SUMMER READING LIST | 2018

Reading is something I love to do. It's a great escape from anything you're going through and, with the right book, you can be occupied for hours. It's something that, over the past couple of years, I've really slacked with - it's a personal mission of mine to read more because I really love it. So, as it is a personal mission - and one of the things on my summer bucket list, this year - I've comprised a reading list; these are all the books I'm hoping to read this year - with their synopsis' (taken from Amazon) included also.

The Elizas by Sara Shepard

'New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars Sara Shepard makes her mark on adult fiction with this Hitchcockian double narrative composed of lies, false memories, and a protagonist who must uncover the truth for survival. 

When debut novelist Eliza Fontaine is found at the bottom of a hotel pool, her family at first assumes that it's just another failed suicide attempt. But Eliza swears she was pushed, and her rescuer is the only witness. 

Desperate to find out who attacked her, Eliza takes it upon herself to investigate. But as the publication date for her novel draws closer, Eliza finds more questions than answers. Like why are her editor, agent, and family mixing up events from her novel with events from her life? Her novel is completely fictional, isn't it? 

The deeper Eliza goes into her investigation while struggling with memory loss, the closer her life starts to resemble her novel, until the line between reality and fiction starts to blur and she can no longer tell where her protagonist's life ends and hers begins. 

Fans of Pretty Little Liars, S.J. Watson's Before I Go to Sleep, and Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10 will be drawn to the drama of feeling like no one is on your side, the high tension of not knowing who you can trust, the hair-raising truths hidden among lies, and a faceless, nameless presence controlling Eliza's life from the shadows.'

Playing With Matches by Hannah Orenstein 

'In the tradition of Good in Bed and The Assistants comes a funny and smart comedy about a young matchmaker balancing her messy personal life and the demands of her eccentric clients. 

Sasha Goldberg has a lot going for her: a recent journalism degree from NYU, an apartment with her best friend Caroline, and a relationship that would be amazing if her finance-bro boyfriend Jonathan would ever look up from his BlackBerry. But when her dream career falls through, she uses her family's darkest secret to land a job as a matchmaker for New York City's elite at the dating service Bliss. 

Despite her inexperience, Sasha throws herself into her new career, trolling for catches on Tinder, coaching her clients through rejection, and dishing out dating advice to people twice her age. She sets up a TV exec who wanted kids five years ago, a forty-year-old baseball-loving virgin, and a consultant with a rigorous five-page checklist for her ideal match. 

Sasha hopes to find her clients The One, like she did. But when Jonathan betrays her, she spirals out of control--and right into the arms of a writer with a charming Southern drawl, who she had previously set up with one of her clients. He's strictly off-limits, but with her relationship on the rocks, all bets are off. 

Fresh, sweet, and laugh-out-loud funny, Playing with Matches is the addictive story about dating in today's swipe-heavy society, and a young woman trying to find her own place in the world.'

#GirlBoss by Sophia Amoruso 

'In the space of ten years, Sophia Amoruso has gone from high-school dropout to founder and Executive Chairman of Nasty Gal, one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world. 

Sophia's never been a typical executive, or a typical anything, and she's written #GIRLBOSS for other girls like her: outsiders (and insiders) seeking a unique path to success.

Filled with brazen wake-up calls, cunning and frank observations, and behind-the-scenes stories from Nasty Gal's meteoric rise, #GIRLBOSS covers a lot of ground. It proves that success doesn't come from where you went to college or how popular you were in school. Success is about trusting your instincts and following your gut, knowing which rules to follow and which to break.

Inspiring, motivating and empowering, #GIRLBOSS will give you the kick up the ass you need to reach your potential.'

The List by Siobhan Vivian

'It happens every September - the list is posted all over school. Two girls are picked from each year. One is named the prettiest, one the ugliest. 

The girls who. aren't picked are quickly forgotten. The girls who are become the centre of attention, and each reacts differently to the experience. 

With THE LIST, Siobhan Vivian deftly takes you into the lives of eight very different girls struggling with issues of identity, self-esteem, and the judgements of their peers. Prettiest or ugliest, once you're on the list, you'll never be the same.' 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

'Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice.'

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee

'Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.

A thousand-storey tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible – if you want it enough.

