Susie Boutry (@NovelVisits) and I share our favorite books that missed last year’s Summer Reading Guides, some nonfiction books we think are great for summer reading, and our #1 picks for four categories, including what I have featured in my 2023 Summer Reading Guide.

This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

Get Even More Summer Reading Recommendations with Summer Shelves:

• In addition to my annual 2023 Summer Reading Guide, I’m once again offering Superstars Patrons ($7/mo) exclusive access to Summer Shelves, featuring even more recommendations for the season.
• Summer Shelves features BACKLIST summer reading recommendations from 17 former podcast guests, our team members, and — for the first time — 20 Superstars patrons!
• The Summer Shelves design is clean, crisp, and unique and you’ll receive it in a PDF file format via Patreon.
• If you’d like to get the Summer Shelves companion guide, you can sign up to be a Superstars patron here. You’ll also get access to a monthly bonus podcast series called Double Booked (where Catherine or Susie and I share our own book recommendations in the same format as the big show) and my Rock Your Reading Tracker.

Summer Reading [4:33]

Books That Missed Last Year’s Summer Reading Guides [5:29]

Sarah

• Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:53]
• Red Widow by Alma Katsu | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:30]
• Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:24] 

Susie

• The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark | Amazon | Bookshop.org [8:25]
• Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet | Amazon | Bookshop.org [13:30] 
• Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:09] 

Nonfiction Books That Are Great for Summer Reading [22:35]

Sarah

• True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel | Amazon | Bookshop.org [22:52] 
• Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway | Amazon | Bookshop.org [28:31]
• Still Points North by Leigh Newman | Amazon | [34:44]

Susie

• Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr | Amazon | [25:02] 
• Stash: My Life in Hiding by Laura Cathcart Robbins | Amazon | Bookshop.org [30:27]
• Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif | Amazon | Bookshop.org [37:00]

Our #1 Summer Picks by Category  [40:16]

Something Light / Fun

• Sarah: A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:12] 
• Susie: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:28] 

Something Fast-Paced / Intense

• Sarah: Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T. J. Newman (May 30, 2023) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [46:45] 
• Susie: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai | Amazon | Bookshop.org [50:05] 

Something With Substance

• Sarah: Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan | Amazon | Bookshop.org [54:24] 
• Susie: Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah  | Amazon | Bookshop.org [56:53] 

Something Different

• Sarah: Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World by Lauren Fleshman | Amazon | Bookshop.org [59:33] 
• Susie: Big Swiss by Jen Beagin | Amazon | Bookshop.org [1:02:13] 

Other Books Mentioned

• The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff [3:47] 
• Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett [4:01]
• Cover Story by Susan Rigetti [9:11]
• The Hunger by Alma Katsu [10:43]
• Red London by Alma Katsu [12:47]
• The Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet [14:45]
• Untamed by Glennon Doyle [18:15]
• Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson [20:52]
• The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel [23:13]
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote [23:57]
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls [35:57]
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed [36:13]
• Falling by T. J. Newman [47:05]
• Miracle on the Hudson by William Prochnau and Laura Parker [48:04]
• Raven Rock by Garrett M. Graff [48:38]
• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai [51:14]
• All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay [52:59]
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano [53:54]
• Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner [56:32]

Other Links

• Vogue | In Finishing Her Book, Lauren McBrayer…