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Thrillers, classics and YA: A summer reading list
If weather experts are to be believed, we’re in for a record-breaking summer. Already we’re feeling it: the heat is face-melting and we’re swimming in sweat just seconds after we step out anywhere that’s not blessed with airconditioning.
If it’s too hot to do anything, we might as well make good use of our idle time by catching up on our reading. Just like summer movie blockbusters, a reading list for this season of sun and sweat doesn’t have to be heavy and deep; they need only be engaging and fun.
Here are a few of my recommendations – a mix of single session page-turners and more complex, weeks-long mind-f***s. There are new titles and must-read classics; young adult fantasy and definitely adult (grounded in) reality. Some I’ve already read, others are on my to-read pile. Because whether we’re lounging underneath an umbrella by the beach, or staying under the covers in an airconditioned room, burying our noses in a book always makes good sense.
1. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
I’ll admit a bias towards British novelist David Mitchell (he’s the only one with two books in this list). Black Swan Green chronicles one year in the life of 13-year-old Jason Taylor in 1980s UK. Like most coming-of-age tales, it’s partly funny, partly tragic, and ultimately bittersweet.
2. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Published in 2012, the novel tells the story of Louisa Clark, an ordinary 26-year-old who finds herself working as a caregiver for rich guy Will Traynor, who was once a globetrotting, extreme sports playing hedonist, but is now wheelchair-bound and extremely suicidal. You can probably guess where this story is headed, but it’s still a pretty good read, and might come in handy since it’s been turned into a movie starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin.
3. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
If you’re making room in your reading list for some of the classics, start with this headscratcher of a novel which features World War 2 history, alien abduction and time travel. It’s basically a treatise on war and Vonnegut’s meandering, haphazard style reflects its utter senselessness. Don’t worry though if, at the end, you didn’t get it. So it goes.
4. Proxy and Guardian by Alex London
Alex London, who was in the country recently, started out as a journalist. He’s written non-fiction and children’s books, and these two novels are his attempts at reaching young adult eyes. Set in a dystopian world, where society is split between the haves and have-nots, Proxy and Guardian feature the genre’s first gay protagonist, Syd. The world London creates is incredibly rich and vivid, and here’s hoping we’ll see the characters come to life in a movie soon.
Read: Alex London: ‘It’s been amazing to see the response’ to Proxy’s gay hero
5. All Fall Down by Ally Carter
It’s not easy mixing spies, international intrigue and teenagers, but Carter does it quite well in this novel, the first in a series called Embassy Row.
Sixteen-year-old Grace Blakely is sent to live with her grandfather, an ambassador in the fictional Mediterranean nation of Adria. There she attempts to learn the truth about her mother’s murder, and becomes entangled in a web of mystery and deception. Suspend your disbelief and it’s actually quite thrilling.
6. The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Most of us know Yann Martel for his bestseller The Life of Pi. This new book marks a return to the themes of travel and adventure. Composed of three interconnected stories each decades apart, the book describes itself as “a quest, a ghost story, and a mesmerizing tale of love and loss.” It’s gotten good reviews and if you’ve read the author’s previous work, chances are you’ll like this one, too.
7. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
One part forensic whodunit and one part spy novel, I Am Pilgrim is the very definition of an unputdownable summer read. The nameless narrator, once part of a clandestine branch of the CIA, is pulled back into the world of super spies and terrorists after a grisly murder in New York, whose culprit seemed to have learned from a forensics manual he wrote. A movie is in the works, supposedly being directed by Matthew Vaughn.
8. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
What if you could be young forever? This is the central theme in Oscar Wilde’s only full-length novel, first published over 125 years ago.
Beautiful Dorian Gray unwittingly makes a pact that allows him to remain youthful while a painting of him by his friend Basil Hallward receives the effects of aging and decrepitude. The tragic tale has fascinated generations and is still shockingly relevant today as it was when it first came out.
9. On Love by Charles Bukowski
How about a poetry collection? He’s been dead for over 22 years, but novelist and poet Charles Bukowski remains a stalwart of contemporary American letters. On Love is a new collection of his poems that attempts to examine and visualize that most relatable of emotions. If you’re looking for words to quote on your next Twitter or Instagram post, Bukowski can help you out.
10. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Aveyard—another recent Manila visitor—is only midway through her 20s but she’s already written a bestselling novel. Red Queen, described as a Hunger Games-meets-X-Men YA novel, is the first book in a planned series. If you’re a fan of kickass, power-wielding heroines, give this a try.
Read: ‘Red Queen’ author Victoria Aveyard: I’m definitely a feminist
11. The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
Reality and fantasy collide in this novel set in the glitzy, high-class world of 1950s Manhattan. Author Melanie Benjamin chronicles the sometimes strange, sometimes tumultuous friendship between socialite Babe Paley and writer Truman Capote. If you’ve ever been curious about the world of the insanely rich and unapologetically bored, this book is your access pass.
12. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Imagine a world where books are outlawed. Scared yet? That’s the premise of this classic from Ray Bradbury, which first came out in 1953. The author has stated that he wrote it at a time of outright censorship and when there was a real fear of book-burning. If you like novels set in dystopian futures, this should be right up your alley.
13. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
It’s been around since 2011, but Ernest Cline’s cult favorite is about to hit the mainstream after it was announced Steven Spielberg himself is directing the film adaptation. In the not-too-distant future, teenager Wade Watts escapes reality by immersing himself in the world of OASIS, a “virtual utopia” filled with puzzles based on its creator’s obsession with pop culture references from long ago.
14. Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan
Hardcore Pinoy book nuts are no doubt aware of this Palanca-award winning Filipino crime novel, but if you’ve never read it, now’s your chance. The book, which follows crime-solving Catholic priests set in modern-day Payatas, is now on the shelves of the big bookstores.
15. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Shorlisted for the Man Booker Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award last year, A Little Life is a stunning coming-of-age novel set in modern-day New York. It’s a bit heavier than your typical summer novel, but if you’ve got the time and perseverance, it’s a worthwhile read.
16. Cometh The Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Archer has been writing books since 1974, has published over 20 and is showing no signs of slowing down. His latest series, begun in 2011, is called the Clifton Chronicles. The sixth and latest book is Cometh The Hour, which sees the characters in the 1970s (the series started in 1919). If you’re worried you might not be caught up in the story, don’t worry, the book can stand on its own, although you might be tempted to get the rest of the series after finishing this one.
17. Lady Midnight – Book One in The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare
Fans of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series will be glad to know that the Shadowhunters are back in her new series The Dark Artifices. Hot off the press (it was released first week of March), Lady Midnight picks up the story five years after the end of City of Heavenly Fire.
18. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
All The Light We Cannot See is a novel that takes place in World War 2-era Europe. The protagonists are children: one a blind French girl named Marie-Laure, and the other a German orphan boy named Werner Pfennig. Critics have raved about this novel and there’s a reason it won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
19. A Court Of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas burst onto the YA scene with the Throne of Glass series, which is a loose retelling of Cinderella. Her new book is the first in a new series that has elements of Beauty and the Beast and the fantasy world of fairies.
20. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The other Mitchell book I cannot recommend enough is one that is so vast in scope you’ll either forget the beach or end up staying indoors for the better part of the summer. But Cloud Atlas is Mitchell’s masterpiece and, if you’re patient enough to make it through interlocking stories that span not just years or decades, but centuries, you’ll be rewarded with a breathtaking tale like no other. — BM, GMA News
Many of these titles are available at National Bookstore.
Paul John Caña is a magazine writer and live music geek. He is also co-founder of libreto.org, an online collective of writers and artists. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana.
