It’s not officially summer according to the calendar. But according to the 90* degree weather and the lighting bugs here in Alabama it’s close enough to count. So, let’s talk about some summer reading recommendations.
Bag of Bones
Bag of Bones is set around the Fourth of July in Maine. Writer Mike Noonan decides he needs to get away after the death of his wife, so he returns to his beloved lakehouse to heal. But when he returns, he discovers that the lakehouse is now haunted by an unsettling presence. As he digs deeper into the haunting he digs up secrets that the small town would rather keep hidden. The tension builds like a summer storm, and it all comes to a shocking end. Keep in mind this is not a light summer haunting. There are some really tough subjects brought up in this book, so be sure to check trigger warnings before picking it up.
The God of the Woods
I didn’t love The God of the Woods, but a lot of people did. And I can’t deny that it’s summer camp setting makes it a solid summer thriller. Just be aware that it’s very much a slow burn story. The story kicks off when Barbara Van Laar vanishes one night during camp. However, she is not a regular camper. She is the daughter of the family that owns the camp. She also is not the first Van Laar child to go missing. Fourteen years earlier her brother went missing in a similar way. The search for Barbara begins and it helps to unearth the secrets that have plagued the camp all these years.
Middle of the Night
Almost all of Riley Sager’s books are a perfect summer thriller. They’re usually quick, punchy reads that really take you for a ride. I read Middle of the Night last summer and it met my summer reading expectations. Ethan Marsh never intended to come home. The memories of the night in July when his best friend went missing from a tent in their backyard still haunt him. Ethan went to sleep that night with his friend beside him and then the next morning he woke up alone. No trace of Billy could be found. Now that he’s home strange occurrences dig up the memories from that night once again.
Tress of the Emerald Sea
For some reason, I usually associate fantasy with winter and thrillers with summer. However, I read both year-round. Tress of the Emerald Sea was firmly made for the summer. When Tress’s friend Charlie disappears on a trip with his father Tress sets out on an adventure to find him. She stows away on a ship across the great spore ocean where even a single drop of water creates an explosion of vines that quickly become deadly. It’s not a super high stakes story but it’s still a ton of fun. It really reads like a fairytale from my childhood.
So that’s a few summer reading recommendations. If you have any recommendations, be sure to drop them in the comments.
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