Want to know the top books that everyone's going to be talking about this summer?
Well, you're in the right place. In this Book Break video, we are going to talk
about the nine buzziest books of the year, that will guarantee you can join in
with all of the book chats going on this summer. So first up, a book that is
very relevant right now, because let's face it, we can't help it, at least 50% of
our conversations this year so far have been about the pandemic, so a book that
looks at a different pandemic in history is bound to be featuring in a lot of our
upcoming discussions. The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue is a historical
fiction book coming out this July that's about the 1918 flu. So it's set in
Ireland at a very understaffed hospital on the maternity ward, where expectant
mothers who've come down with this flu are all being quarantined together. So
like I said it is very timely and relevant and it is so much about
championing the amazing work of the doctors and nurses who, back then and
right now, were risking it all for their patients. And it also offers a lot of
hope which i think is exactly what we need right now. Then coming out in August
we have Breasts and Eggs, such a great title, by Mieko Kawakami, which is
about three different women in a very poor suburb in Tokyo, each grappling with
their different experiences of womanhood. So we have a woman called Makiko who is
despairing the change in her looks as she ages, and so she has traveled to
Tokyo for a breast enhancement surgery. And she brings with her her teenage
daughter, who is also struggling in a different way with the changes in her
body, and so she has recently stopped speaking entirely. And they both stay
with Makiko's younger sister Natsu, and it's through Natsu that we get to
jump forward eight years into the future and explore Natsu's memories of that
summer and her family. Next up, A House Through Time by David Olusoga and
Melanie Backe-Hansen. This one is already a really popular TV show and now there
is a book that I think will get a lot of people exploring the histories behind
their own houses. So this is really about exploring history beyond what's on the
curriculum. We know the histories of castles and big important buildings
where these rich powerful families lived and worked, but this book gives you the
tools to explore your own home, the history behind ordinary families which
is every bit as fascinating, if not more fascinating, than what
we learned at school. And then for a new release by a mega-popular author. The
Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel is a really unusual mesmerising book. It's
about a brother and sister, and we jump backwards and forwards in time to find
those brief moments where their lives intersected as adults. So Vincent, the
sister, is a bartender at this luxury glass hotel, where she meets a
millionaire and enters into a relationship with him, getting sucked
into this whole world of beauty and money and glamour and white-collar crime.
And then the brother Paul is a really troubled character who's really haunted
by this terrible moment from his past. And this is one of those books that you
just can't help wanting to talk about incessantly. There are so many different
ways to interpret it, and so many fascinating little moments and
storylines. Now, one that I'm sure you've already seen a lot of buzz about, and
is bound to just keep growing, is Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid. So this is about a
young black woman called Emira, she's about 24 I think, and she babysits
for the child of a white influencer called Alix. And right in the beginning of
the book, she takes the toddler that she looks after to a shop, and is stopped by
the security guard and accused of kidnapping the child. And so the book is
about the implications of this. It's about the everyday racism that Emira
faces, but it's also about the ways in which Alix, the white boss, who is
appalled by this and tries to fix it by better, getting to know Emira, and
trying to right the situation, actually makes things worse by centering her own
discomfort over Emira's own feelings. Now for a pretty sad one that I think is
gonna break a lot of hearts this summer, think A Little Life meets Alan
Hollinghurst, we have Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. This is about a young
boy called Shuggie Bain, growing up in 1980s Glasgow, with an alcoholic mother
who he loves so much but is continuously failed by, and he's picked on by the
other children and adults around him, but he just continuously keeps holding on to
this hope that he can be normal and live this normal life. So it's a really sad,
beautifully written book that I think a lot of people will be talking about this
summer. Next, for a page-turner that has already got so much buzz before it comes
out in July: If I Can't Have You by Charlotte Levin. This is Eleanor Oliphant
meets You, but with a heroine so much more relatable than Joe Goldberg. Constance
is this rather lonely figure who meets a guy through work and completely falls
for him, and her behavior starts getting more and more obsessive. But it's not as
simple as the crazy ex-girlfriend storyline, it's much deeper than that, and
looks at this guy's behaviour as well, and you really find yourself sympathising
with and rooting for Constance for so long, even as her behaviour does start to
get more and more extreme. So it's absolutely brilliant, really really
gripping, and surprisingly moving as well. And to finish off, two books that aren't
new this year but have just become TV shows, and so are bound to be back on
everyone's radar this summer. First we have Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff.
This is a horror sci-fi mashup about various members of a family traveling
through Lovecraft Country, 1950s New England, and the racism that they face
along the way. So it's a mix of supernatural horrors and even worse,
real-life horrors. And JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele have produced the TV show
coming out this summer which I'm so excited for. With those two at the wheel
you just know it's gonna be brilliant. And finally, how many of you have already
binge watched Little Fires Everywhere? It was such a brilliant adaptation, with
both Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington there being fantastic in it,
and so I think the book by Celeste Ng is going to be on a lot of reading lists
this summer. So this is set in Shaker Heights, which is a planned community in
Ohio, and it's about the racial and class tensions simmering under the surface of
this seemingly perfect town. And there are a few differences between the book
and the show, so there are surprises in store even if you've already seen it. And
Celeste Ng is such a brilliant writer, she's so good at getting you to sympathise and
relate to every single character, even the ones that you're so mad at, which is
such a skill. So this is a really moving, powerful book. So for more different
kinds of summer reading, we actually created a summer book tag which I will
link to here so you can click through. We'd love to know your answers. And of
course here in the comments please do let me know which are the books that you
most want to be chatting about this summer.
See you guys soon!