A hundred years in the future, New York's elite of the super-tower lie, backstab and betray each other to find their place at the top of the world. Everyone wants something… and everyone has something to lose.

As the privileged inhabitants of the upper floors recklessly navigate the successes and pitfalls of the luxury life, forbidden desires are indulged and carefree lives teeter on the brink of catastrophe. Whilst lower-floor workers are tempted by a world – and unexpected romance – dangling just out of reach. And on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all – yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

So when a young woman falls from the top of the supertower, her death is the culmination of a scandal that has ensnared the top-floor elite and bottom-floor. But who plummeted from the roof? And what dark secrets led to her fall?

Friends will be betrayed and enemies forged as promises are broken. When you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down…'

The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee 

'New York City, 2118. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible – if you want it enough.

The dazzling sequel to The Thousandth Floor.

Manhattan is home to a thousand-story supertower, a beacon of futuristic glamour and high-tech luxury… and to millions of people living scandalous, secretive lives.

LEDA is haunted by nightmares of what happened on the worst night of her life. She’s afraid the truth will get out – which is why she hires WATT, her very own hacker, to keep an eye on all of the witnesses for her. But what happens when their business relationship turns personal?

When RYLIN receives a scholarship to an elite upper-floor school, her life transforms overnight. But being here also means seeing the boy she loves: the one whose heart she broke, and who broke hers in return.

AVERY is grappling with the reality of her forbidden romance – is there anywhere in the world that’s safe for them to be together?

And then there’s CALLIOPE, the mysterious, bohemian beauty who’s arrived in New York with a devious goal in mind – and too many secrets to count.

Here in the Tower, no one is safe – because someone is watching their every move, someone with revenge in mind. After all, in a world of such dazzling heights, you’re always only one step away from a devastating fall….'

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

'You go through life thinking there's so much you need. . . . Until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother. Marin hasn't spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she's tried to outrun. Now, months later, alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit and Marin will be forced to face everything that's been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart.'

I Never by Laura Hopper

'Janey King's priorities used to be clear: track, school, friends, and family. But when seventeen- year-old Janey learns that her seemingly happy parents are getting divorced, her world starts to shift. Back at school, Luke Hallstrom, an adorable senior, pursues Janey, and she realizes that she has two new priorities to consider: love and sex.'

How To Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell 

''I was twenty-six years old and an associate beauty editor at Lucky, one of the top fashion magazines in America. That’s all that most people knew about me. But beneath the surface, I was full of secrets: I was a drug addict, for one. A pillhead. I was also an alcoholic-in-trainingwho guzzled warm Veuve Clicquot after work alone in my boss’s office with the door closed; a conniving and manipulative uptown doctor-shopper; a salami-and-provolone-puking bulimicwho spent a hundred dollars a day on binge foods when things got bad (and they got bad often); a weepy,wobbly, wildly hallucination-prone insomniac; a tweaky self-mutilator; a slutty and self-loathing downtown party girl; and – perhaps most of all – a lonely weirdo. But, you know, I had access to some really fantastic self-tanner.'

By the age of 15, Cat Marnell longed to work in the glamorous world of women's magazines - but was also addicted to the ADHD meds prescribed by her father. Within 10 years she was living it up in New York as a beauty editor at Condé Nast, with a talent for 'doctor-shopping' that secured her a never-ending supply of prescribed amphetamines. Her life had become a twisted merry-go-round of parties and pills at night, while she struggled to hold down her high-profile job during the day. 

Witty, magnetic and penetrating - prompting comparisons to Bret Easton Ellis and Charles Bukowski - Cat Marnell reveals essential truths about her generation, brilliantly uncovering the many aspects of being an addict with pin-sharp humour and beguiling style.'

Obviously, I don't expect that I'll be able to read all of these books over the summer. I know I have a good three months off from uni but - come on - I highly doubt I'll read that much. My aim is to read at least three of these books over the summer. I'd like to read more, but I don't need that kind of pressure, right? I'll try and update my progress with the list later in the summer, either on my blog or over on my Instagram but, for now, happy reading! Let me know any book recommendations you have in the comments below. 

Note: the images used in this blog post are not my own and were sourced from Google Images - the synopsis' used in this post were taken from the product descriptions of the books on Amazon.co.uk.