Tandem Takes: The Perfect Summer Reading List

What are your favourite summer reads?

We asked our Instagram community to share recommendations for summer reading and we were not disappointed. We received tons of fabulous suggestions and we didn’t want to leave any out, so we’ve highlighted a few but kept them all in to create a list we can keep returning to.

So, here you have our Tandem Take of the best books to read this summer whether you’re lounging by a pool, going on a long journey, lying on a beach, or whiling away a sweaty commute.

If you read any of them, please let us know what you thought in the comments below. And if you’ve got any suggestions to add, please share them!

🌊 Books for by the pool

One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke

Recommended by @aloveofbooks_nic

One of the Girls is a twisty, psychological thriller set on a Greek island about a perfect girls weekend gone wrong. Fan of Big Little Lies? Then according to PopSugar, this one's for you. Author Lucy Clarke is a Sunday Times best seller and her books are read in 20 countries.

The Disaster Tourist by Sun Ko-eun

Recommended by @suziebrzee

An ‘eco-thriller with a fierce feminist sensibility’, this is the first novel by award-winning South Korean writer Yun Ko-Eun's to be translated into English. The Disaster Tourist was awarded the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger award last year by the Crime Writers’ Association.

You and Me On Vacation by Emily Henry

Recommended by @nellyisreading

Emily Henry’s novel was New York Times’ 2021 #1 bestselling, laugh-out-loud love story. A holiday in itself, You and Me on Vacacion is a warm and funny TikTok sensation from the author that Jodi Picoult calls, “my newest automatic-buy author”.

Under a Dancing Star by Laura Wood

Recommended by @dungareads

Under a Dancing Star is a YA romance novel set in the 1930s, written by best selling author Laura Wood. While spending the summer with her uncle’s bohemian friends in Italy, Bea starts a hot summer romance with a sexy young artist… but can they resist falling in love?

You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emery

Recommended by @abookworkorange

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty is a Washington Post Most Anticipated Book of 2022. Feyi, a young talented artist living in New York City, gives love a second chance after her husband’s tragic death. Author Akwaeke Emezi is a New York Times bestseller and has been both long and shortlisted for literary prizes from the Dylan Thomas Prize to the PEN/Hemmingway award.

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh

Recommended by @amandallwyd

A “hypnotically good” (Lee Child) nail-biting thriller set on a 20 hour plane journey from London to Sydney. Who would you save? Sunday Times bestselling author Claire Mackintosh has sold over two million books worldwide. Hostage is her sixth novel.

The Heatwave by Kate Riordan

Recommended by @amandallwyd

The Heatwave is a gripping, atmospheric thriller that alternates between the present - a beautifully captured summer spent in the South of France - and the past, when Sylvie’s first daughter suddenly died. A meditation on mother-daughter relationships and what it means to love a child, Kate Riordan’s novel is “the perfect summer read” according to author Rachel Rhys, and our Tandem community!

Plus…

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Finding Her by Cora Carmack
How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Love That Journey For Me by Emily Garside
The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
The Hart Boardwalk series by Samantha Young
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
These Hollow Vows duology by Lexi Ryan
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

🏖️ Books for on the beach

The Beach by Alex Garland

Recommended by @aloveofbooks_nic

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. The Beach, in name and nature, is a brilliant summer read. A cult 1996 novel about a group of young backpackers who discover a pristine island near Bangkok, The Beach inspired the major film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Given he was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor, we suggest you stick with the book!

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Recommended by @dungareads

A New York Times bestselling novel from the author of Tandem-favourite The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising is a high-tension family drama about four famous siblings and one unforgettable night. As Oprah says, “If summer could somehow fit into a book, then you’d find it in Malibu Rising.”

Lock Every Door by Riley Sagar

Recommended by @nobooksgiven

Stephen King says it all in his review of this spine-tingling gothic horror: “Looking for a suspense novel that will keep you up until way past midnight? Look no further than Lock Every Door, by Riley Sager.” Lock Every Door is an instant New York Times bestseller, from a prize-winning author published in 30 countries. It’s a must for your beach bag.

