Book titles to get you through to the end of summer
By Nora Krug, Stephanie Merry and Buhle Mbonambi
Ah, summer! The one time in the year where you can leave your phone on silent, where Teams and Google Meets notifications are muted for three weeks. You get to soak in the sun’s rays, while getting a bit of love from family members you haven’t seen in a while.
For most of us, it’s also a time to escape the distractions and dive into an alternate universe created by the skills of some of the best writers.
Here are our picks of some of the best books to read this summer.
Billy Summers, by Stephen King King’s latest stars a killer-for-hire whose final assignment involves moving to a small Southern town and taking cover as a writer, a job that turns out to be as rewarding as killing bad guys. As for the hit, it doesn’t go so well, but that’s part of the allure of this twisty, multilayered thriller.
The Startup Wife, by Tahmima Anam Newly-weds Asha and Cyrus build an app that becomes a wildly popular social media platform. But success comes at a price, as Anam shows in this witty novel that explores ambition and love in the very-modern world.
In the Country of Others, by Leila Slimani The author of The Perfect Nanny delivers another portrait of the power dynamics that stratify society. In post-World War II Morocco, a French woman and her Morrocan husband are bombarded with reminders that their union has divorced them from their countrymen.
Blood, Blades and Bullets: Anatomy of a Glebelands Hitman by Nathi Olifant A story about blood, brotherhood, gore and the underworld, former journalist Nathi Olifant has penned a book which will undoubtedly end up being optioned for either a film or TV series. The protagonist, Mazwi Nxumalo is a naïve school drop-out teenager from rural Nongoma who is unwittingly recruited into the dark world of Glebelands hostel hitmen and the underworld. It gets crazy after that. The sequel, The Fugitives, will be released soon.
The Guncle, by Steven Rowley Gay Uncle Patrick, or GUP to his niece and nephew, is a languishing former TV star bent on isolating himself – at least until a family tragedy strikes and he finds himself becoming a primary guardian with no clue how to parent.
Paradise In Gaza by Niq Mhlongo One of South Africa’s most popular writers Niq Mhlongo’s latest is a story about a man with impossible to break ties in his home village and the city he calls home. Mpisi Mpisani is home to bury his mother and visit his first wife. However, when his son, Giyani goes missing, it forces him to miss the birth of his new child, from his second wife. Mpisi stays to search for him, while trying to ignore the villagers who blame magic for the boy’s disappearance.
The Paper Palace, by Miranda Cowley Heller In this atmospheric novel set in Cape Cod, 50-year-old Elle Bishop returns to her family’s summer home, a place full of memories (good and bad) and, as it turns out, possibilities for an unexpected future.
How I Accidentally Became a Global Stock Photo and Other Stories by Shubnum Khan Shubnum Khan impressed many with her brilliant penmanship in her first novel, Onion Tears. Now she’s back with her latest work, which chronicles the hilarious story of how she became a global stock photo. Its described as part memoir, part travel tome and a love letter to her various travel experiences. Get ready to laugh, cry and also feel good things again.
The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans, by Cynthia Barnett Those shells are more than pretty decoration, you’ll learn in environmentalist Barnett’s exploration of their scientific and cultural history: “Appreciating seashells apart from the life that evolved to build them is like appreciating Leonardo for his notebooks, while overlooking his living, breathing paintings,” she writes.
We Were Never Here, by Andrea Bartz Kristen and Emily’s annual backpacking trip ends in horror when Kristen kills a man she claims attacked her. Odd, Emily thinks, considering almost the same thing happened the year before. Maybe it’s time to find a new best friend.