Summer Reading Guide
Great books to enjoy now (or soon)
Hello,
It may be that you are gazing with delight upon a summer filled with plans and excitement, or that life is a bit short on trips away and rather long with work and responsilibities. But regardless of what the next few weeks will bring, I can guarantee that they’ll be better with a book.
I’ve put together a selection of titles that I have loved recently, and asked some friends to share their top picks for your TBR pile. I've also made a list of all the books in Bookshop.org here, if you’d like to browse: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/summer-reading-guide-2025
We’ll be giving away a selection of the books mentioned and chosing a winner from those of you who comment on this post - I’d love to hear what you’ve enjoyed reading of late, or what you’re looking forward to diving into.
Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean and the Origins of the Climate Crisis Tao by Leigh Goffe
The arrival of Christopher Colombus in the Caribbean marked the beginning of the colonial project. Tao Leigh Goffe traces the line from that early, experimental phase of exploitation to the climate crisis today.
The Magic Books: A Medieval History of Enchantment in 20 Extraordinary Manuscripts by Anne Lawrence-Mathers
Luxuriate in a collection of beautiful old manuscripts that illustrate the Medieval fascination with magic.
Stone Lands: A Journey of Darkness and Light Through Britain’s Ancient Places
by Fiona Robertson
A beautiful, painful memoir about navigating grief and exploring standing stones. Consider this your cancer trigger warning, though. Chosen by Rebecca Armstrong of Artnest on Substack
Give It a Grow: Simple Projects to Nurture Food, Flowers and Wildlife in Any Outdoor Space by Martha Swales
You may know Martha from Instagram - her simple projects are easy, fun and fundamentally do-able.
No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Times by Rebecca Solnit
The latest volume of Rebecca Solnit’s climate essays. Always inspiring, always on point.
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson or The Original by Nell Stevens
Chosen by Katy Wheatley of OddGoodLife on Substack
The Women Are Not Fine: A Dark History of a Poisonous Sisterhood by Hope Reese
The true story of Zsuzsanna Fazekas, the Hungarian midwife who helped desperate women to poison their husbands in the early twentieth century.
States of the Body Produced By Love by Nisha Ramayya
Blending essays and poetry, Nisha Ramayya explores the lingering effects of colonialism through tantric philosophy.
Wild Folk: Tales from the stones by Jackie Morris and Tamsin Abbott
Thoughtful reimaginings of folk and fairy tales with a cheering feminist slant and stunning illustrations that were first made in stained glass before being reproduced for this jewel-like book.
Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire
Swimming wankers, ugly dogs, and sewing set by a beach, by an Irish writer. HEAVEN.
Chosen by Caroline Donahue of Book Alchemy on Substack and author of Writing Through Fear: A Story Arcana Guide
No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality by Molly Conisbee
A social history of everyday death that seeks to redress the historical balance, capturing the hopes and fears of ordinary people rather than the rich and powerful.
Hark: How Women Listen by Alice Vincent
A fresh and perspective-shifting exploration of the relationship between sound and womanhood.
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Chosen by Laura Pashby of Small Stories on Substack and author of Chasing Fog
A Wilder Way: How Gardens Grow Us by Poppy Okotcha
A delightful, memoir-inflected guide to restoring our relationship with the garden as a natural space.
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Towards Darkness by Irene Solá, translated by Mara Faye Lethem
I loved When I Sing, Mountains Dance, and this new novel promises more of the haunted Catalan landscape that Solà has made her own.
The Sirens by Emilia Hart or Friends and Dark Shapes by Kavita Bedford
Chosen by Anna Brones of Creative Fuel on Substack and author of Fika: The Art of The Swedish Coffee Break
Natural Connection: What indigenous wisdom & marginalised people teach us about environmental action by Joycelyn Longdon
The smart money is on Joycelyn Longdon to save the world. Here, she explores how a move towards collectivist ways of living and thinking can create positive environmental impacts.
Ripeness by Sarah Moss
A true summer coming-of-age novel from Moss, who abandons her usual bleak landscapes for the glamour of an Italian villa full of highly strung ballet dancers, and a secret pregnancy. For more Moss, here’s the conversation I recorded with her last year.
Audition by Pip Adam
In a space ship, a group of people who suddenly grew into giants on Earth must keep talking in order to power their ship and stop themselves from growing even further. A strange premise, certainly, but also a searing allegory.
