Books perfect for your summer reading list!

Summer breaks are the most enjoyable times of the year, with holidays and vacations planned out. From planning out holiday destinations to setting fitness goals for the season, there is something we all look forward to doing during summer breaks. From teenagers to young adults and people, we have curated a book recommendation list just for you. While you are a student enjoying summer holidays or someone with a 9-5 job, you can always squeeze in some time for a good read.

Here is a list of books that you must read this summer:

1. Beautiful World, Where are you? – Sally Rooney

This novel explores the confusion of achieving success young, along with the FOMO that many adults feel. Alice, a wealthy writer, returns to Ireland after a traumatic experience in New York, while her friend Eileen struggles with heartbreak and financial instability. As Alice begins an unpredictable relationship with Felix, Eileen reconnects with Simon, with whom she shares a complicated past.

2. Heart Lamp: Selected Stories – Banu Mushtaq

Mushtaq, a lawyer and activist, has written the true stories of 12 women from the Muslim community in Southern India. Written in Kannada between 1990 and 2023, it tells the stories of women who represent the problems that most face. Mushtaq carefully explores the sensitive problems faced by these women, including patriarchy, reproductive rights, faith and the normalisation of gender inequality.

3. The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

Popularly known as a story not about insects, but about us, Franz Kafka carefully articulates the concept of humans and their value being associated with their usefulness. Gregor, a hard-working salesman toiling to take care of his indebted parents and sister, awakes one morning to find himself turned into a grotesque vermin. His parents are initially appalled by his appearance, but are forced to find work as he can no longer provide.

4. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky

Set in the 19th century in the slums of St Petersburg, Rodion, a brilliant and ambitious student, lives in a crammed room and struggles to make ends meet while also suffering from loneliness. This story delves deep into the human psyche and is more of a psychological thriller than a whodunit.

5. Evenings and Weekends – Oiseen McKenna

This relatable slice-of-life story follows a close-knit group of people at their breaking points. Maggie, a 30-year-old pregnant woman struggling with poverty, fears her age and pregnancy will cost her future opportunities. Meanwhile, her delivery-driver husband, grieving his father’s death, hides a dark secret from her.

6. In the presence of absence – Mahmoud Darwish

This poetography is a self-elegy in which he reflects on his life, near-death experience, being a Palestinian, and his heart-shattering love life with Tamar Ben-Ami.

7. The Velvet Rage – Alan Downs

Alan Downs presents this strongly researched self-help book backed by studies and psychology. He writes about struggles gay men face, and how their shame, feeling of doing something “bad”, and need for validation drive them to hold powerful positions, get into influential circles, become wealthy and prove their talents to the world by being extremely good at it.

8. Natural Beauty – Ling Ling Huang

A Chinese-American woman devotes her life to becoming a piano prodigy and eventually makes it to the big screen through discipline and hard work. However, she soon realises the cost of navigating the industry’s unforgiving and unrealistic beauty standards, all while yearning to make her immigrant parents proud, who were also talented artists.

9. Column of Fire – Ken Follett

This one is for those into epic and history. This gothic novel is set in Kingsbridge, England, in the 15th century. A young couple, passionately in love, face hurdles due to religion and war.

10. Your Dreams Are Mine Now – Ravinder Singh

Focusing on the theme that opposites attract, this story revolves around Rupali, a strong-willed small-town girl who gets admission in Delhi University and Arjun, a rough-around-the-edge campus politician. A scandal in the university brings them together, but a horrific incident shatters their world forever.

Whether you are looking for a gripping psychological thriller, a tender love story, a poetic meditation on life, or a book that makes you see the world a little differently, this list has something for everyone. Summer is the perfect time to slow down, get lost in a good story, and let great writing stay with you long after the last page. So pick up a book, find your favourite spot, and make this summer one worth remembering.

Also read: Turn the page on 2025: Must-read novels promising pure escape!

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