And yes, I’ve gone through at least 20 of the posts asking for the same thing and didn’t find anything my book club might like. These are our criteria:
1. We only read books by female authors.
2. Need something light and feels like summer but will still spark a meaningful and insightful discussion.
Please suggest something! Thank you
by Left_ReginaPhalange
19 Comments
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
I don’t necessarily know if it feels like summer, but when I read this it felt very light and lyrical. There are some slightly heavier themes/settings but the overall feeling I came away with was that it was a lovely book.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Beach Read by Emily Henry
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Some female authored books I like which are nature oriented. They are serious but not too heavy from
what I remember …
vesper flights – Helen McDonald
Surfacing – Kathleen Jamie
…
Lots of Ursula Le Guin books are great but maybe too sci fi / fantasy?
Other famous female writers —>
Margaret Atwood, Alice Monroe, Jane Austen….
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
This was a really fun book: “Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books” by Kirsten Miller
*The High House* by Jessie Greengrass
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Honestly I keep recommending this all the time, but Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Wedding People
Moloka’i
Garden Spells – Sarah Addison Allen
Storied Life of AJ Firky is all of that
Off the Books may not be light enough, but may… dunno your crew
Goodbye, Vitamin is lovely, would be a good choice I think
and….
Finlay Donovan is Killing It would be a fun beachread/book club title
I’m not a seasonal reader and not sure what exactly “light” means (people have all sorts of definitions), but some that come to mind:
– *Annie Bot* by Sierra Greer
– *A Visit from the Goon Squad* or *The Candy House* by Jennifer Egan (they’re companion novels but stand alone)
– *When Women Were Dragons* by Kelly Barnhill
– *Station Eleven* by Emily St. John Mandel
– *Oryx & Crake* by Margaret Atwood
The wongs v the world is what you’re looking for.
Braiding Sweetgrass
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Matrix, by Lauren Groff. After I read it I made my daughter read it so I could talk with her about it! Oops, not a summer read, but it’s still a great book.
Summer by Ali Smith
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Her more famous books are not all light, but this one, set in nature, might work.
Echoing this – and anything by Ann Patchett (Bel Canto is an all time favorite), Barbara Kingsolver (Demon Copperhead, The Poisonwood Bible), Emily St John Mandel, the Wolf Hall series by Hillary Mantel, or The Frozen River (author’s name escapes me at the moment).
Edited: Misspellings