A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater
A Thousand Feasts does something that no food book I've read does: it looks at small acts of sustenance and nurturing -- the things we engage in every day, often mindlessly -- in snapshots, which is how most of us engage with the table, and memory on the whole.
Elissa Altman of Poor Man’s Feast on Substack and author of Permission
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
A very personal exploration of the ways in which nature diverges from the stultifying bounds of ‘normal’.
The Lost Folk: From the Forgotten Past to the Emerging Future of Folk by Lally Macbeth
An unearthing of the people and stories who were ignored, rejected or diminished in the past, and a passionate case for a more inclusive future.
A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews
It’s so raw and true and is a mix of letters, quotes and vignettes from her life. (Out 28th August)
Chosen by Cariad Lloyd of her eponymous Substack and is the author of You Are Not Alone
William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love by Phillip Hoare
An idiosyncratic, associative and deeply read meander through the queer history of English letters, connecting Blake, Derek Jarman, Paul Nash and a glittering cast of other outsiders, not least Hoare himself.
How Animals Heal Us by Jay Griffiths
A song to our deep relationship with our animal friends, showing the many things we could learn from them.
A Rebellion of Care by David Gate (Out 17th July)
Chosen by Kaitlin Curtice of The Liminality Journal on Substack and author of Living Resistance
Ugliness by Moshtari Hilal, translates by Elisabeth Lauffer
An intimate look at how the female gaze turns back on itself, including how it refracts white cultural ideals of beauty.
A Marriage at Sea / Maurice and Maralyn (same book; different title in the US and UK!) by Sophie Elmhurst
The true life story of a couple who get stranded at sea, with the grip of a novel.
Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton
Chosen by Freya Rohn of The Ariadne Archive on Substack. You can find links to Freya’s poems on her website freyarohn.com
The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound by Raymond Antrobus
A memoir and cultural history of deafness by the poet whose recent collection, Signs, Music is also well worth picking up.
The Book of Mutter by Kate Zambreno
An experimental text that draws on grief and our complex relationships with our mothers.
The Dry Season by Melissa Febos
As page-turning as anything you’ll find on a sunlounger this summer, The Dry Season is Febos’ account of a year of celibacy that turned into a year of finding and changing herself. Total cliche but you will inhale it. (Also with excellent nuns.)
Chosen by Sam Baker of The Shift with Sam Baker on Substack and author of The Shift
On the Calculation of Volume (volumes 1 and 2) by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland
A woman is trapped in the same day, on repeat; except, unlike Groundhog Day, not everything completely resets each morning. A meditation on time itself.
Death and the Gardener by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel
An elliptical, poetic memoir about the death of a father and the garden he leaves behind.
The Crying of the Wind / The Living Stones by Ithell Colquhoun
Pushkin Press have re-published these little-known classics by the mystic writer and surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun, who explores the landscapes of Ireland and Cornwall in these memoirs. For a primer of Colquohoun’s life and work, check out Amy Hale’s Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gulley.
Coal by Audre Lorde
A profound, dazzling, transcendental collection of Lorde’s poetry.
The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing
The Garden Against Time is a typically brilliant Olivia Laing masterpiece that married the practicalities of creating a garden from (literally) the ground up, breathing life on the heels of Covid back into what had once been there before falling into neglect, and assuring me that the creation of a garden is an ongoing process, an evolution.
Elissa Altman of Poor Man’s Feast on Substack and author of Permission
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhashti
Twelve short stories that capture Muslim lives in Southern India. Winner of the International Booker Prize 2025.
Raucous Invention: The Joy of Making by Mark Hearld
A beautifully illustrated entreaty to bring the visual into your life, connecting art with nature.
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy or Father Figure by Emma Forrest
Chosen by Daisy Buchanan of Creative Confidence Clinic on Substack and author of Pity Party
Don’t forget to share your summer reads in the comments in order to be entered into the prize draw!
Take care and happy reading,
Katherine
If you think a friend or loved one would enjoy The Clearing by Katherine May, gift subscriptions are available here | Website | Buy: Enchantment UK /US | Buy: Wintering UK / US | Buy: The Electricity of Every Living Thing UK / US
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This list feels like it was designed for me personally and now my bank account is looking perturbed!
My recommendation for summer reading is probably a bit of a cliche but I always return to it - The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.
Next up for me to read is The Antidote by Karen Russell. I loves Swamplandia! and I'm excited for this one.
What a wonderful list! So many interesting titles that had not crossed my radar. Thank you. I’m presently reading The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey which is a joy. Thanks again.