Plus…

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray
The Country of Others by Leila Slimani
The Fake Up by Justin Myers
The Girl who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
The Island Of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy
The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams
The Prison Healer series by Lynette Noni
The Survivors by Jane Harper
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

🗺️ Books for a journey

The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield

Recommended by @suziebrzee

A summer suggestion of a different kind. The Embroidered Book is a Sunday Times bestselling historical fantasy novel filled with magic, intrigue and betrayal. Described as, “An entertaining and dark read” by Stylist, and, “An absorbing novel” by the Guardian. Journalist-turned-author Kate Heartfield has won Canada’s Aurora Award and been shortlisted for the Nebula, Locus, Crawford and Sunburst awards.

Leave The World Behind by Rumen Alam

Recommended by @dungareads

Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his summer favourites, and as best book of the year 2020 by everyone from NPR and Elle to Esquire and The New Yorker, Leave the World Behind is a magnetic novel in which Ruman Alam, “explores complex ideas about privilege and fate with miraculous wit and grace” (Jenny Offil).

Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola

Recommended by @sammikoalareads

A romance novel that has been called “sexy and smart”, “heart meltingly romantic” and a “divine summer read” by an impressive roster of fans, Honey and Spice is a must-read this summer. London-based writer Bolu Babalola, another Sunday Times bestseller, describes herself as a “romcomoisseur”.

Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer

Recommended by @juliannareads

New York Times bestseller Brigid Kemmerer is a master of ‘dark and alluring’ Young Adult novels. Forging Silver Into Stars is a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story and an enchanting modern fable about the plight of two young people struggling for survival.

Plus…

Daisy Jones by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Scythe by Neil Schustermen
The Castaways by Lucy Clarke
The Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire

☀️ Books for a sunny Sunday morning

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Recommended by @dungareads

Sweet Bean Paste is a moving story about a budding friendship between an ex-con and an old lady with a shady past. Can friendship be redemptive? Set in contemporary Japan, Durian Sukegawa’s first novel to be translated has become an international best seller.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Recommended by @anybookanywhere

A ‘lively, sexy and thought provoking East-meets-West story’. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows is about a woman who finds herself teaching Sikh widows how to express their fantasies, in a scandalous expression of desire that threatens the calm of a seemingly sedate community. The novel was translated into 15 languages and chosen by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine book club.

My Mess Is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett

Recommended by Zuzanna

My Mess Is a Bit of a Life is a tender, funny, and deeply relatable memoir, and a truthful account of a life lived with anxiety. Georgia Pritchett is the Emmy award winning writer of Succession and has also written for comedy and comedians including Miranda, The Thick of It, Jo Brand and Graham Norton, so you know you’re in good hands.

Plus…

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman
Klara and the Sun by Kazio Ishiguro
Modern Love, edited by Daniel Jones
Millennial Love by Olivia Petter
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The Last Feather by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou

🚇️ Books for the hot commute

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Recommended by @alexdayhey

A parallel world under the streets of London is the strangely familiar setting for a gripping and dark fantasy tale. Neverwhere was the first novel by universally acknowledged master-of-storytelling Neil Gaman, whose fans include Philip Pullman, Stephen King and Susana Clarke.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Recommended by @dungareads

Author Beth O’Leary’s first novel The Flatshare is a joyful romantic comedy about two people who share a flat but have never actually met. Rave reviews for this hilarious debut abound, so get it on your summer reading list pronto!

The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley

Recommended by @nobooksgiven

Iona has given her fellow commuters elaborate nicknames, forming assumptions about who they are. But one morning, an incident involving a grape forces the travellers to recognise that their perceptions don’t match reality. A warm, funny and moving novel, the addictiveness of The People on Platform 5 will carry you breezily through that hot commute.

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

Recommended by @jenny_readss

A coming of age novel about a young Greek-Cypriot Jamaican man growing up in London, The Black Flamingo follows Michael’s journey to discover his identity and emerging sexuality. When he finds the Drag Society, the Black Flamingo is born. A Stonewall Book Award Winner and A Time Magazine Best YA Book Of All Time from acclaimed poet and performer Dean Atta, this one is a must.