2024 Summer Reading List from Wellesley Books

 

It’s finally summertime, so grab a book from this summer reading list suggested by Wellesley Books and settle in for an adventure.

Young Adult:

 

Sheine Lende: A Prequel to Elatsoe By Darcie Little Badger, Rovina Cai (Illustrator)

Bookpage Most Anticipated YA of 2024!

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can’t afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood – and the loss of Shane’s father and her grandparents. They don’t think they’ll ever get their home back.

 

Better Than the Movies By Lynn Painter

Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.

 

Dear Wendy By Ann Zhao

Ann Zhao, the author, just graduated from Wellesley College!

Sophie Chi is in her first year of college (though her parents wish she’d attend a “real” university rather than a liberal arts school) and has long accepted her aroace (aromantic and asexual) identity. She knows she’ll never fall in love, but she enjoys running an Instagram account that offers relationship advice to students at her school. No one except her roommate can know that she’s behind the incredibly popular “Dear Wendy” account.

 

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love: A Novel By Lex Croucher

A hilarious and beautiful reimagining of the Knights of the Round Table, Gwen and Art alternates between Gwen, the princess of England, and Arthur, a descendant of the famous king, as they navigate their betrothal–and their own secrets.

 

I’ll Be the One By Lyla Lee

The world of K-Pop has never met a star like this. Debut author Lyla Lee delivers a deliciously fun, thoughtful rom-com celebrating confidence and body positivity—perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Julie Murphy. Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her mother, have set for girls like her.

 

Snowglobe (The Snowglobe Duology #1) By Soyoung Park, Joungmin Lee Comfort (Translated by)

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

 

The Breakup Artists By Adriana Mather, Booboo Stewart (Illustrator)

August and Valentine, seventeen-year-old best friends, run a business called Summer Love, Inc. They hire themselves out to unhappy parents whose kids are in bad relationships, adopting fake identities and going undercover to break up these relationships by any means necessary.

 

The Naturals By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Cassie joins a highly classified group of teens with unusual talents. Talents that they use to decode unsolved murders. Soon she’s being sucked into the world of psychological profiling, all while uncovering shocking facts about her mother’s disappearance. Full of suspense and a dash of romance, this book is a must-read for fans of The Inheritance Games and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder!

 

Adult (good for teens too):

How to Age Disgracefully: A Novel By Clare Pooley

When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards. The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting.

 

Long Island (Eilis Lacey Series) By Colm Toibin

One day, when Tony Fiorello is at his job and his wife, Eilis Lacey, is in her home office doing her accounting, an Irishman comes to the door asking for her by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but instead deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. It is what Eilis does—and what she refuses to do—in response to this stunning news that makes Tóibín’s novel so riveting.

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Read with Jenna Pick By Shelby Van Pelt

Tova Sullivan becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, while working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

 

Sandwich: A Novel By Catherine Newman

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

 

Swan Song By Elin Hilderbrand

Chief of Police Ed Kapenash is about to retire. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce. But when a 22-million-dollar summer home is purchased by the mysterious Richardsons—how did they make their money, exactly?—Ed, Sharon, and everyone in the community are swept up in high drama.

 

Table for Two: Fictions By Amor Towles

Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.

 

The Midnight Feast: A Novel By Lucy Foley

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. And yet, just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets.

 

The Women: A Novel By Kristin Hannah

In 1965, the world is changing, and Frances “Frankie” McGrath suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

 

Thank you to Wellesley Books and Lorna at WB, for the book recommendations. For more bookish content click here.