FIVE BOOKS YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN THIS SUMMER

 

It’s that time of year again, ladies! Summer! Sweating in a field at day weddings, tanning on the beach while cursing yourself for drunk eating pizza the night before and – this is where I can help – lying by the pool with a really good book.

Whenever I put up an Instagram story of a book I’m reading, I get so many comments, that I thought I’d share the best books to read this summer to 1) help you seem extra smart and well-read on the next date you go on and 2) get off of Instagram and actually enjoy reading. You’re welcome.

 

 

‘Slow Motion’ by Dani Shapiro

I can’t with this book. It’s literally one of my favorites of all time and I can almost guarantee you’ll love it, too. At 23, Dani Shapiro was in the midst of a major crisis. She had dropped out of college to pursue a career in acting – and was dating an older married man who happened to be her best friend’s father – when one phone call changed her life. Her parents had been in a devastating car accident and neither was expected to survive. In her first memoir written with the immediacy and hope of a young writer, Shapiro offers this powerful true story of a life saved by tragedy.

 

 

 

 

‘A Beautiful, Terrible Thing’ by Jen Waite

You guys, if you are experiencing or have ever experienced heartbreak, you need this book – and obviously a bottle or two of Miraval. In this memoir of marriage and betrayal, the author finds an email that changes her relationship forever. The man of her dreams turns out to lead a double life as a master manipulator. In alternating Before and After chapters, Waite obsessively analyzes her marriage, hoping to find a single moment from the last few years that isn’t part of a long con of her husband’s lies. I won’t give away any more, but let’s just say I finished the whole book in less than 24 hours.

 

 

 

 

‘Half a Life’ by Darin Strauss

You know how pissed you get when you’re sitting in traffic or when you just get your nails painted and accidentally smudge one of them (not everyone’s nails can handle gel, sorry)? Well this book is a reminder to enjoy life, and that, ultimately, there are way worse things to worry about. In a really non-depressing way, Darin Strauss examines the consequences of his accidental actions when, in his last month of high school, he hit a girl with his car which resulted in her death. With piercing insight, Strauss leads us on a deeply personal, emotional journey, teaching us how to look at loss and guilt, hope and acceptance.

 

 

 

 

‘Crazy Love’ by Leslie Morgan Steiner

Did you know that according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1 in 3 women have been psychologically or physically abused? That’s one in three of your BFFS. Or maybe it’s you. At 22, Leslie Morgan Steiner had an amazing job at Seventeen magazine, a Harvard diploma, and a gorgeous street-smart boyfriend who absolutely adored her. Sounds perfect, right? Except for when he pushed her down the stairs of their house or poured coffee grinds on her head as she dressed for a job interview. Utterly gripping, Crazy Love takes you inside the world of devastatingly abusive love and what to do when you need to get out.

 

 

 

 

‘Educated’ by Tara Westover

Okay, so ever since Obama said he was reading this book and named it one of his favorite books of the year, it became a #1 New York Times Bestseller, Boston Globe Bestseller, Finalist for the Pen/Jean Stein Book Award, forget it, the list goes on and on and I’m getting jealous just typing it up (Obama, can’t you love my book, too?) In this book, Tara Westover takes readers into the mountains of Idaho where her family is so isolated from mainstream society that she doesn’t even go to school until 17. Here’s the gist: following her dream of education from Harvard to Cambridge, Tara builds herself a new kind of life and discovers what’s actually important. There’s action in every chapter and plenty of character development to keep you hooked.

 

 

I’d love to know what you Smart Girls are reading this summer! Let me know in the comments section below.

 

To follow more of my summer reads, be sure to follow me on Instagram @raztal