Today, we’re sharing timely book insight and reading recommendations in a blog takeover by Summer, our resident lifestyle curator. Like many of us, she’s at home and staying safe, reading & working, while balancing teaching her two children & doing her best to manage life in general. In a world that has shifted drastically over the past few months, Summer is using books as the perfect escape. To help us along during these challenging times, Summer is sharing her Top 5 Book Picks for the Season!

Live from my closet, Summer Says, it’s the perfect time to READ!

I have pulled together some books to help get you through these maddening and, sometimes, surprisingly sweet times. All I know is that the highs are high and the lows are low. Let’s be kind to ourselves and allow all the feelings. These titles will allow you to escape and enjoy the precious few moments you garner for yourself.

1. All Adults Here

This book is a sympathetic, light-hearted, and fun romp through the lives of the Strick clan who (mostly) still reside in Clapham, a quaint Northeastern town. Don’t be confused; there are many fun surprises in the richly drawn characters in this novel. A matriarch looks back and questions how she parented; a daughter, soon to become a mother, is forced to take stock of her immaturity; the son who has flown farthest from the nest returns his baby bird back home to be mothered by the one he withdrew from years ago. I consider this book the beginning of a beautiful season of great beach reads.

2. Little Fires Everywhere

This book had me from the first page! Mia Warren is an artist who has always taken her daughter Pearl along for the ride when inspiration struck. In contrast, Elena Richardson grew up in Shaker Heights, coming back after college to raise her family the same way she was raised–in a bubble. Now that Pearl is getting older, nomadic mother/daughter pair finally settle down for good in a picture-perfect Ohio town, and their lives become intertwined with the Richardson’s. The community is split when a custody battle erupts and causes old secrets to bubble to the surface. Mia and Elena are at the center of this scuffle, and the reader can only watch as racial tensions, hidden pasts and all kinds of situations and relationships (and even a house) go up in flames.

3. Book Of Longings

In Sue Monk Kidd’s much-anticipated new book, prepare to travel back to the time of Jesus and imagine he had a wife, Ana. She is brilliant and rebellious and a character you’ll never forget. The Book Of Longings is a work of fiction (not a religious book), and is a story of female empowerment in a time when women knew little of that. As written in her foreword, “The premise evokes a fascinating question: How would the world be different if Jesus had married and his wife was part of the story?” Expect to be delighted and dazzled by one of America’s greatest storytellers!

4. Untamed

This author has captivated some of the people I respect most (Brene Brown and Oprah for example), so I decided to dive in and see what I thought. Glennon Doyle has been through more than one metamorphosis in her lifetime – her latest is the subject of her new book, Untamed. Whether or not you agree with everything she says, you will find some things that resonate and inspire you, guaranteed!

5. Weather

It is the quality of Jenny Offill’s writing, the punch of a sentence, seemingly so sparse but brilliant in its brevity. Lizzie is a mother, a librarian, former grad student, and a wife living in Brooklyn. She is always on call to help her recovering-addict brother or mother as well as signing on to help her mentor, Sylvia, with the overflow of correspondence related to her famous podcast, “Hell and High Water.’ Her station in life allows her to inhabit the position of her other calling — a fake therapist. Dazzling and unforgettable, Jenny Offill is writing my favorite types of books to read these days.

In a time when the world can feel overwhelming, reading the books Summer has recommended feels like spending time with your best girlfriend. These five books, all by female authors, range from memoir to tearjerker. They are books that shine with their own genuineness and resilience. These are books to read in the bathtub, in the sunshine, or if like Summer you’re looking for some peace and quiet, in the closet. They are comforting and empowering, a combination that seems the perfect fit for this spring season.

Thank you for the takeover, Summer! I’ve already picked up my copy of Weather to start reading!