Is This the Perfect August Reading List?
- The Bossy Bookworm
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
Soaking Up Summer with the Perfect Reads
I present to you: a little of this, a little of that, and a list that may collectively be the perfect array of books to get you through the end of the summer: a practically perfect rom-com; the immersive memoir you didn't know you needed; weird, funny, wonderful nonfiction; a doorstop of a book all your friends are talking about; a lovely, quiet story with depth--and a 2026 Booker Prize nominee; and a perfect summer read about strong women, friendship, and bonding through tennis on a California island in the 1950s.
What makes a perfect summer read for you? Are there any books you'd like to read before fall?
01 A Practically Perfect Rom-Com: Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan
This nearly perfect rom-com hit all the right notes for me. Monaghan's tone was spot-on, and her fake-dating story and characters had me abandoning real-life duties to get back to reading this delightful, banter-filled, layered, lovely novel.
Single mom Dolly Brick (her mother was a country music fan) returns to her seaside Rhode Island hometown of Whitfield for the summer to help her hardworking dad with his fish shop, support her brother, who has schizophrenia following a traumatic brain injury, and repair the family home following a fire.
When she runs into handsome Stewart, the son of the local millionaire Whitfield family, who has a flat tire and no clue how to change it, capable Dolly helps him out. One thing leads to another, and Stewart proposes a fake-dating scenario that should allow him to save face after a humiliating and public breakup--and more importantly, prove to his family that he can lead a balanced lifestyle outside of work.
Monaghan's tone is spot-on, so I eagerly ate up all of her characters' romance scenarios, interpersonal challenges, heartfelt moments, heartbreak, and resolutions. The banter, the hesitant steps forward, the experiences that built the relationship--yes to all of this.
I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Putnam.
For my full review of this book, please see Dolly All the Time.
Annabel Monaghan is also the author of books including Nora Goes Off Script, Same Time Next Summer, Summer Romance, and It's a Love Story.
02 The Memoir You Didn't Know You Needed: Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher
Cher's lack of agency in her relationship with Sonny Bono came through in passive, reactive behavior, but as she grew older, she found her voice, rode a roller coaster of personal and professional adventures, overcame difficulties, and set her sights on an even bigger, more fulfilling life than ever. I'm alllll in for book two.
Early on, the memoir felt like more of a factual account of what occurred in her life than it felt like illuminating self-examination. I was curious to find out if Cher would provide more reflection around events as she grew older and more emotionally mature within her own story.
Her relationship with Sonny Bono (eleven years older) began when she was a teenager, and his control over her professional and personal life grew stronger and stronger without Cher's recognizing her limitations, her lack of knowledge about finances and business, and her squashed self-esteem about her performance ability.
As she recounts the ups and downs of her early relationships and rides the roller coaster of success and failure, Cher begins to want to express her own voice and to become assertive, and this is when she starts to show more vulnerability and growth--and when I felt drawn into her story.
This is part one of two, and toward the end of this installment she has made her way through the nurturing link with David Geffen, her complicated relationship with Gregg Allman, her connection to her children, her career, and her creativity. She has her eye on diving into becoming a serious actress. And I am hooked.
Please click here for my full review of Cher: The Memoir.
03 Weird, Funny, Wonderful Nonfiction: The Land And Its People: Essays by David Sedaris
Sedaris's first collection of essays in four years offers his delightfully jarring observations and rejection of social niceties, including a hilarious emotional reliance on Duolingo, various entertaining and nerve-racking encounters, and powerfully poignant reflections on his decades-long friendship with his best friend.
In David Sedaris's latest book of essays, The Land and Its People, his first in four years, he brings his offbeat humor, acerbic observations, and surprising heart to recounting stories about travel, adventures, mishaps, shortcomings, true friendship, love, families, loss, aging, and the complicated, fascinating, sometimes disappointing nature of human beings.
As always, Sedaris delivers enough edge to keep me feeling slightly, delightedly nervous about what's to come, yet much of the time he manages to end essays on a thoughtful or surprisingly heartwarming note. Some of the poignancy in his essays shows up when you read between the lines, which feels only fitting for his sharp observations and his often-barbed voice. The final lines of the essays felt at times a little bit sentimental or cute, but he does have to wrap these up, after all.
