In Case You Missed It: Backlist Book Love (June 20)
Hot fun in the summertime
Happy Litha, everyone! It’s the summer solstice, and so this edition of Backlist Book Love celebrates some books that just feel like summer to me. Here are a few faves from a variety of genres! (And they’re all actually part of larger series, too, so if you love these and need more, you’ll know immediately where to go!)
Links in this post are affiliate links to Bookshop; if you buy a book using them (and please do!), then I get a small commission from Bookshop, which I will then use to… buy more books.
Lords and Ladies, Terry Pratchett
Published November 1992
I’m actually listening to this book right now, because I tend to revisit it every summer (as I do Hogfather for the winter solstice). It’s not just my favorite Discworld novel; it’s in my list of top five all-time reads. I just adore it. It’s so smart, it hits so many of my favorite buttons about the Fae and parallel universes and all sorts of metaphysical things, and it’s gorgeously constructed. The prose is sharp and smooth by turns, elegant and blunt as it needs to be. And, of course, it all takes place upon Midsummer.
Well-Met and Well-Matched, Jen DeLuca
Published September 2019 and October 2021
Summer always seems like a great time for romance novels, and these are among my favorite geek romances. The conceit is a great one, set around a small-town Renaissance faire. (The author is from Virginia, so the faire feels like sort of a mix between Virginia’s small faire and Maryland’s much larger one). Both of these books are quite charming, and the main characters are highly relatable. I love that they’re full adults, not dewey-eyed kids.
Get it on Bookshop! This one, too!
The Book of the Dead, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Published July 2007
Summer is also, IMO, a great time for brain-candy thrillers and mysteries. The Pendergast series is one that I stuck with for a really long time. It has completely jumped the shark in recent years, to the point that I eventually gave up on it — but the earlier books are solid and enjoyable. This one’s my favorite. It’s actually the third in a trilogy within the larger series, but it was the first one I ever picked up, actually, all-unaware of that. It clips along with lots of great twists and turns, and the museum setting and premise made it a lot of fun for my particular brain.
Go forth and read!
