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Eeek! I’m so excited that it’s almost time for this year’s summer reading challenge. It seems like I just finished last year’s summer reading list in March. Oh, wait! I DID just finish last year’s list in March. Haha. What’s that saying…it’s not how slow you go as long as you keep moving?
As many of you who have been participating in the Summer Reading Challenge over the past couple of years know, I LOVE to read and have for as long as I can remember. My issue is, reading often takes a back seat to Netflix shows I’m binge-watching or weekends spent content creating, writing this blog and working on Wotherwill Group. And while I had a good run from January to March (when I finished the final book on last year’s list), April came along and brought with it the Netflix series The Serpent and a rekindling of my love affair with Schitt’s Creek and alas, I’m back to binge-watching Netflix before bed.
But not for long my friends. Not for long! May long weekend is just around the corner so it’s time to order our books or put a hold on these titles at the public library and prepare for a summer of reading a book every single day. Now hold on! Before you run away, I promise you don’t have to read an ENTIRE book every day. The goal is to carve out time every single day from May long weekend until Labour Day to read.
You can join Mrs. Lazy Spoon’s Book Club on Facebook here and follow along and read all of the books I’m planning to read or you can choose your own. It doesn’t matter! I’m just excited about building a reading community where we can share book recommendations (and possibly wine recommendations) and talk about what we loved (or hated) about the books we’re reading. I absolutely love when friends recommend a book and this space has become a great little group of women sharing what they’re reading and what they think about the books we’ve read. There are often giveaways too!
I’ve already placed my book order on Amazon for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge and the books are on their way. Seriously, is there anything better than brand new books?
So here it is my friends! My To Be Read (TBR) List for this year’s challenge.
Mrs. LazySpoon’s 2021 Book List
I read primarily for two purposes: to escape and to grow. When I read to escape it’s imperative that I have the actual book (usually suspense or historical fiction) in my hands while sipping a glass of wine. I’m in it for the whole experience!
If I’m reading to grow, I’m definitely listening to a memoir or other form of non-fiction text on Audible while on the treadmill, out for a walk with my dog or driving. So, in my world, there are usually two books on the go (with a few podcasts sprinkled in for good measure) at any given time.
To Escape
The Family Upstairs: A Novel by Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewel has become one of my favourite suspense writers, obviously, because two of her novels are on this year’s list!
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets. ~Amazon
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
This book is a novel but judging by the reviews, it’s also quite thought provoking. Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you’d made different choices?
The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.
Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live? ~Amazon
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The hardcover will be back in stock on Amazon May 20th with the paperback available June 1st but you can order it now and it will ship when it’s available.
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins. ~Amazon
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other. ~Amazon
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
This book didn’t quite make the cut for the 2020 Book List but I’ve heard great reviews so I had to make sure it made this year’s reading list.
Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own… ~Amazon
The Push By Ashley Audrain
The Push is a rare and extraordinary gift to readers: a novel about the expectations of motherhood we’re taught not to challenge and what really happens behind the closed doors of even the most perfect-looking families. It’s impossible to put down and impossible to forget. ~Amazon
Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
I LOVE historical fiction set during World War II. I love it so much that a few of the members of Mrs. LazySpoon’s book club begged me not to recommend any more titles set during this period. I tried really hard not to have any on this year’s reading list but I couldn’t help myself. I have to read this one.
Based on the true story of the American Library in Paris, The Paris Library is a mesmerizing and captivating novel about the people and the books that make us who we are, for good and for bad, and the courage it takes to forgive. ~Amazon
Sorry Not Sorry by Sophie Ranald
I’m stepping a bit out of my preferred comfort zone with this pick. I love Rom-Com movies but don’t tend to gravitate toward this genre in literature. The way I see it, we’re all in need of some light-hearted, easy reading this summer so I’m going to give this one a shot. I see myself reading this one on the beach…preferably with my own side order of margaritas.
Old Charlotte would never ask for a stranger’s number, go on a blind date or buy lacy lingerie… But New Charlotte is waving goodbye to her comfort zone (with a side order of margaritas). And it turns out that good things happen to bad girls…~Amazon
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
This is another book that had me wondering whether I would enjoy the story line but I absolutely LOVE Kristin Hannah and The Great Alone has excellent reviews.
