My 10 Summer Reads

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Summer is the perfect time to get stuck into a book. Laying out the sun, lounging on holiday. So below I’ve pulled together the ones that will be on the top of my list this Summer.



1. Armada by Ernest Cline

I an fully into Science Fiction novels at the moment, and with Ernest Cline's 'Ready Player One' being one of my top books of last year I am very excited to have a read through this.

Synopsis: It’s just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom—if he can make it that long without getting suspended again.
Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer.

At first, Zack thinks he’s going crazy.

A minute later, he’s sure of it. Because the UFO he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.

But what Zack’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can’t help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching, and wonder: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little too… familiar?

2: Artemis by Andy Weir.

Having already whizzed through this, and just added it to my current favourites of course this will be in my Top 10| reads for the Summer. This is another Sci Fi one, and cannot recommend it enough!

Synopsis: Jazz Bashara is a criminal. She lives in a poor area of Artemis and subsidises her work as a porter with smuggling contraband onto the moon. But it’s not enough. 

So when she’s offered the chance to make a lot of money she jumps at it. But though planning a crime in 1/6th gravity may be more fun, it’s a lot more dangerous…

3: Classic Scrapes by James Acaster

I absolutely love James Acaster, he is currently one of my favourite comedians. So of course this is on my list ... looking forward to laughing out loud on trains whilst reading this!

Synopsis: James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like Mock The Week, Live At The Apollo and Russell Howard's Stand Up Central. But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it's disappointing a skydiving instructor mid-flight, hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, or annoying the Kettering Board Games club, a didgeridoo-playing conspiracy theorist and some bemused Christians, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.

Appearing on Josh Widdicombe's radio show to recount these stories, the feature was christened 'James Acaster's classic scrapes'. Here, in his first book, James recounts these tales (including never-before-heard stories) along with self-penned drawings, in all their glorious stupidity.

4. Happiness By Design by Paul Dolan

This has been recommended by Gretchen Rubin, so of course anything she recommends I will jump on! I also love a good ‘Self Help’ style book, especially ones that explain why you feel certain things.

Synopsis: This is not just another happiness book. In Happiness by Design, happiness and behavior expert Paul Dolan combines the latest insights from economics and psychology to illustrate that in order to be happy we must behave happy Our happiness is experiences of both pleasure and purpose over time and it depends on what we actually pay attention to. Using what Dolan calls deciding, designing, and doing, we can overcome the biases that make us miserable and redesign our environments to make it easier to experience happiness, fulfilment, and even health. With uncanny wit and keen perception, Dolan reveals what we can do to find our unique optimal balance of pleasure and purpose, offering practical advice on how to organize our lives in happiness-promoting ways and fresh insights into how we feel.

5. I Can't Believe You Just Said That by Danny Wallace. With everyone experiencing rudeness of varying degrees

See the explanation above for why I am excited for this book. But this one example a why other people are rude ... I hate rudeness, so this will be an amusing read.

Synopsis: Passive aggression. Road rage. Snarky tweets. Queue-jumpers. Idiots who are #justsaying. Fat shamers. Victim blaming. Furious waitresses who refuse to sell you a hot dog… We are ruder than we’ve ever been. 

In this incisive and very funny book, Danny Wallace investigates the new wave of rudeness that threatens to overwhelm us. He travels the world, visiting our rudest critics, interviewing psychologists, psychiatrists, bell boys, cab drivers, bin men, barristers, politicians, a limo driver called José and at least one expert in cooked meat production. In doing so he uncovers the hidden truths behind what makes us rude, whether it can be caught, and how one small moment of rudeness―like being declined a hotdog―can snowball into disaster. 

From the jihadist who launched a blistering attack on the “bad manners” of his fellow ISIS militants, to the mayor in Bogota who recruited an army of mimes to highlight inconsiderate driving―this is a very funny and powerful exploration into the way humans work and why it is surely time for an anti-rudeness revolution.


6. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

A very intriguing synopsis ... brought to us by the same author who wrote Big Little Lies which I love. If it along the same mystery lines, then I am here for it!

Synopsis: Nine perfect strangers, each hiding an imperfect life.

A luxury retreat cut off from the outside world.

Ten days that promise to change your life.

But some promises - like some lives - are perfect lies . . 

7. Not Working by Lisa Owens


I'm not going to lie, I was drawn to this book because of the cover ... Cliché I know. Then I read the synopsis and felt a lot of it applied to me, and probably most 'millennials'. Lisa Owens' debut novel - explores the idea that today’s 20- and thirtysomethings are lost in a sea of career options that many find paralysing.

Synopsis: Claire Flannery has had more than a few sleepless nights lately. Maybe she shouldn't have walked out of her job with no idea what to do next. Maybe she should think before she speaks -- and maybe then her mother would start returning her calls. Maybe she should be spending more time going to art galleries, or reading up on current affairs, and less time in her pyjamas, entering competitions on the internet. Then again, maybe the perfect solution to life's problems only arises when you stop looking for it . . .


8. The Secret Barrister by The Secret Barrister

Put simply ... this just seems so interesting! Finding out what really happens as a barrister.

Synopsis: You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or – perhaps through no fault of your own – a defendant. Whatever your role, you’d expect a fair trial.

I’m a barrister. I work in the criminal justice system, and every day I see how fairness is not guaranteed. Too often the system fails those it is meant to protect. The innocent are wronged and the guilty allowed to walk free.

I want to share some stories from my daily life to show you how the system is broken, who broke it and why we should start caring before it’s too late.

9. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

One of the most reviewed books I’ve seen, so it was one I certainly didn’t want to miss. Fomo but for books?

Synopsis: White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book.

10. Work Like A Woman: A Manifesto For Change by Mary Portas

I absolutely love Mary Portas, so will 100% watch or read anything she puts her hand to. And this is not one I want to miss out on. I think this will be my first purchase!

Synopsis: Are you ready to be your best self at work? 

Packed with advice, tips and decades of business experience from Mary Portas, this is a book for every one of us: whatever level you are, wherever you work.

It’s about calling time on alpha culture and helping every one of us to be happier, more productive and collaborative. 
It’s time to #WorkLikeAWoman.

What’s on your Summer Reading list?