Being a book worm since elementary school, I understand the importance of a good book! Whether you’re tanning by the pool, laying out at the beach, or just curled up at home, summertime is the perfect time to catch up on those novels that have been stacking up on your bedside table. Here's my top 5:
1. "Me Before You," by JoJo Moyes
Me Before You, a New York Times bestseller that comes out in theaters the weekend of June 4th, follows the lovable heroine Louisa, a woman recently unemployed from the coffee shop “The Buttered Bun.” Since her mother, father, sister, nephew, and matriarchal grandfather all rely on her wages, Lou sets out to find a job that can pay the bills upon which her family depends. Enter the career-center-presented role as “helper”, a job title where Lou would be expected to take care of a quadriplegic, someone who can use neither his legs nor his arms. Cautious of this uncharted territory, Lou interviews for the job because of its high-paying hourly wages and expects to find an extremely old man who solely needs someone to help him with his bathroom needs (her words, not mine). What she finds, however, is handsome Will Traynor—a 29 year-old man with a past filled with exciting adventures, a highly successful profession, and an abandoning ex, all of which have left him with a jaded mindset of the world and a readiness to leave it. Lou, slowly developing feelings for him, realizes that she’s the only thing that might convince Will to continue living, so she sets out to do the seemingly impossible: change his mind about life.
You’ll need tissues for this one, as JoJo Moyes accomplishes what every author strives for: the creation of a dynamic pair that’s complex, wounded, and beautifully connected, all at the same time. I finished this book in less than 24 hours—while I’m a fast reader, this book is almost 400 pages, so you can tell from this time-span how addicting this story truly is. It truly does pull at your heartstrings, and Will and Lou’s relationship will definitely stick with you, but this book is not for the faint of heart.
2. "Sharp Objects," by Gillian Flynn
Camille Preaker never wanted to go back to her hometown, Wind Gap, Missouri, but a serial killer case discovered by her newspaper editor for whom she works forces her to go back to her roots and write an article based on the town’s strange occurrences. Camille’s homecoming, plagued with inquisitive unfamiliarity from all of the locals, barely-concealed resentment from her mother, Adora, and a mystery of two young girl’s brutal deaths, all adds on to the psychological damage that she’s carried with her since her childhood. During her investigation, she stays at the home in which, many years ago, she tried to assuage her grief of her younger sister’s premature death by cutting all over her body. The murders of the similarly young girls seem to, quite literally, “hit close to home” for Camille, lending the novel a very gritty and raw feel. As she uncovers more of the mystery revolving around what happened to the two girls, trying to find out if a local was involved with their fateful ends, she begins to feel even more hostility from Adora and her wild and deceitful daughter Amma, prompting Camille to reveal in her narrative the secrets she’s been holding in about herself, and, surprisingly, her family. A slight emotional affair with the detective of the case, Richard Willis, only furthers to complicate matters for Camille’s weak mental state. The book’s ending includes many different, and all dark, surprises that make the book worthwhile.
Gillian Flynn might be renowned for Gone Girl—a suspenseful bestseller that took America by storm when it came out in theaters last year—but Sharp Objects, a book she wrote prior to Gone Girl, is just as good as its successor, if not even more of a masterpiece. Out of all of the plot-twists that I’ve encountered (and trust me, I’ve come across quite a-few during my love affair with all genres of paperbacks), Flynn does plot twists better than anyone. That being said, this book’s depth comes at a price, as there truly are no happy instances, and the ending is quite dark.
3. "The Selection," by Kierra Cass
Cass creates a highly believable and enjoyable dystopia in The Selection. America Singer, a girl who ranks as a 5 in the society’s caste scale of a 1 to 8, with 1 being the wealthiest and 8 being the poorest group, is chosen to enter a competition between her and 34 other “contestants.” The stakes are extremely high, especially for Cass’ case where her impoverished family relies on the monetary benefits given to every girl’s relatives as long as she’s in the contest. The prize is somewhat unusual: the chance to marry Prince Maxon, the Crown Prince of Illéa, whose proposal would enable his bride’s family to never have to worry about the crippling poverty and hardships that plague the majority of the castes, again. America, however, carries a secret with her to the competition that complicates everything and risks her chance of winning Maxon’s attention: before being picked for the competition, she fell in love with Aspen, a boy one caste below her own. To complicate matters further, Maxon begins to favor Cass out of all of the other girls, and his pursuit confuses America about which man she’s meant to choose and how long she can hide her lost love from the prince. Additionally, a rebel group continues to strengthen both in force and number, and their attacks on the palace result in a dangerous situation for everyone involved. Along with the rebel group’s presence comes Aspen, as he shows up at the palace as well, taking a job as a castle guard, and taking Cass completely by suprise. The plot’s continual thickening leads up to a very climactic, and exciting, conclusion.
