Top Ten Tuesday: Books or Covers that Feel/Look Like Summer

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Previous Top Ten Tuesday Topics

• 4th April: Indie/Self-Published Books
• 11th April: Titles with Animals In Them
• 18th April: Non Book Freebie: Baking
• 25th April: Favourite Audiobook Narrators
• 2nd May: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf
• 9th May: Books I recommend most to others
• 16th May: Things Getting in the Way of Reading
• 23rd May: Things That Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book (Auto-Buy Authors)
• 30th May: Things That Make Me Instantly NOT Want to Read a Book

---

Can I believe that it is already the summer? After the most incredibly wonderful week of half term in terms of weather – glorious blue skies, warm and long balmy days – and mowing, paddling in the river with the little one, the sound of church bells… The hay fever, sneezing, itchy eyes…

And this week’s topic is a celebration of all things summery in our reading. Perhaps names or covers that remind us of summer, perhaps a setting in summer. Perhaps just books that feel summery.

As often, then, let’s kick off with some Shakespeare!

Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare

Although A Midsummer Night’s Dream might have been a more traditional and obvious choice, I don’t actually find it terribly summery. The rule in Athens is harsh and oppressive, the conflict in the forest cruel and petty… it is a far more problematic play than it is sometimes given credit for.

And Much Ado is not without its cruelties, but the world of Messina, the wit and charm of Beatrice and Benedick, the joy of the gulling scenes where they are tricked into loving each other despite themselves, the wit and camaraderie between the men which is – unusually for Shakespeare – fairly untainted and, of course, the masked ball. For me, this play oozes summer vibes.

---

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerld’s summer is a lot darker and heavier than Shakespeare’s.

Fitzgerald is extraordinary in the way that he conjures up the decadence, the glamour, the gorgeous surfaces of the summer parties on the river. But this is the intense summer heat that oppresses, that makes the air taste of the charge of the coming storm, that stirs the blood such that we shall not scape a brawl, as Shakespeare says in Romeo and Juliet.

And of course the storm that overtakes Gatsby and Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchannon is devastating.

---

On Midnight Beach, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

I adored this novel when I first read it a few years ago. The summer that Fitzpatrick conjures up is the heady teenage summer when you were on the cusp of adulthood, when you were striving to strike out on your own and forge your own path despite what your parents, your church, your community thought.

This is a summer of friendship, of discovering your sexuality, of falling in love… and also of violence and threat. I loved the contrast between the loud buy day times and the same beach at midnight, deserted and magical. And there’s a dolphin.

Heady stuff for a young adult read and, for me, gloriously summery – made all the more heady as its based on Irish mythology.

---

Circe, Madeline Miller

Myths do feel a little bit summery, perhaps, whereas fairy tales may have a wintry feel to them. Or perhaps this is simply because we are turning to the Greeks and the Greek islands and for many they are synonymous with summer holidays.

I could have chosen any number of Greek myths and mythic retellings but I will settle with Circe as a novel that for me feels more summery – a step away from Pat Barker’s retelling of the human weaknesses of the Trojan war or the darkness of Natalie Haynes’ Medusa – Circe’s island is perhaps the idyllic holiday retreat: bountiful, isolated, beautiful and magical.

---

The Paper Palace, Miranda Cowley Heller

The plot to this novel takes place over a couple of days in a lazy, languid summer trip to a family holiday home in Cape Cod. It opens the day after a passionate holiday encounter between the married Elle Bishop and her childhood friend. Alongside the backstory of that childhood and that friendship, we follow Elle and her family through picnics, beach trips, swims in the lagoon, dinner parties… it is a hugely summery treat.

---

Small Pleasures, Clare Chambers

Although this is not a novel set during the summer in its entirety, there is a fantastic summery moment moment in it. Through this gorgeous novel, our spinsterish protagonist Jean Swinney is investigating the story of an alleged virgin birth by Gretchen Tilbury, which introduces her to the Tilbury family. One day, through a series of unfortante incidents, Jean is taken on a trip to the husband’s mother’s rambling home in the height of summer… and that moment was deliciously charged and summery.

And also the cover feels summery too with those gorgeous warm colours of the oranges, you can practically taste the citrus!

---

Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch

I have enjoyed all of Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series and was a little concerned with this one that he was taking us out of London.

As it happened, this novel was one of my favourites in the series: a heady and hot summer, missing children… and of course alongside the police procedural, the magic – foundlings, the fae, unicorns, and the gorgeous Beverley Brook – all follow Peter Grant out of the grimy streets of London and into the bee-laden, rustic summer of Herefordshire.

---

The House in the Cerulean Sea, T. J. Klune

I don’t need to do much more than point to the cover here, do I?

Or perhaps the deployment of the word “cerulean”?

And the story itself is very summery: an orphanage for magical children, an island setting, a beautifully created romance and lots of found family vibes… Oh, and the anti-Christ is one of the family.

This was the first T. J. Klune book I read and it was a joyful wonderful warm romp which I have recommended so often!

---

You made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty, Akwaeke Emezi

Moving into some books I have yet to read but whose covers and blurbs seem to scream summer to me… and this one is one I am very excited about: Emezi is without doubt one of my favourite authors.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime:

Feyi is about to be given the chance to escape the City’s blistering heat for a dream island holiday: poolside cocktails, beach sunsets, and elaborate meals. And as the sun goes down on her old life our heroine also might just be ready to open her heart to someone new.

The only problem is, she’s falling for the one man she absolutely can’t have.

---

Beach Read, Emily Henry

The cover and title say it all here…

January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she’s the lead in a blockbuster movie.

Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.

But January and Gus have more in common than you’d think:

They’re both broke.
They’ve got crippling writer’s block.
And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends.

The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first.
The risk? In telling each other’s stories, their worlds might be changed entirely…

---

Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Read

Although I enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six, I have yet to read anything else by Taylor Jenkins Read, but this one looks amazing, and very summery!

August,1983, it is the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone who is anyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: surfer and supermodel Nina, brothers Jay and Hud, and their adored baby sister Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over – especially as the children of the legendary singer Mick Riva.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control.

By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

But before that first spark in the early hours of dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family will all come bubbling to the surface.

---

Honourable Mention: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

A book set in Kephalonia…

Read whilst in Kefalonia on holiday.

Although I have, undoubtedly, very fond memories of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, I’m not sure I’d want to go back to it… some books live in a specific place and time for me…

---

---

Do let me know your favourite summery reads in the comments, and what other books I can indulge in over the long six week holiday – particularly if they are set in Rome where we will be spending 6 days of that holiday

---

Upcoming Top Ten Tuesday Themes

June 13: Bookish Wishes (I host this topic twice a year (around Christmas and again in June), and people love it! List the top 10 books you’d love to own and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wish. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address [here’s how to do it on Amazon] or include the email address associated with your ereader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone!)
June 20: Books on My Summer 2023 to-Read List
June 27: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023
July 4: Book Covers In the Colors of My Country’s Flag (It’s the 4th of July in the USA today, so tell us what country you live in and share book covers that match the colors of your country’s flag!)