Summer has officially begun—which means it’s time to update your reading list. Whether you’re planning a beach vacation, a summer at the cottage, or simply long evenings with coffee on the balcony, the right book can make any of these scenarios simply perfect. There’s something special about summer reading: it’s different from any other time of year.
UA.News has put together a selection of books that perfectly capture the summer mood.
“Don’t Forget to Write”
Author: Sarah Goodman Confino
Genre: contemporary fiction, coming-of-age story
Summer of the 1960s, the New Jersey coast. Salty wind, bright sun, and a girl sent away from home after a scandal that shook the entire religious community. Marilyn Kleinman receives the harshest punishment her parents could come up with: spending the summer with her great-aunt Ada—a renowned matchmaker who is supposed to restore her granddaughter’s reputation and find her a suitable husband before the start of the school year. Otherwise—forget about college.
But Ada turns out to be nothing like the strict matron Marilyn had imagined. She zooms around in a Cadillac, buys trendy clothes, pokes fun at her own rules, and breaks them with just as much pleasure as she sets them. The summer on the coast gradually turns into something completely different—not a punishment, but a true discovery: of new people, new opportunities, and, most importantly, of herself. Marilyn begins to realize that her own future might look completely different from what others have planned for her.
“The Last Time I Lied”
Author: Riley Sager
Genre: Mystery thriller, psychological fiction
“Two Truths and a Lie”—it seemed like a typical game for teenagers at summer camp. But it was the beginning of a nightmare that has haunted Emma for fifteen years. The Nightingale summer camp, a dark forest, the eerie North Lake—and three girls who went out into the darkness that night and never returned. A sleepy Emma saw them leave. Since then, she has been painting large, gloomy canvases where the silhouettes of girls in white dresses are barely visible among the dark leaves and twisted branches—as if she is trying to capture what she cannot let go of.
When the camp owner invites Emma back 15 years later to teach art, she agrees—and not just for the job. She wants to finally find out what happened that night. The clues left by her friend that night begin to come together. But the closer Emma gets to the truth, the more she realizes: her own memory of that summer may turn out to be the biggest lie of all. The perfect thriller for long summer evenings—you definitely won’t fall asleep until you’ve finished it.
"The First"
Author: Maria Oleksa
Genre: romantic fiction, coming-of-age novel
There are things that happen only once—and that is precisely why they remain in your memory forever. The first kiss, summer, the first person with whom time seems to stand still and it feels like you have your whole life ahead of you.
Ravlyk and Vla met at summer camp—and their summer almost never ended. An orange sweater, letters, walks through old Kyiv, the feeling that the whole world was just the two of them. But the years pass. The characters grow up, make important decisions, make mistakes, mature, and create new places and new meanings. And only later, after all these years, choices, and distances, do they begin to understand where exactly they were running all this time and after whom.
A light, tender, and very honest book about how the first isn’t necessarily the last. But it’s definitely unforgettable.
"A House in the Cornflower Sea"
Author: T. J. Klune
Genre: fantasy, magical realism
Inspector Linus Baker is a man of rules, instructions, and strict adherence to protocol. He is sent to the island of Marcias on an official inspection of a shelter for children with supernatural abilities—and he goes there with folders, forms, and a firm intention to do everything by the book. But the island lives by its own laws. It is home to children who can take on the most amazing forms: forest spirits, a gnome, a little squirrel, and even a dog that is not just a dog at all. And the shelter is run by the mysterious Arthur Parnas—a man who knows something about the children and the world that no one else knows.
Gradually, Linus begins to understand: these unusual creatures possess more humanity than the entire harsh and indifferent world beyond the island. The book poses simple yet profound questions—about good and evil, acceptance and rejection. It reads like a long, peaceful summer day—warm, unhurried, and with the sense that the world, despite everything, can be a good place.
“The Tan”
Author: Chloe Michelle Howarth
Genre: young adult, LGBTQ+ fiction, coming-of-age novel
A sweltering Irish summer in the small town of Crossmore—where everyone knows each other, where traditions hold people firmly in their grip, and where there is only one “right” path for a woman. Lucy knows that path by heart—and knows it’s not for her. Not even the perfect Martin, whom everyone around her considers the best catch, can spark anything in her. She has always felt like an outsider—until one summer day, a spark ignites between her and her school friend Susanna, leaving behind a blinding, painful, and incredibly vivid burn.
Secret meetings, stolen moments, glances across the room—all of this becomes the only island of authenticity amid the stifling expectations of those around her. But graduation brings a choice: to stay or to go, to be herself or to live up to others’ expectations. Lucy must choose between two cities, two people, and two versions of her own future. A poignant and very bold book about how true happiness rarely aligns with what is expected of you.
"What the River Knows: The Secrets of the Nile"
Author: Isabel Ibáñez
Genre: adventure novel, magical realism, historical fiction
Inés Oliver grew up in Buenos Aires’s high society—with everything one could wish for, except for the most important thing: parents who were always traveling somewhere and left her with her aunt. And then came the terrible news that they had died under mysterious circumstances. Inés doesn’t believe it; she can’t and won’t believe it. So she packs her sketchbooks, takes an antique gold ring—the last thing her father sent before he disappeared—and sets off for Cairo.
She finds herself with a guardian who is clearly hiding more than he’s saying, a handsome assistant who gets in the way of her every move, and a mystery that, the girl believes, can only be solved with the help of the ancient ring’s magic. Egypt, the Nile, intrigue, and danger—the perfect summer read for those who aren’t satisfied with just one continent and want to spend their vacation somewhere between Cairo, magic, and adventure—without leaving their lounge chair.
“Hello, Sadness”
Author: Françoise Sagan
Genre: classic prose, psychological novel
The French Riviera, a scorching summer, the turquoise sea, and a villa where it feels as though time has stood still and nothing bad could possibly happen. Seventeen-year-old Cécile lives as if the whole world exists solely for her pleasure: by her side—her womanizing father with his latest mistress, a law student with whom everything is so easy and pleasant, and complete freedom, to which she has long grown accustomed as something self-evident. But when an old friend of her late mother arrives at the villa and something genuine and serious sparks between her and her father, Cecile realizes: her carefree summer and irresponsible life are over. She devises a plan—sophisticated, cruel, and, as she sees it, flawless. But some games have consequences that are impossible to predict.
Written by Françoise Sagan at the age of 18, this novel remains as relevant as ever: it can be read in a single evening and stays with you for much longer. A provocative, psychologically accurate, and surprisingly honest story about growing up, freedom, and the price of one’s own dark desires.
"From the Land of Redheads and Opium"
Author: Sofia Yablonska
Genre: travelogue, documentary prose, memoir
The 1930s. A young Ukrainian woman—alone, with a camera, a notebook, and incredible courage—sets off for China. Not as a tourist and not as a reporter in the usual sense: Sofia Yablonska wants to see the country from the inside, to understand its way of life, customs, rhythm, and soul. She is a traveler, cinematographer, feminist, and writer—and her perspective on 1930s China differs from everything written about the country before her.
Yablonska doesn’t sugarcoat things; she candidly recounts how she became addicted to opium, how she waited for hours for a chance to photograph people who were afraid of her camera, and how she eventually rented a room and filmed the street through the window—unnoticed. At the heart of the book is the country in all its complexity, beauty, and contradictions. It’s the perfect summer read for anyone who wants to escape to a completely different world, even if just for a few hours.
