The best summer reads

As recommended by the Verse community at our first event

Aug 19, 2024

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When Tom and I first started discussing the idea of Verse, the value of community was front and centre to our approach. We wanted to put connection and real recommendations back into the picture, over the more generic algorithmic recommendations we tend to see today which we don’t resonate with (or, frankly, trust).

Holding our first community event seemed like a lofty (and expensive) goal that we might someday achieve when we were a real brand, with marketing and budget behind us. Fast forward a couple of months and we decided to turn our thinking on our heads - we have been co-creating with our community since day 1, why on earth would we wait to host events?

Well, we just held our first ever community event, and it was one of my favourite days ever. The Verse Book Brunch was a high energy, fun and interesting day where we brought together amazing people, who love books, to discuss their passions and help us test our thinking on new features and development. We’re so grateful to everyone who joined us, taking the time out of the day to give us feedback. You can glimpse a little of the action here.

Before we let our lovely reading community disperse for the day, we asked them to share their book of the summer. So today’s list is a crowd-source compilation of all their recommendations.

We plan to do 2-3 more over the next few months, and we would love to hear from you. Fancy being involved? You can read more about what we’re working on and sign up to our waitlist to hear first about our future events. Perks include meeting some super interesting people and picking up a book or two as a thank you.

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Reads of the summer, by the Verse community

Fiction

All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Gosh this is a great recommendation. I also recently read it and was just totally blown away. The plot lines move so quick, it is so clever and I just couldn’t put it down. Yes it is nearly 600 page long, and still in hardback, but if you want a gripping read then this is the one.

Piglet by Lottie Hazell

This is a cracking book about food and secrets, in the lead up to a wedding. A really enjoyable book that you will not put down.

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

I still haven’t read this but wow this is a popular book. It featured recently on Tom’s top 10 books of the 21st century. I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

This has just been adapted to a show on Apple and the trailers look excellent. Looking forward to reading this first.

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

I agree on this being a very strong contender as my book of the summer. I really loved this witty, sad, funny, pacy look at the powerful bond of sisters. I laughed, I cried, I didn’t talk to anyone else on holiday for hours at a time. An A* summer read, which was picked twice by our community.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I read this for the first time last year and I really enjoyed it. I think I’d always avoided it based on what I assumed it would be about. I should have read it sooner: it’s very cleverly observed, funny and witty.

The Chinaman by Stephen Leather

A recommendation by a community member who gifts the best books: this is going straight on my to read list.

Trust by Hernan Diaz

I also loved this book, and it featured at no.50 on the NYTs top books of the 21st century.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Loving the sci-fi picks on this list, and this has brilliant reviews.

Non-fiction

101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest

Not read this yet, but it is sitting on my shelf ready to be whisked away on holiday soon. Purpose over passion, seeing the wisdom in daily routine… right up my street.

Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken

This is a really powerful and eye opening book: highly recommend. A really important look at food inequality and the basic right to access (and afford) food that is good for you.

Matrescence by Lucy Jones

A highly requested Verse list that is not yet published but is coming soon is one of pregnancy reads. Here’s a sneak preview of an entry on that list.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Learnings from the best long distance runners in the world - this looks super interesting.

Here’s the list:

Fiction

All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Chinaman by Stephen Leather
Trust by Hernan Diaz
Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Non-fiction

Death of a Guru by Dave Hunt & Rabindranath Maharaj
101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
Matrescence by Lucy Jones
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

You can find the full list here. Buying through our shop means we earn a small affiliate commission which helps to support our app development efforts 🥰. Thank you if you choose to do this!