In a wild, remote corner of Alaska, the Allbrights find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the newcomers’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.
But as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. ~Amazon
Outlawed by Anna North
I know…a Western? Ugh…I’m skeptical too but I’ve heard great things and it is a Reese Witherspoon book club pick and I think I’ve loved every book I’ve read on her list so let’s give this one a try.
Featuring an irresistibly no-nonsense, courageous, and determined heroine, Outlawed dusts off the myth of the old West and reignites the glimmering promise of the frontier with an entirely new set of feminist stakes. Anna North has crafted a pulse-racing, page-turning saga about the search for hope in the wake of death, and for truth in a climate of small-mindedness and fear. ~Amazon
The Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
I’m adding one more thriller to the list and I’m finding I love Lisa Jewell’s style.
With evocative, vivid, and unputdownable prose and plenty of disturbing twists and turns, Jewell’s latest thriller is another “haunting, atmospheric, stay-up-way-too-late read”. ~Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
So this one is a last minute addition after learning it’s Reese Witherspoon’s May book club pick. I’m intrigued by the plot. Unfortunately, it’s currently out of stock on Amazon (thanks a lot Reese!) but I ordered it anyway in hopes that more will come in soon.
With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn. ~Amazon
To Grow
More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys
I recently listened to Alicia Keys on Brené Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us and found her quite insightful and interesting so I thought I’d give her memoir a listen.
More Myself is part autobiography, part narrative documentary. Alicia’s journey is revealed not only through her own candid recounting, but also through vivid recollections from those who have walked alongside her. The result is a 360-degree perspective on Alicia’s path, from her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to the process of growth and self-discovery that we all must navigate.
In More Myself, Alicia shares her quest for truth – about herself, her past, and her shift from sacrificing her spirit to celebrating her worth. With the raw honesty that epitomizes Alicia’s artistry, More Myself is at once a riveting account and a clarion call to listeners: To define themselves in a world that rarely encourages a true and unique identity. ~Amazon
Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson
If you haven’t read any of Jenny Lawson’s books, you are in for a treat! Furiously Happy is probably one of my favourite books of all time so I cannot wait to listen to Broken on Audible.
With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. From the business ideas that she wants to pitch to Shark Tank to the reason why Jenny can never go back to the post office, Broken leaves nothing to the imagination in the most satisfying way. And of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor―the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball―is present throughout.
A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most. ~Amazon
Think Like A Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty
This audiobook has already been downloaded to my Audible app. I can’t wait to listen to it!
In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Combining ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us. He transforms abstract lessons into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve relationships, and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can – and should – think like a monk. ~Amazon
21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act by Bob Joseph
I’m going to read the paperback version of this title because I think I’ll want to highlight, make notes and revisit this important book several times. I think this book is going to be very enlightening and likely one that every Canadian should read.
Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has shaped, controlled, and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph’s book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo. Joseph explains how Indigenous Peoples can step out from under the Indian Act and return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance – and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around truth and reconciliation, and clearly demonstrates why learning about the Indian Act’s cruel, enduring legacy is essential for the country to move toward true reconciliation. ~Amazon
We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union
The title made this pick a no brainer. The topic makes this book essential.
In this moving collection of thought-provoking essays infused with her unique wisdom and deep humor, Union uses that same fearlessness to tell astonishingly personal and true stories about power, color, gender, feminism, and fame. Union tackles a range of experiences, including bullying, beauty standards and competition between women in Hollywood, growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her Black relatives in Nebraska, coping with crushes, puberty, and the divorce of her parents. Genuine and perceptive, Union bravely lays herself bare, uncovering a complex and courageous life of self-doubt and self-discovery with incredible poise and brutal honesty. Throughout, she compels us to be ethical and empathetic and reminds us of the importance of confidence, self-awareness, and the power of sharing truth, laughter, and support. ~Amazon
There you have it! This year’s summer reading list.
Looking for other book titles? Check out my 2019 and 2020 summer reading lists.
And, please come join the Facebook group if you haven’t already. I’d love to connect with you.
