The official start of summer is just around the corner. Whether you are headed to the lake or the beach, it’s the perfect time to pick up your next favorite summer read.

On Second Thought asked a group of Georgia independent bookstore owners to recommend their favorite big hits and hidden gems for summer. Jessica Osborne from E Shaver in Savannah, Janet Geddis from Avid Bookshop in Athens and Frank Reiss from A Cappella Books in Atlanta all shared their picks for the season.

"On Second Thought" host Virginia Prescott speaks with Jessica Osborne, Janet Geddis and Frank Reiss.

Fiction:

"Ask Again, Yes" by Mary Beth Keane

"Laura & Emma" by Kate Greathead

"How Not to Die Alone" by Richard Roper

"The Great Believers" by Rebecca Makkai

"Florida" by Lauren Groff

"Normal People" by Sally Rooney

"Disappearing Earth" by Julia Phillips

"City of Girls" by Elizabeth Gilbert

"The Parisian" by Isabella Hammand

"The Lightest Object in the Universe" by Kimi Eisele

"A Woman is No Man" by Etaf Rum

"My Sister, the Serial Killer" by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Non-fiction, Biography and Memoir:

"Comedy Sex God" by Pete Holmes

"Three Women" by Lisa Taddeo (July 2019)

"Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir" by Ruth Reichl

"Shout" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Once More We Saw Stars" by Jayson Greene

"Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century" by George Packer

"The Light Years" by Chris Rush

"Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" by David Epstein

"Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race" by Lara Prior-Palmer

Young Adult and Children’s:

"Don’t Let Them Disappear" by Chelsea Clinton, illustrations by Gianna Marino

"The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

"I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain" by Will Walton

"The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo" by Drew Weing

"Pax" by Sara Pennypacker, illustrations by Jon Klassen

"True Grit" by Charles Portis

"On The Come Up" by Angie Thomas

"With The Fire on High" by Elizabeth Acevedo

"Extraordinary Birds" by Sandy Stark-McGinnis

"The Book of Unwyse Magic" by Claire Fayers

Cookbooks and Other Food Books:

"Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C." by Ashanté M. Reese

"Smokelore: A Short History of Barbecue in America" by Jim Auchmutey

"Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook" by Cheryl & Griffith Day

"Classic City Cooking: Celebrating the Chefs & Restaurants of Athens, Georgia" by Juanina Kocher

"Hotbox: Inside Catering, The Food World's Riskiest Business" by Matt & Tedd Lee

"Ramen Otaku: Mastering Ramen at Home" by Sarah Gavigan

"Chasing the Gator: Isaac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking" by Isaac Toups and Jennifer V. Cole

Upcoming and New Releases:

"The Last Book Party" by Karen Dukess (July 2019)

"My Jasper June" by Laurel Snyder (September 2019)

"This Tender Land" by William Kent Krueger (September 2019)

"Little Weirds" by Jenny Slate (November 2019)

"Such a Fun Age" by Kiley Reid (January 2020)

"The Lucky Ones" by Liz Lawson (April 2020)

"Raised in Captivity" by Chuck Klosterman (July 2019)

"We Are All Good People Here" by Susan Rebecca White (August 2019)

"Inland" by Téa Obreht

"Hollow Kingdom" by Kira Jane Buxton (August 2019)

"The Lesson" by Caldwell Turnbull (June 2019)

"Let’s Hope For The Best" by Carolina Setterwall (July 2019)

"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (July 2019)

"This Is How You Lose the Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (July 2019)

Hidden Gems:

"Give" by Erica Witsell

"In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

"The Pleasure Was Mine" by Tommy Hays

"King of Kings County" by Whitney Terrell

"My Father's Guitar and Other Imaginary Things" by Joseph Skibell

"A Curable Romantic" by Joseph Skibell

Essential Summer Reading:

"Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury

"Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzhugh

"Frog & Toad" books by Arnold Lobel

"Little Bear" books by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak

Anything  written by Charles Portis

"The Paperboy" by Pete Dexter

"I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith

 

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Tags: independent bookstores  avid bookshop  e shaver  southern reading list  books  Summer reading  A Cappella Books  OST Full Show  Atlanta  Georgia