Summer is almost here! There’s only about a month left of school and that means extra reading time. I am so pumped. I just have to get through this last leg and that means three whole months of reading time when I’m not at work. I have a pretty sweet job too, my job lets out at three in the afternoon so it’s basically like I’m working a school day. There are a lot of hours in an afternoon and evening. I’m planning on shutting myself in my room and devouring all of the books that have been gathering dust on my shelves the last couple of months. A lot of these books don’t actually release until later this month or some of the summer months like June and July but you can bet I’m going to be getting my hands on them one way or the other. It doesn’t matter how I read them (library, bought physical copies, or kindle copies) as long as I get to read them at all. Let’s start at number five.

5. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

We are in the golden age of the Internet. There’s countless web comics and online content that you can consume instead of going outside. The basic premise of this story is that Eliza is “shy, weird, and friendless.” She’s the author of an incredibly famous web comic but can’t seem to manage navigating the real world. Enter, the boy Wallace Warland. What a name. Things start looking up until somehow her identity as the author of her web comic gets leaked and her whole life goes crazy. I feel like I’ve seen this kind of synopsis before but honestly, I don’t care. These kinds of stories are generally fun and have a happy ending, which I have been craving hardcore recently. This book is released on May 30, 2017. If you’ve read Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, I’d recommend looking into this one.

4. It’s Not Like it’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura

I’m trying to diversify my reading this year and this one not only has an Asian American main character (whose name is Sana Kiyohara) but there is supposed to be some great LGBTQ+ representation. Sana Kiyohara has secrets. Some are big and some are small. One of them is that she might have a crush on her best friend. But then her family moves out to California and she meets Jamie Ramierz who isn’t like anyone who she’s ever met before. I’m hoping this is going to be a great romance/coming of age story that I can fly through in one or two sittings. The blurb says it’s for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali, which is a book that I absolutely adored. This book comes out on May 9, 2017 and I cannot wait.

3. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

I try to read at least one or two adult fiction books a season. Since I’m in college this hasn’t been on my top priority list of things to do but I will catch up over the summer. I’m determined. I’m weird about Adult books in the fact that I don’t like to know what the general plot is before I read them. I feel like the synopsis’s for Adult books tend to give away the entire plot, which ruins a lot of the fun for me. All I know is that Pachinko follows a Korean family who move to Japan to avoid a scandal in the early 1900s. I love historical fiction and this is another diverse read, so of course I’m going to be reading this one. It came out in February, so if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, definitely pick up a copy.

2. Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

I’ve been seeing this book around everywhere lately. I think the cover is beautiful; I can’t help but stare at it every time I look at it. The blue is really calming and the concept is compelling to me. Ramona thinks she’s gay but then an old family friend comes home and she begins to question this. What if she’s actually bisexual? I really want to read this because this is by the author of Dumplin’ (which I haven’t read, but need to) and people really love her first novel. This one sounds so good too. Hopefully it’ll be the perfect summer read. This book comes out on May 9, 2017.

1. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

I am all over fairytale retellings. I love the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer and I am constantly looking for great new retellings to add to my collection. Flame in the Mist is actually a Mulan retelling. That’s all I need, or want, to know. It’s fantasy, which sounds amazing and I love Mulan in general so I am extremely excited for this one. Renee Ahdieh also wrote The Wrath and the Dawn duology, which was one of my favorite series last year. I cannot wait to get my hands on this one.

So there you have it! These are the top five books that I’m anticipating reading most this summer. I can’t wait to have time to sit by the pool and read the day away in the summer when I’m not at work. This past semester has been crazy so I’m just kind of biding my time until finals or over and then it’s PARTY time. By which I mean I’m going to hide from the rest of the world and read my books, but really, what’s new?