sydney. On the other paw, the volume jams enough sense of humor and sharp barrack — especially when it comes to the inclusion of dialogue from the constabulary interrogations amidst the many parents who take their kids to the same school every bit our protagonists — that you'll find enough nuggets of new fabric to more than than justify the read.

"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017)

Taylor Jenkins Reid'southward historical fiction bestseller is gear up between the publishing world of present-day New York and the archetype Hollywood of the 1950s, 1960s and onward. When the relatively unknown journalist Monique Grant is tasked with writing a profile on the legendary actress Evelyn Hugo, she can't believe her career-changing luck.

The novel guides the reader through a series of interviews between Monique and Evelyn in which the former star tells her origin story and the reasons behind her many marriages throughout the years.

"Less" past Andrew Sean Greer (2017)

Andrew Sean Greer'southward Pulitzer Prize-winning novel stars Arthur Less as a novelist with a dwindling career and a broken heart. As if all of that wasn't plenty already, Less is on the brink of turning 50. When his former long-time boyfriend invites Less to his wedding, our hapless protagonist decides to embark on a serial of back-to-back international trips with a "ramshackle itinerary" to avert the much-dreaded event.

Greer'southward fun and never-repose novel takes the reader and its protagonist from the foggy shores of San Francisco to New York City, Mexico City, Turin, Paris, Berlin, Morocco, Republic of india and Japan.

"Agent Running in the Field" by John le Carré (2019)

The terminal published novel of late spymaster John le Carré is a return to some of his career-defining themes in the world of international espionage, which he describes with precision — and without a glimpse of glamour or spectacle.

The novel stars Nat, a reluctanthoped-for-out-of-the-field agent in his late forties, who has had a long career developing sources in Russia. Nat'southward back in London and somehow tin't avoid getting himself involved in even so some other surveillance plot. The book is gear up in 2018 and there'due south constant chatter among its characters regarding Brexit and the Trump administration. Le Carré favors none of those.

Even if you don't similar international thrillers featuring double agents that much — who doesn't though? — Agent Running in the Field is still worth a read if only to appreciate Le Carré's succinct yet masterfully rich and descriptive prose.

"Beach Read" past Emily Henry (2020)

Let'southward add Beach Readto this list of embankment reads because Emily Henry's romance novel truly does its title justice. Prepare in a small Michigan town, the novel tells the story of bestselling romance author January and acclaimed fiction author Gus. They end upwardly being neighbors and living side-past-side in lakefront cottages.

One matter leads to another and they end upwards making a deal: past the end of the summer he'll exist the one to pen a romance book and she'll write a dark and bleak one. They both need to teach the other everything they need to know to be able to produce something in a genre they're not used to working in. Of course, as well all the procrastinating and writing, there'due south also time for beloved.

"The Vanishing One-half" past Brit Bennett (2020)

Terminal yr's revelatory novel The Vanishing One-half tackles the subject of passing when it comes to racial identity. The Brit Bennett-penned historical novel, which is already being developed into a express series by HBO, tells the story of two identical twin sisters from a small town in rural Louisiana where the majority Black population is so light-skinned that one of the sisters passes every bit a white woman for most of her life subsequently fleeing town.

The action encompasses several decades starting in the 1950s and weaves together the life of the alloyed sis — who's leading a double life in New Orleans showtime and and then Los Angeles — with that of the other one, who is forced to return home.

"Velvet Was the Night" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2021)

Permit'due south close this list with an August release from one of 2020's bestselling authors. Later her Mexican Gothicwas chosen as Best Horror novel final year by the Goodreads users, author Silvia Moreno-Garcia returns with Velvet Was the Nighttime.

The Mexican Canadian author sets the activeness in 1970s Mexico City and writes well-nigh Maite, a secretary obsessed with romance stories and her beautiful neighbor Leonora. When the object of her fixation disappears, Maite starts looking for her — only she isn't the only i.

Books to Read if You Like the Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

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