Top Ten Tuesday (184)

is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Summer reading lists are actually kind of difficult because it's so easy to just fill them with fluffy and bright books that are typically contemporaries. There's nothing wrong with that, and I love books like that. But summertime is also a great time to immerse yourself in all kinds of worlds and genres, and honestly: anything goes. So today's summer reading recommendations are a slight bit different. I'll be suggesting a book based on reasoning, and the books range from historical to thriller to paranormal (but no fantasy, whoops). Enjoy!

If you would like to...

...Get some color and forget to leave the sun, try Amanda Panitch's Damage Done. This book is...something else. It's also deliciously disturbing, and reading it in the bright cheeriness of broad, summery daylight is not a half-bad idea. The beauty of Damage Done is that it's exactly what a thriller should be, it doesn't hold back, and the character development is unreal. If you like thrillers that are what they're supposed to be, I'd also recommend Kelley Armstrong's The Masked Truth.

...Remember to turn over to even out that tan or burn, try Ashley Elston's This is Our Story. There's not a more perfect book to get you to turn over because there's a part in this book that will literally make you turn over. The question of the day is why five friends went in the woods and only four left. And the answers along the way will turn you into a potato bug stuck on its back and screaming (and will help you even out that tan or burn, guaranteed).

...Wear a smile that shines brighter than the sun, try Sally Thorne's The Hating Game. I cannot get over my love for this book, and I never will. The Hating Game is utter perfection and the ship is so shippy and the banter and everything is just pure gold. It's one of the few hyped books that actually worked for me, and that says something. So if I were you I'd definitely jump the hell on it.

...Feel the heat, try Simone Elkeles' Perfect Chemistry trilogy. There's nothing like a hot, steamy read on a hot, muggy day, and the Perfect Chemistry books are perfect for that. Follow the Fuentes brothers, the trouble they get into, and the girls they fall for--then swoon. Hard. (And you'll need something a lot stronger than a fan while you're at it.)

...Cool down, try Sarah Beth Durst's Ice. Okay, so a romance with the Polar Bear King (who is, for the most part, an actual polar bear) may be a little to feelsy for cooling down. But with an off-the-charts setting amidst ice, snow, a palace that puts Elsa's to shame, and everything cold you can possibly imagine, Ice was made for cooling down. And it's best read east of the sun and west of the moon. Hint hint.

...Throw a book in the sand or water, try Jennifer Lynn Barnes's The Long Game. You're actually better off reading The Fixer before The Long Game, since the latter is the sequel. This YA-Scandal series is very well written, has some excellent characters, and is thrillery good with some twists and turns. But if you ever need to throw a book or just glare at one angrily? Go for the sequel.

...Have an overflowing tote bag, try Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy. You could really fill your tote bag if you wanted to add in the not-really-a-spinoff Darkness Rising trilogy, but, man, The Darkest Powers. I don't know what it is about these books, but last year I made the decision to reread them every year because I have to. Actually, I know exactly what "it" is. And that would be Derek. And my ship. But DEREK.

...Feel wanderlust from your head to your toes, try Sarvenaz Tash's Three Day Summer. Concerts are super duper expensive, especially the iconic ones. Some are so iconic you can't even go to them anymore--like Woodstock. But never fear, Sarvenaz Tash will bring you right to Woodstock--and any outdoor festival, for that matter--in Three Day Summer. And it will only cost you like twenty dollars to go. That shouldn't even be legal.

...Stay out until the tide comes in, try Ruta Sepetys' Salt to the Sea. There's a slight chance I put this book on here because the title is uber fitting. But really: there's something about Salt to the Sea that's slightly harsh, ridiculously simple, yet totally engrossing. It's historical fiction that takes a very well known time--the era of Hitler--but tells it in a way that's new and from a side you may not have known. And there's a reason you'll be reading it as the sun sets: your emotions will be making ripples in the water.

...End the day getting cozy by the fire, try Michelle Andreani and Mindi Scott's The Way Back to You. One of my favorite things is when I start a book and am immediately here for it, and The Way Back to You is one of those books. It's light and fun, but at the same time there's an air of melancholy to it that gives just the right amount of depth. I mean, it's about a dead girl's best friend and boyfriend going to find the people who received parts of her body--it's not exactly fluffy. But it's something. And it's something you don't want to put down and don't want to see end.

What books are you recommending this summer?