Looking for some good books to read this summer? I’ve picked 10 that all lean toward the lighter side to make you laugh or learn. These would all be great to read on the swing, the back porch, a car ride or on the beach – wherever you find yourself this summer! Enjoy!

For those who love quirky characters:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor’s life thrives on a routine – well, thrives might be the wrong word. It’s a rather boring life, but it’s a life Eleanor can handle. The less emotion in her life, the better. She doesn’t know how to deal with being happy or sad. She can handle being bored. She works, eats, listens to the radio, reads and drinks vodka – over and over again. Until one day a coworker follows her as she leaves work and they see a man fall unconscious and they both help get him to the hospital. Her routine slowly gets shaken up from then on and she can finally find a way to deal with why she is the way she is.
Read the full review here.

For those who dream big:

Party Girl by Rachel Hollis

Landon Brinkley is set on becoming one of the best party planners in LA, so she leaves her home and family in Texas to start her own life in California. She has an internship working for the most famous planner – Selah, where she hopes to learn all the tricks of the trade and work her way up the ladder. She quickly finds that Selah is not a nice person and the hours of the internship are very long and thankless. She finds help in two friends – her roommate and a coworker. However, as she spends more time close to Selah, she begins to change and it might not be for the better.
Read the full review here.

For those who love books with twists:

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

Kitty wakes up from a vivid dream where she is married and a mother. Her real life couldn’t be any more different – she is a single woman who runs a small bookshop with her best friend, Frieda. The dream is hard to shake but it’s when she keeps going back to the dream again and again and again that it starts to mess with Kitty’s world. The only things tying the two worlds together are herself, her cat, current events and the city of Denver. The dreams take place just a few months into the future and seem to follow a set timeline. No matter what she tries, almost every time she sleeps, she goes into the dream world.
Read the full review here.

For those who want to feel good about humanity:

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

Sept. 11, 2001, changed the entire world. For the people of Gander, Newfoundland, the day was a way to change the world in a good way. Once the United States’ airspace was closed that fateful day, planes that were still in the air had to find a place to land. Many were in the middle of crossing the ocean and were diverted to Gander, a familiar checkpoint to pilots who cross the Atlantic. Thousands of people were stranded on the island for days and they found nothing but people who wanted to help them, and the stories are told in The Day the World Came to Town.
Read the full review here.

For those who want to be happier:

Happier At Home by Gretchen Rubin

In Happier at Home, Gretchen takes a school year and focuses on making her home a happier place to be. She does this by creating a space that is happy to live in and also focuses on strengthening the relationships with her family members. I really liked how this book focuses on her home and family and would really recommend this to other mothers. My favorite quote from the book is: “In my life, day to day, one practical way to prove my love was to devote my time, attention, and convenience to the people I loved.”
Read the full review here.

For those who love historical fiction:

Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict

Clara Kelly leaves Ireland to find a better life for her in America and to send money back home to her family. Wandering the streets, not knowing where to look for work or shelter, she hears someone call her name. Taking a chance, she responds and finds out a Clara Kelly has been hired to become a paid servant at someone’s house in America. Her education and quick thinking land her at the home of Andrew Carnegie, serving as his mother’s lady maid. She keeps her eyes and ears open and learns how things work in the Carnegie’s world, all while keeping her real identity and history a secret.
Read the full review here.

For lovers of friendship stories:

The Blue Bottle Club by Penelope J. Stokes

On Christmas Day in 1929, four best friends meet in an attic to share their life dreams vowing to support each other in reaching those dreams. They stuff their dreams into a blue bottle and hide it in the attic rafters. Sixty-five years later, the house is scheduled to be demolished and a reporter covering the story is given the blue bottle, discovered by one of the men working on the demolition. Brendan reads the girls’ dreams and can’t put away the feeling that she is supposed to track them down and find out if they made their dreams come true – especially since she is at a point in life where she doesn’t know what her dreams are for herself.
Read the full review here.

For Young Adult Fiction fans:

Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch

Addie can barely keep her temper in check and her brother knows just how to push her buttons, even though they are also best friends. Her mom can’t tolerate their squabble any longer when they fight at her sister’s destination wedding in Ireland. Their fate is to get along while they travel together to Italy to visit Addie’s friend, Lina, or both not play sports for school in the fall. They agree to get along, but just as Addie gets ready for them to leave for Italy, Ian changes the plans – and both of their futures.
Read the full review here.

For those looking for a true love story:

One Summer by David Baldacci

Jack is dying. He has a rare disease and is trying to hang on until after Christmas to enjoy one last holiday with his wife and three children. Just as he readies himself to say goodbye, his wife dies in a car accident. No one was prepared for that and the children get sent to relatives while Jack goes to a hospice so his children don’t have to see him die. A miracle happens at the hospice, though – Jack gets better.
Read the full review here.

For those who love coming-of-age stories (and Alaska):

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Leni’s parents are living a great love story – on the outside. Her father was a POW in Vietnam and her mother waited years for him to return. He did, but he was changed and had demons that they tried to chase away with alcohol, changing jobs or changing locations. In a last ditch effort to make her father happy, the family moves to Alaska when Leni is 13 after a friend from the war leaves her dad some land. They arrive in the beautiful summertime, but their plans to enjoy the Alaskan life are put aside when the locals tell them all they need to do to survive the winter, which will be there before they know it. Leni has one friend at school, Matthew, but her father does not like his father.
Read the full review here.

Do you have any books picked out for summer reading? Share your selections on the blog!