The Selection doesn’t have the most complex and well-developed dystopian world (check out Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series if that’s more your cup of tea—I promise you’ll enjoy those novels just as much as Cass’), but it makes up for this flaw with America’s depth of character. She truly is a remarkable and well thought-out heroine whose sole presence is reason enough to try this book out. Plus, it’s a series, so if you’re left wanting more after finishing "The Selection," there’s another three in the installation.
4. "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
Similar to Me Before You, The Girl on the Train is a New York Times Bestseller that will surely be a blockbuster hit when it comes out on October 7th. It’s theme goes along with both Flynn’s Sharp Objects and Gone Girl, as it follows a young woman whose seemingly normal life is revealed as quite mentally troubled when looked upon through the scope of Hawkins’ narrative. Rachel Watson, the unlikely hero of the novel, does what most European natives do: she takes a train to and from work. Every day, she passes her last home, in which her ex-husband now inhabits with the woman with whom he cheated on Rachel and, additionally, is now anticipating a baby with. Watching her ex, Tom, and the “other woman”, Anna, find a happiness that she once believed would be her own happiness, Rachel lapses into alcoholism and also develops an obsession: every day, she passes a house in which a beautiful married couple reside—a pair whom she names Jason and Jess—over whom she develops an obsession as she fantasizes the exact details of their surely wonderful lives. One time, while riding past the railway-side home, Rachel notices a kiss between Jess and a man who is, decidedly, not Jason. Less than 24 hours later, while watching the nightly news, Rachel sees Jess’ familiar face appear on the television screen, along with a headline stating that the woman, whose real name is Megan Hipwell, has gone missing. As a result of her habitual stalking of Megan, Rachel sets out to find what happened to Megan—has she run off with her lover? Did her husband unearth the affair and unleash his anger upon Megan, thus murdering her in cold blood? In order to get closer to the truth, Rachel befriends Scott Hipwell, or “Jason”, whom she presumes is the culprit of Megan’s disappearance. The real truth behind what happened to Megan, and the people who might be involved in it, may hit closer to home than Rachel would think.
Rachel is surprisingly relatable and you can’t help but feel sympathy for her, regardless of how strange her habits are or how she can’t get sober no matter how desperately she both wants and needs sobriety. It can be painful to read of how her drinking problem leads her to publicly humiliate herself countless times, and her obsession with Megan and Scott Hipwell can come off as extreme, but the plot twists at the end make this book truly worth reading.
5. "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton
The Secret Keeper mostly takes place in a small farm in rural Britain and opens up with a disturbing scene: Laurel Nicolson, the protagonist of the novel, witnesses her mother stab a man and leave him for dead. This moment is one of many flashbacks of the novel, as Laurel, in actuality about sixty years old, returns to her home (and, coincidentally, the place of this man’s death,) in order to visit her hospitalized mother. All of her life, Laurel has carried the secret of the stranger’s murder with her, afraid to know the reason behind why her mother would commit such an atrocious act. Now, seeing that her mother may pass away at any moment, taking the truth of that day along with her, Laurel knows that the clock is ticking and she doesn’t have much time left to figure out why that eventful day happened. Could her mother be a coldblooded murderer? Who was her mother, really? Luckily, Morton provides many different narratives in her story, as Laurel’s mother, Dorothy, also stars in many of the book’s flashbacks, showing her complicated relationship with her own platonic family, her unsettling ambition, and her hardships with her lover, Jimmy. In Dorothy’s memories, a wealthy but reserved couple is introduced: Henry and Vivien Jenkins, who live across the street from the old woman of whom Dorothy takes care. All of the characters are much more intertwined than they seem, making the plot interesting and keeping you on your toes throughout the novel.
I know I’ve talked a lot about great plot twists with the previous four listed novels, but this one truly has an ending that I never saw coming, and I’m pretty good about predicting a twist way before it happens. Plus, Morton’s writing is beautiful in a way that most other authors fail to accomplish, giving the novel a truly artistic and beautiful quality. The Secret Keeper was passed down from my mom, to my sister-in-law, and finally, to me, and if you asked any of us, we would tell you that you’d be missing out if you didn’t give it a try.
Out of these five books, I’m sure you can find at least one that you’ll love! Happy reading, y'all!
