For the second summer in a row, I’ve decided to share a portion of my summer reading list and this time, I am determined to follow through. While I only read 1.5 of the books I wrote about last summer, I have much more free time between planning my move for big girl school and simple, existential dread. So here are some of the books that will be on the roster!
A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur
We travel back in time to 1506 Joseon (the Korean Peninsula) and suffer under the reign of a tyrant king. And when I say tyrant, I mean he’s burning books, stealing land, and mistreating women (I will say that I want this man dead). The female protagonist leads a privileged life until her older sister is called to the palace to serve as one of the king’s women. As she plots to save her sister, the prince plots to overthrow his half-brother’s reign of terror, but trusting the wrong person will lead him to a fate worse than death. Paths crossed and alliances forged, these two characters will have to fight for their right to live and the country’s.
One genre you will catch me reading this summer is historical fiction. This one is the first to come and the oldest in the timeline. I heard about this book on TikTok and while I can’t remember the exact wording the creator made, I do remember thinking “oh I have to read this”. Unfortunately, I have to wait until May 14th for it to be released, so I will be distracting myself until then.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Another elite private school in the Northeast created by a rich man suffers from scandal! After the opening of this academy, the founder’s wife and daughter are kidnapped and the only clue left behind is a list of murder methods signed by one “Truly, Devious”. The true crime junkie main character takes it upon herself to solve this “great mystery” and now has to juggle school and social life with all these new people in her circle. She now realizes her actions have consequences as the “Truly, Devious” makes a surprise comeback and brings along their good ol’ friend- Death.
I love private school drama as much as the next person. And this being a murder to get the wheels turning is even better. Not to mention the murderer is supposed to be old and decrepit when the story takes place.
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
Following the Arab Spring, an Egyptian-American woman and an Egyptian man meet in a cafè in Cairo. He’s now an unemployed photographer suffering from addiction and she is an English teacher suffering from an identity crisis. With some passion involved, they decide to move in together and over time realize, that this relationship may not be what they wanted.
As a first-generation child, I understand the need to belong in your parents’ native country that our character suffers from. In fact, after going to that country for the first time this past winter, I realized that I (personally) would never want to live back there. And with that, I’m sitting here wondering why this girl went to a country she’s never been to and decided to stay. In the hopes of judging someone else’s poor choices, I will be scratching this book off my list in the coming months.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
I know this is another book from TikTok that I was late on the bandwagon with, but once I heard my cousin raving about it, I decided it was time to add it to my TBR.
The gods are awake after centuries of sleeping (my kind of people) and decided to fight. Womp, womp. On the sidelines, we have yet another 18-year-old with family trauma who will be dragged into it eventually. Plagued with worries about achieving the columnist promotion at her paper, she writes letters to her brother that magically appear in the hands of her workplace enemy. The anonymous responses allow our main characters to create a connection that will follow them to the front lines of battle.
I’ll be honest – if I read this blurb on Goodreads alone, I wouldn’t read it. But because I’ve been hearing about this book since it came out and now that it’s infiltrated my family, I’ll spend my summer reading it.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
While doing an afternoon stroll with my friend in the local College Station Barnes and Noble, my eyes somehow got caught on this book. We started reading its blurb and the moment I knew I had to read it was when my friend and I audibly gasped simultaneously.
The story takes place in post-Spanish Civil War Barcelona and follows the main character, Daniel, following the death of his mother. Finding solace in a book called The Shadow of the Wind, he searches for other works by the same author. He soon discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every single one of the author’s works and realizes that he may have the last surviving book.
The blurb then mentions a murder mystery and doomed love – all intriguing plot points. But as someone who always wonders what was in the Library of Alexandria, the destruction of this fictional author’s books got to me. I will be tuning in to see what happened (I’m just nosy like that).