Summer Reading List

Summer is the perfect time to try that new book series you’ve heard about or simply do some fun reading. I’m an avid reader and always ready to share about the current book I’m reading. Whether you’re more drawn to adventure, mystery, or romance, below is a list of my all-time favorite books that are crowd-pleasers!

Adventure/Mystery

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (series): a fiction story about four bright children who are recruited to save the world: full of problem solving and clever plot twists.
2. Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (series): one boy is mysteriously whisked away to attend a school for spies-in-training, and becomes a key detective in one of the biggest threats the school has faced yet.
3. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: this page-turner is one of the author’s most beloved stories, where 10 strangers are invited to a remote island, and one-by-one the guests are slowly killed off.
4. Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Hale (series): Sophie Foster can read minds, and she wonders about her ability until she discovers she is an elf, a very unique elf, and a new fantastical world needs her help. Once you read the first book, you’ll be hooked!
5. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson (series): three siblings live in Glipwood, a town where vicious Fangs tyrannize the inhabitants, and they will use their talents to persevere and protect their secret to the jewels and lost legend of King Wingfeather.
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: in a world that seems almost opposite from the present day, a fireman wrestles with his job – initiating fires and burning books – and becomes a fugitive, fighting for truth and freedom from an oppressive society.
7. Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo: this adventure, comedy story tells the tales of three characters – a mouse captivated by books and music, a rat who lives in the underground darkness, and a girl serving the princess in the palace – and how their stories intertwine. This is a perfect crowd-pleaser to play in the background during a car trip. 🙂

Fiction/Historical Fiction/Comedy/Literature

1. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (series): this series is such a comical and beautiful depiction of girls growing up and bonding through thick and thin, and in this book, the four young girls and their father vacation for the first time in a cottage on an estate in the Berkshire Mountains.
2. Junonia by Kevin Henkes: “Alice Rice is nine (going on 10), and likes things to be the way they are supposed to be: neat, organized, simple. Unfortunately, in Kevin Henkes’ Junonia, nothing goes as planned. On their annual trip to Sanibel Island in Florida, Alice and her family discover that most of the people who usually join them for their visit are staying at home—and the one family friend who will be coming is bringing her new boyfriend and his six-year-old daughter, Mallory.” – Book Page
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “Pride and Prejudice follows the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. They must overcome the titular sins of pride and prejudice in order to fall in love and marry.” – Britannica
4. Hoot by Carl Hiassen: Roy recently moved to Florida and met an intriguing bully, who is running away from the school bus. Sensing a mystery, Roy follows the boy on an adventure mingled with burrowing owls and “potty-trained alligators.” Just by the title, you can tell this book will make you laugh!
5. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (series): this is a classic story about an imaginative orphan girl who goes to live with an elderly brother and sister, detailing her comical mishaps as she grows up on Prince Edward Island.
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: a journalist is searching for a new story, and comes upon the tale of a community composed of people brought together during WWII. As she learns more about their story, she becomes closer to the people and more sure it needs to be shared.
7. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher: 9 year-old Betsy goes from having everything’s done for her by her protective aunt to living with her distant relatives on their farm. Betsy attends a new school and learn some independence and hard work in the country.
8. Betsy–Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (series): this 20th century series follows the life of a girl navigating the ups and downs of high school. The novels are beautifully written with a comical flair, perfect for all ages.
9. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (there’s also a sequel): “after inheriting her uncle’s homesteading claim in Montana, 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe.” – Goodreads

Those are some of my favorite stories, and I hope you will try one out! Comment below some of your favorite books. 🙂

Warmly,

Seabrook