David Sedaris is also the author of Happy-Go-Lucky, The Best of Me, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Santaland Diaries, and other books.
You might also like these Bossy reviews of other collections of essays.
For my full review, please check out The Land and Its People.
04 A Doorstop of a Book All Your Friends are Talking About: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
The Help author's 656-page Depression-set historical fiction tackles issues of poverty, body autonomy, women's rights, race, and more within two timelines featuring spirited, determined, underestimated females who prove how strong they are.
In Kathryn Stockett's newest novel--her first since her debut 17 years ago--we dive into dual, linked storylines. It's 1933, the peak of the Great Depression, and in Mississippi, everyone is struggling.
We meet two main protagonists: independent young adult Birdie, who travels from her rural hometown to Oxford to beg her socialite, newly married sister for financial assistance for the family; and young Meg, who suffers cruelty in an orphanage after the disappearance and abandonment of her beloved mother. Both are spirited, smart, sassy, and full of personality.
The story is long enough to meander at times; we drift in and out of Birdie's and Meg's lives without hurry, spending some days in which little occurs but scene-setting and a building of the story's tone, all of which I enjoyed. But by the time key matters are resolved, after so much page time, the resolutions feel somewhat abrupt.
I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau.
For my full review of this book please see The Calamity Club.Â
05 A Lovely, Quiet Story with Depth--and a 2026 Booker Prize Nominee: The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
In Strout's newest novel, we meet an irresistible new character in high school history teacher Artie Dam. Only the reader understands Artie's deep loneliness, only we live through his discovery of a shattering secret, and only we witness the life-altering power of his kindness and connections with other characters. This is lovely.
Artie Dam is a high school history teacher, father to a grown son, longtime husband to his wife, and friend to all. The thoughtful, kind former teacher of the year loves sailing, connects with his students, and is a calming force in all of his circles.
Artie is friendly and kind, but private. As readers, we are privy to Artie's closely held ups and downs, his annoyances and triumphs, his secret joys and his devastating disappointments. Only we fully realize that Artie is feeling desperately lonely, disillusioned, and depressed.
His connections with his students are wonderful and, sometimes unbeknownst to him, powerful.
When Artie discovers a deep secret about his life, he's unsure how to cope. This enormously impactful unearthing of information profoundly shakes him. But in typical Artie fashion, he doesn't burn everything down as a result; he is circumspect, even when restraint feels impossible, and thus he protects others.
Elizabeth Strout's signature voice comes through--in this case, it actually felt as though multiple characters took on similar speech patterns to each other and to those in other Strout books. This cross-character speech pattern is not something I'd noticed in other Strout novels, and I'd be curious to know if it was present in other works or not.
This is beautiful, poignant, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. I loved reading about Artie's life and being allowed into his inner world.
Elizabeth Strout is also the author of Tell Me Everything, Lucy by the Sea, Anything Is Possible, Olive, Again, My Name Is Lucy Barton, and Oh William! Elizabeth Strout is also the author of Olive Kitteridge.
For my full review, please check out this link.
6 A Perfect Summer Read: Strong Women, Friendship, and Tennis on a California Island in the 1950s: The Island Club
​In this perfect summer read, Harrison explores 1950s life for three women facing complicated personal challenges. Tennis brings them together, and they use their inner strength and smarts to fight through troubles as they rely on each other.
Nicola Harrison's The Island Club is set on Balboa Island off the coast of California, where tennis ultimately brings together three women, formerly strangers to each other. Their lives intersect in their small community, and they reluctantly become vulnerable with each other, sharing secrets, challenges, and devastating problems they wouldn't tell anyone else.
Harrison raises some weighty issues, and there are some dark periods within the story, but the tone of The Island Club is that of a summer book.
The Island Club delivers full-on 1950s immersion while exploring LGBTQ issues, privilege, sacrifice, second chances, and redemption. As I was reading, I had faith that all would work out, but that the resolutions would be just tricky enough to make it feel satisfying.
The author spoke here this spring, and she talked about her inspirations, her writing process, and her life. I loved being there.
For my full review, please check out The Island Club.