The Summer I Turned the Page: A 2025 Reading List
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If you’re anything like the reader I am, summer is the season of getting out of your school-induced slump and checking off books to meet your Goodreads goal. Although I try my hardest to keep up my reading during school, a break truly provides unfettered space in my mindscape for a literary feast. After my parents moved across the country to Colorado this summer, giving me more than enough time on my hands, I had even more reason to dive as deep as possible into my TBR. What I uncovered was an especially life-changing slew of books that kept me turning the page for hours. Below are my top 3 recommendations (no spoilers!!):
“Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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As an avid Taylor Jenkins Reid fan, I was ecstatic to hear about her new release. Even more so, not only did I discover this romance was coming out just in time for summer, but it also centers two astronauts working for NASA in the 1980s. I excitedly picked up my copy in London at the end of my study abroad journey, leaving me with a ten hour flight to Salt Lake City dedicated to Reid’s latest hit novel.
My review on Goodreads: “Might I say that this is my new favorite TJR novel? I might. I think I just said that.”
This read was fresh, historical, distinctly American and just down-right sweet. Not only did the love story invoke in me the same joys, shocks and anxieties the protagonists were feeling, but I also learned more than I expected about the Space Race in the 80s and the risky training of NASA astronauts. I closed the book holding a sense of pride for a fictional astronaut corps and the characters who risked their lives and careers, not just to venture into space, but to be together while doing it.
“Where There Was Fire” by John Manuel Arias
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I can’t lie, I picked this one up in my favorite St. Petersburg, Fla local bookstore first for its striking cover art and second for its unique description. I love a good historical fiction novel, but typically the popular sellers center around western European history and world wars. This one, however, spoke of Costa Rica throughout the 20th century: the banana plantations and how American monopolies oppressed the working people, a family curse transcending generations, traditional folklore and reconciliation between mother and daughter.
Amidst beautiful moon motifs and magical realism, this is a story of the unraveling of one fateful night, told from multiple perspectives. The imagery in this story was stunning, and I found myself craving the colorful words of this country, rich in culture and complicated in history. Read this if you’re into family dramas and the blurred lines between myth and reality.
“Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” by V.E. Schwab
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Last, but certainly not least, the most memorable read from my summer was V.E. Schwab’s immensely successful “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.” Although I’m not usually the biggest fantasy fan for fear of commitment to long series, Schwab’s standalone novels present me with my ideal mashup of magical realism, drama and alternating timelines that wrap up in around 500 perfect pages.
This one was my favorite yet. The writing, as Schwab’s typically is, was gothic, dark and mysterious. Her use of vampires as a means to free women from society’s constraints is a genius concept, yet simultaneously Schwab does not romanticize it. She rather explores the morality of her characters – what does freedom cost? Is it worth the sacrifice?
I hope these snippets serve as a preview convincing enough to take just one book recommendation into the fall season with you. You won’t regret it.
Strike Out,
Anna Kadet
Editor: McKenna Edwards
Athens