By Sianna Zewdie (Y13)
There’s something about summer that makes reading feel particularly self-indulgent. Maybe it’s the long afternoons, the lack of anything better to do, or the fact that I actually have time to read without feeling guilty about it. Summer reading has led me to discover some brilliant books (Americanah, Demon Copperhead, the Neapolitan Quartet) and…those not so great (Call Me By Your Name, A Farewell To Arms, The Island of Missing Trees). This year, my reading has been especially good, which either means I’m being too generous with the ratings, or I’m just getting better at picking out books I’ll definitely enjoy. I hope it’s the latter.
So, in the spirit of unsolicited opinions, here are the 24 books I read this summer, ranked from one star to five. That’s obviously a lot, so scroll through, skip around, and judge my taste accordingly. There’s a bit of everything: classics I was embarrassingly late to, books I picked up because TikTok told me to, a few questionable choices, and, naturally, enough literary pretentiousness to make this list completely insufferable. Enjoy.
24. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Rating: ★
There are books that ask you to suspend your disbelief. This one asks you to suspend your intelligence, dignity, and, ideally, your gag reflex. I will admit it made me cry at the end – not because it was beautiful, but because it was finally over.
23. The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
Rating: ★★
I read this when the Booker Prize longlist came out, and all I’ll say is I hope it doesn’t win 🙂
22. Empire: The Making of the Modern World by Niall Ferguson
Rating: ★★
A window into the mind of an imperial apologist – and I have to say, it seems remarkably empty in there. Every criticism of empire is placed in context, while its “achievements” are universalized. Honestly, it reminds me of a manipulative ex-boyfriend…
21. I Want You To Be Happy by Jem Calder
Rating: ★★
Chuck Bass. Chuck Norris. Chuck E. Cheese: I’ve never been a massive fan of people (or franchises) called Chuck. Chuck Maitland, in this novel, is no exception. Read this if you enjoy stories about pathetic, insecure older men and the young girls unwitting enough to sleep with them.
20. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Rating: ★★.5
The whitest person you know probably loves this book. He (because it’s almost definitely a ‘he’) probably refers to himself as a “free spirit”, has a record player, and tells you constantly that he was “born in the wrong generation”. In his endless escapades, every instance of irresponsibility is framed as freedom, every woman is no more than a sexual accessory, and every encounter with another culture is framed as a spiritual awakening.
19. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Rating: ★★.5
A compelling family drama that had the opportunity to explore the psychological scars of incarceration, but was ultimately undermined by a stupid love triangle. If that was what I wanted, I would have gone to Wattpad.
18. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Rating: ★★.5
Trad-wife experiences the power of bad karma. TikTok had a field day with this one, and it’s easy to see why – everyone loves seeing a Republican get what’s coming for them. It’s a shame, then, that the ending is so anticlimactic.
17. The Iliad by Homer (tr. Fagles)
Rating: ★★.5
I’m a stickler for reading the book before the film, and The Odyssey (2026) was no exception. Much gossipier and soap-opera-esque than you would expect—until, of course, you get to forty pages cataloguing every detail about the Greek navy.
16. The Odyssey by Homer (tr. Fagles)
Rating: ★★★
Part two of my Nolan’s Odyssey reading prep. Much more entertaining than the Iliad – all monsters, witches, murder, infidelity, and men making catastrophically bad decisions (when do they not?). Although, if I’m being honest: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters did it better.
15. Half of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Rating: ★★★.5
In the weeks since I read this, my mom and I have been going back and forth about which of Adichie’s works is her best. This one is a devastatingly intimate portrayal of postcolonial Nigeria, through the lives of three characters. But honestly? I found it could get a bit boring. If you want what I consider her magnum opus, I’d recommend checking out Americanah.
14. Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
Rating: ★★★.5
The better of the two Booker Prize nominees I read. This is one of those books that are just so weird that you almost don’t realize how clever it is. Well played, Goodman, well played.
13. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Rating: ★★★.5
“To be cringe is to be free,” is what they say on TikTok sometimes, and this book is no dissenter. It’s a heartwarming and fun read that at times gets too confident in its own profundity – but really, am I in a position to judge?
12. Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
Rating: ★★★.5
My problem is that I will jump at any book ever compared to Sally Rooney, only to be unbelievably disappointed when it is not, in fact, exactly like Sally Rooney. Nevertheless beautifully written, but sometimes almost too beautifully, like being force-fed a whole jar of Nutella.
11. Yellowface by R.F Kuang
Rating: ★★★★
European colonialism in miniature. At times as subtle as a brick thrown through the window, but in fairness, the subtlety was never the point.
10. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Rating: ★★★★
Sometimes, after a long day, you just have to return to the books you loved in middle school. Don’t make hasty judgements on its cover, title, or film adaptation – the novel is so much better (and funnier!), just as novels are wont to be.
9. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History by Michel-Rolph Trouillot
Rating: ★★★★
Your history teacher has been lying to you. Okay, fine, no they haven’t, but history isn’t nearly as objective as we might think: power plays a role in every aspect of historical production. I picked it up because it related to my personal statement, but it might be a useful read regardless for any history students struggling with their source papers…
8. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Rating: ★★★★.5
Rushdie takes one ridiculous premise and keeps adding more: telepathy, family drama, political allegory, synechdochic bodily ailments, and a concerning amount of bodily fluid. It should be unbearable. Instead it’s absolutely brilliant. I hate how much I loved this.
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
Rating: ★★★★.5
Funny story: I started reading this in church one Sunday when my mom dragged me there to get the communion. Baldwin is an ‘automatic buy’ so I got this without even knowing what it was about. Imagine my surprise and shock when it, in fact, turned out to be an intense examination of religion and trauma. But Baldwin is master of emotional devastation – which is why I kept reading, despite the religious guilt, and why YOU should read it too.
6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Rating: ★★★★.5
I’ve always known that I would never go into the sciences, but I’ve nevertheless nursed a longstanding love for astronomy and astrophysics. Obviously, I would never act on it (that would require taking IB Physics and no offense, but I’d rather choose happiness), so instead I get my fix through sci-fi novels. Project Hail Mary was exactly what I want from the genre: enough science to make me feel smart while still being genuinely fun to read.
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Rating: ★★★★★
The kind of book that reminds me why I’m taking HL English Lit. There’s so much to analyze and to unpack that it seems like a single read-through isn’t enough to fully appreciate it. It feels as if I could write an essay about every other page – and yes, I am aware of how incredibly nerdy that sounds.
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Rating: ★★★★★
I couldn’t sleep, so I picked this up and started reading – at some point I realized I couldn’t sleep because I was so engrossed in reading this. When you finish a novel in one sitting, you know it was a good book; when you near the end and can’t stop crying, you know it is the kind of story that lingers in you.
🥉 Fascism and Democracy by George Orwell
Rating: ★★★★★
I read Orwell the way other people do drugs. Like him or hate him, his writing is ever more relevant than ever – and here, in his impassioned case for democracy in the face of fascism back in 1941, it is slightly depressing to see how little his warnings have aged.
🥈 Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Rating: ★★★★★
I’m kind of cheating this one because it is probably my fifth read, not my first, but it is so good I had to include it – my only concession is to limit it to second place. I have an almost embarrassing amount of affection for this novel, and every time I return to it, I seem to find another reason to love it. Meanwhile, the pile of unread books on my shelf grow ever higher…
🥇 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Rating: ★★★★★
Spoiler alert: the go-to book to convey a sense of endless boredom is actually one of the most engrossing classics around. Don’t let illiterate philistines’ moaning about the size of this book intimidate you – it may be over a thousand pages, but you’d be surprised at how quickly you move through them. Also, considering how big this book is, you should be able to count lugging it around as part of CAS. Learn to multitask is what I always say.