4 Summer Must-Reads You Won’t Be Able To Put Down

Lying carefree in a hammock while dipping our toes in azure waters may be a distant dream for now, but escapism via literary adventures has never been more welcome

Pop our new favourite summer reads into your beach bag and get ready for adventures around the world. After all, what is summertime without a bit of relaxing in the sunshine with a good book?

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Dhs96.50 on Bookdepository.com

A poignant tale of twin sisters who grow up in a southern black community but follow different paths in life. Denying her racial identity, one sister passes as white, while the other continues to live as a black woman. Evoking pathos and pain and riddled with spellbinding prose and surprises, The Vanishing Half is a brilliant exploration of racial injustice.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

Dhs112 on Amazon.com

Lovers of Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing or Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake will devour this debut novel. Tying together social media, extremism, politics, and fame within the bustling background of contemporary India, Majumdar delves into taboo topics that read like a suspense-ridden mystery novel.

The Dragons, The Giant, The Women: A Memoir by Wayétu Moore

Dhs100 on Bookdepository.com

While She Would Be King focused on a retelling of Liberia’s formation, Moore’s latest novel, a heartfelt and lyrical memoir, focuses on her family’s search for a home amongst upheaval and her personal struggles with being a black immigrant woman in Texas. Looking back at her memories as a five-year-old incapable of comprehending the degenerative scale of a civil war, her luminous prose turns the story into a fairytale of sorts. The tenacious love of family prevails in this heartbreaking tale of war, relationships, immigrant life, and race

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

Dhs91.27 on Bookdepository.com

What appears to be a simple love triangle is a much deeper story. Naoise Dolan’s stunning debut explores the often interwoven aspects of culture and class. Leveraging her characters’ different heritages, Dolan draws in weighty political issues of colonialism and abortion while maintaining a witty undertone. Dolan has already evoked comparisons to Sally Rooney owing to her exploration of the complexities of millennial life and her Irish roots.

Lead image courtesy of Giphy