The summer reading kick off

Books to pack for your trips this summer

Welcome to June! Summer is so close I can taste it.

I’m dreaming of salt water, sand, and that first cold sip of a G&T after a long day in the sun. I long for the feeling of salt-crusted skin, the scent of SPF in the air, reapplying sunscreen to smiling faces, and an iced drink in hand, still damp from a swim.

So with the summer spirit in mind, here’s how we’re choosing our holiday reading lists at Verse HQ.

The Pre-Loved bookshop is freshly restocked 🎉

If you’d like to buy some epic £4 titles (and feel good about giving them a new home) then head here. If you’d like to pass your books on to a new home, then this is your link.

How to build your summer stack

My packing philosophy is a mixture of TBRs (to be read) that are already on my shelf, and a couple of new treats. I like a mix of genres and I love to parallel read. This means I always have a few books on the go at the same time, ensuring I have something that fits whatever mood I’m in. My perfect mix is a fiction book, a business book and then a more spiritual one.

Here’s what I’m packing

• A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle - I re-read this book every year, and grab a diff colour pen to annotate what’s resonating with me. I like to see how this changes each year, what I’m taking away from it relative to where I find myself at.

• Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chödrön - I picked this up at the amazing Love Supreme (their spiritual book selection is 👌). I love Chödrön’s writing - she’s a new fave.

• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid - How I love TJR and the world(s) she creates. My husband just picked this up for us and no doubt we’ll be fighting for it on the beach.

• Audition by Katie Kitamura - I read about this in the New York Review of Books and have been excited to get into it ever since.

• Real Americans by Rachel Khong - I’m a sucker for family epics and books about NYC, particularly in the 90s.

• In Memoriam by Alice Winn - I borrowed this far too long ago (I’m sorry Karen!) and am resolved to read and return asap. This comes highly recommended from many people.

• On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle - I’m continuing our Slow Down Book Club which ended this week by exploring more of the longlist titles on the International Booker. This comes highly recommended from friend of the letter and part of our book club, Nat. Consider me influenced.

Build your own list

Here are 3 ways you can do this with Verse

• Want help choosing? We do reading list curations and book subscriptions

• Browsing for something new? Check out our Pre-Loved shop

• Selling your old reads? Sell with us and make room for new books!

Check out our bookshop, discover your perfect subscription, join the next club

Further inspo:

• Here are our top rated books of last year

• Here’s our communities picks

• At the top of Tom’s list: Broken Greek by Pete Paphides

Say goodbye to bad recommendations and hello to a better reading experience 👇