Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Week’s Theme:
Summer Books To Breeze Through
(May 2017 Edition)

Initial Thoughts:

I’m going to breeze through this list with picks that I have hauled previously but have still not had a chance to read because it me.

I say May 2017 edition because surely this list may change in the future as I will come to surely discover more “summery” reads.

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Tell Me Three Things (Julie Buxbaum)

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

A more light-hearted mystery than the above, this one’s all about [almost] creepy internet stalkers, fresh starts, and budding relationships. Because school.

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My Kind of Crazy (Robin Reul)

Despite the best of intentions, seventeen-year old, wisecracking Hank Kirby can’t quite seem to catch a break. It’s not that he means to screw things up all the time, it just happens. A lot. Case in point: his attempt to ask out the girl he likes literally goes up in flames when he spells “Prom” in sparklers on her lawn…and nearly burns down her house.

With promposals in full swing, who wouldn’t want to frolic in all that is fun with this time of year; especially when things go awry. Now I haven’t read this, but even I can be a softie and enjoy all things prom/wedding/etc. related, okay?

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I Hunt Killers (Barry Lyga)

Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say. But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal’s point of view. And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

So, I’ve heard “mystery/thrillers” are great summer-y beach/patio/cottage/whatever reads mainly because books built on suspense make for great page turners. I think that’s a load of kerfuffle, but if you want a young adult book that stands strong from that front (re: YA Criminal Minds/Dexter vibes) while showcasing nuanced intersectional dynamics and relationships, this one’s your best bet.

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Noteworthy (Riley Redgate)

A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshipped…revered…all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

I haven’t written a review for this [yet] but Noteworthy sits among my favourite reads of this year. All you have to know is that it’s like Pitch Perfect meets She’s the Man (or Twelfth Night) in a boarding school, and lots of bro-on-bro-on-bro-mance.

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Summer Days and Summer Nights (Various)

Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

The great thing about short stories is that you can really just read one (or a few) and then go dip into the coolness of the lake etc. to mellow out.

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Note to Self (Connor Franta)

In this diary-like look at his life since A Work In Progress, Connor talks about his battles with clinical depression, social anxiety, self-love, and acceptance; his desire to maintain an authentic self in a world that values shares and likes over true connections; his struggles with love and loss; and his renewed efforts to be in the moment—with others and himself.

See here: I don’t follow Franta to a T, but I have seen him in passing on the Tubes. I’m technically not “done” this book as I’m taking it as a coffee-table read (meaning, I’ll crack it open here and there until I finish it) but the introspection in this book is rather poignant — a bit depressing — and works well as you look inward while being immersed in the outdoors being surrounded by Life.

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Adulthood is a Myth (Sarah Andersen)

Sarah Andersen’s hugely popular, world-famous Sarah’s Scribbles comics are for those of us who boast bookstore-ready bodies and Netflix-ready hair, who are always down for all-night reading-in-bed parties and extremely exclusive after-hour one-person music festivals.

I am certain you have seen the web-comics before. It’s a quick read, often laugh-out-loud, and most certainly relatable. So, it’s a no brainer that this book makes this list. If you want something “deeper” try Andersen’s follow-up Big Mushy Happy Lump.

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I Believe in a Thing Called Love (Maureen Goo)

…so when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds her answer in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten.

Ignoring the fact that this book wasn’t for me, if you’re a big enough Korean drama fan who might be thinking of watching a few episodes in whatever summer-y setting you so please, this could be a great alternative for you.

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Afterthoughts:

Turn on that screensaver with a beach and get reading.

Cheers,
Joey

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