The Best Books You've Read This Summer

Here's what you've been reading (and loving!) under the sun.

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Summer is nearly over, but we haven’t gotten over some of the books we’ve read this season. Our in-office book club recently devoured—and swooned over—Julia Quinn’s The Duke and I (in anticipation of the Shonda Rhimes adaptation). Others dove into Naomi Novak’s newest fantasy, Spinning Silver, and revisited Crazy, Rich Asians before seeing the film. I, for one, couldn’t put down The Fact of a Body, and shed one too many tears over The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

We wanted to hear about your recent favorites, so we asked our Facebook followers to describe what they've read and loved this summer. Look below to see their responses—and then start preparing for sweater weather!


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The Goldfinch

By Donna Tartt

“The universal love of art and the rare; treasured, exploited, and exposed by dysfunctional, drug addicted main characters. A stunning page turner.” —Elan

Related: Art in Fiction: 10 Novels That Take You Beyond The Goldfinch 

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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

By Karen Joy Fowler

“Original storyline with a fresh narrative voice. The underlying messages about the value of animal lives never felt like a lecture, rather a tautological truth that we simply needed to rediscover.” —Diane

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Us Against You

By Frederik Backman

“But first, Beartown (the prequel). Highly recommend—excellent insight into the foibles of the human condition.” —Randi

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Scarlett

By Alexandra Ripley

“She picked up where Margaret Mitchell left off and went with it. I was surprised it was this good but it was! Didn’t want it to end!” —Debbie

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Radium Girls

By Kate Moore

The Woman Who Smashed Codes and Radium Girls. The last [was] a bit difficult to read because of the subject but how the ladies persevered was uplifting.” —Barbara

Radium Girls was incredible! A disturbing, yet inspirational part of history that I never knew...By far one of the best books I've ever read!” —Carmen

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The Death of Mrs. Westaway

By Ruth Ware

“Lots of twists and turns!” —Diane

The Death of Mrs. Westaway or any of Ruth Ware's books!” —Mindy

Related: 21 Beach Reads to Pick Up This Summer 

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Trail of Lightning

By Rebecca Roanhorse

“Rebecca Roanhorse’s amazing science fiction novel, Trail of Lightning, is a powerful, exciting and violent novel with enthralling characters, set in post-apocalyptic Navaho Country. Gods, monsters, archetypes and strong humans abound here. The protagonist, Maggie Hoskie, the monster hunter, is the classic Hero with Flaws and Secrets, but she is no cliché. She lives and struggles on the page, and with no lack of humor. She and the off-beat medicine man Kai Arviso, with some other unusual helpers, are on the trail of something that eats young girls. What they find will make Maggie confront her dark and frightening past and face her most terrible battle.” —Kiwi

A Chorus of Stones

A Chorus of Stones

By Susan Griffin

“Three: The Middle Mind by Curtis White; What Her Body Thought and A Chorus of Stones, both by Susan Griffin. Griffin is an incredible writer and I cannot wait to read all she has written.” —Kathleen

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The Nightingale

By Kristin Hannah

“(I cried.)” —Bonnie

The Nightingale, Alice Network. Love books about women’s roles in World War II.” —Alexa

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The Good Lawyer

By Thomas Benigno

“Always a fan of Grisham and now this author is satisfying my thirst between John's books.” —Sue

Related: 9 Legal Thrillers for Fans of John Grisham Books 

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All Your Perfects

By Colleen Hoover

“Took the life right out of me!” —Cindy

Related: More Than Murder on the Mind: 8 Sexy Romantic Suspense Books 

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Rebecca

By Daphne du Maurier

“Reread Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for my book club and was totally entranced even though I’d read it before and seen both the original movie and the re-make.” —Sherilyn

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Orphan Train

By Christina Baker Cline

“Shows a period of history that I haven't read much about and how these children were taken advantage of in many cases—at least the older children.” —Bonnie

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