As it’s getting warmer, I’d bet any avid reader is making a list of books they want to read for the summer. I mean, who doesn’t love sitting by the pool reading a book or enjoying the cooler evening outside reading? I sure do! Keep reading to see what is on my list for this summer! Click here to jump to the list.
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I used to read all of the time, but as life got busy that was one of the first things to fall off. In my mind I didn’t have the luxury to sit down and read for hours with everything else I had to do. I just couldn’t commit to reading a book. But lately, I was feeling like I needed to read again. You ever feel like something is just missing and you can’t quite place it? That’s how I felt.
So I started off with reading a book that was recommended to me by a friend from the gym. It was called Strong Women Lift Each Other Up by Molly Galbraith. I challenged myself to reading 10 pages a day. At first, this felt hard to do. But as I got used to it, I discovered pockets of time where I could be reading. A few minutes in the morning, while eating my lunch, on the treadmill at the gym.
Reading has been and continues to be something I enjoy, even more so when life gets busy. It is so relaxing to me to sit down on the couch in a quiet house with a good book. Or as it’s getting nicer, to sit outside soaking up some sun while my dog plays in the yard.
My daily reading goal is still 10 pages a day. For me, that’s not a huge time commitment but still allows me to sit down, unwind, and maybe even learn something new. On any given day, I have two books that I’m currently reading. One non-fiction, personal growth type and one ‘fun’ fiction novel. Sometimes my brain is just too tired to fully take in the personal growth book so it is nice to have a fun story to take in, usually some sort of mystery or suspense storyline.
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Below are the books on my summer reading list.
Click here to skip to the fun ones.
*book images and excerpts are not mine. links to Amazon are not affiliated with Amazon
Non-fiction Books
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
“This beloved classic presents a principle-centered approach for solving both personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and practical anecdotes, Stephen R. Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity—principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.”
You are a Badass by Jen Sincero
“In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up twenty-seven bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to:
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Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want,
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Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, and
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Make some damn money already. The kind you’ve never made before.
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk
“In this lively, practical, and inspiring book, Gary dissects every current major social media platform so that anyone, from a plumber to a professional ice skater, will know exactly how to amplify his or her personal brand on each. He offers both theoretical and tactical advice on how to become the biggest thing on old standbys like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat; podcast platforms like Spotify, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, and iTunes; and other emerging platforms such as Musical.ly. For those with more experience, Crushing It! illuminates some little-known nuances and provides innovative tips and clever tweaks proven to enhance more common tried-and-true strategies.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
“In this instant and tenacious New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.”
This one I have read once before and absolutely loved it. 10/10 would recommend!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam
“It’s an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are starved for time. We tell ourselves we’d like to read more, get to the gym regularly, try new hobbies, and accomplish all kinds of goals. But then we give up because there just aren’t enough hours to do it all. Or if we don’t make excuses, we make sacrifices- taking time out from other things in order to fit it all in. There has to be a better way…and Laura Vanderkam has found one. After interviewing dozens of successful, happy people, she realized that they allocate their time differently than most of us. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there’s time for the important stuff. When plans go wrong and they run out of time, only their lesser priorities suffer. Vanderkam shows that with a little examination and prioritizing, you’ll find it is possible to sleep eight hours a night, exercise five days a week, take piano lessons, and write a novel without giving up quality time for work, family, and other things that really matter.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Relentless by Tim Grover
“For more than two decades, legendary trainer Tim Grover has taken the greats—Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and hundreds of relentless competitors in sports, business, and every walk of life—and made them greater. Now, for the first time ever, he reveals what it takes to achieve total mental and physical dominance, showing you how to be relentless and achieve whatever you desire.”
Another one I’ve read before but it just really hit home and changed my perspective when I read it a year ago. If you want to get in the right headspace for something, this one’s for you.
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Atomic Habits by James Clear
“No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving–every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
“Fun” Books
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
“In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…
With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
“Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.
The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.
The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge
Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
“Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
11th Hour by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
“Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last! But her work doesn’t slow for a second. When millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down, she discovers that the murder weapon is linked to the deaths of four of San Francisco’s most untouchable criminals. And it was taken from her own department’s evidence locker. Anyone could be the killer-even her closest friends.
Facing a series of vicious articles about her personal life and a brutal crime scene in a famous actor’s garden, Lindsay realizes that the ground beneath her feet holds hundreds of secrets. But this time she has no one to turn to-especially not her husband Joe.
From one of the world’s finest suspense writers, 11th Hour is the most shocking, most emotional, and most thrilling Women’s Murder Club novel ever.”
I love the Women’s Murder Club series. If you love girl gang meets crime mystery, this series is for you!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
12th of Never by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
“Lindsay Boxer’s beautiful baby is born! But after only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay is forced to return to work to face two of the biggest cases of her career.
A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. At the same time, Lindsay is confronted with the strangest story she’s ever heard: An eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder and he’s convinced is real. Lindsay doesn’t believe him, but then a shooting is called in-and it fits the professor’s description to the last detail.
Lindsay doesn’t have much time to stop a terrifying future from unfolding. But all the crimes in the world seem like nothing when Lindsay is suddenly faced with the possibility of the most devastating loss of her life.”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
““If you loved The Martian, you’ll go crazy for Weir’s latest.”—The Washington Post
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.”
Something that’s not a total crime novel, but Andy Weir’s novels are master pieces. If you loved The Martian, like I did, you’ll probably want to grab his latest novel.
Click here to buy it on Amazon
The Survivors by Jane Harper
“Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.
The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.
Kieran’s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.
When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away…”
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Now who knows if I’ll actually get the chance to read all of these. The beauty of reading is there is no deadline (aside from maybe a library due date), so whatever I don’t read I’ll carry into the fall and winter.
What are you looking forward to reading this summer?!
Until next time, xoxo Nicole
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