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Best Summer Books: 2017

(Courtesy of the book publishers)
(Courtesy of the book publishers)

Just in time for the fourth of July, we’ve got your hot summer reading list — from “The Hate U Give” to “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” — all cued up.

The Fourth of July weekend is here. Straight ahead. We are officially heading into the heart of summer. Congratulations! In the summer of 2017, you might just feel the need for escape, illumination, emotional rescue. And you might be looking to find it in a book. A good book. A great read. We’ve got suggestions this hour from a terrific trio of readers. About husbands and astrophysics. Love, hate, hunger and collapsing empires. This hour On Point: Great summer reads, 2017. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Janet Geddis, owner of the Avid Bookshop, which has two locations in Athens, Georgia, and was was named one of the five finalists for the Publisher’s Weekly 2017 Bookstore of the Year Award.

Elizabeth Khuri Chandler, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Goodreads. ( @Elizabethkhuri)

Liesl Schillinger, book critic and translator. Regular book critic for The New York Times Book Review. ( @arbitrix)

Janet Geddis’ List

  1. The Leavers” by Lisa Ko
  2. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman
  3. Commonwealth” by Ann Patchett
  4. The Assistants” by Camille Perri
  5. The Rules Do Not Apply” by Ariel Levy
  6. A House Among the Trees” by Julia Glass
  7. Extraordinary Adventures” by Daniel Wallace
  8. Woman No. 17” by Edan Lepucki
  9. Marlena” by Julie Buntin
  10. All Our Wrong Todays” by Elan Mastai

Elizabeth Khuri Chandler’s List

  1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  2. The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
  3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman
  4. Beneath a Scarlet Sky” by Mark T. Sullivan (2017)
  5.  “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Listen to our show with Tyson, “Neil deGrasse Tyson Brings Astrophysics Down To Earth“)
  6. Final Girls” by Riley Sager
  7. The Breakdown” by B.A. Paris
  8. The Collapsing Empire” by John Scalzi
  9. Hunger” by Roxane Gay
  10. The Bear and the Nightingale” by Katherine Arden

Liesl Schillinger’s List

  1. Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders
  2. Exit West” by Mohsin Hamid
  3. Chemistry” Weike Wang (2017)
  4. Ministry of Utmost Happiness” by Arundhati Roy (Listen to our show with Roy, “Arundhati Roy’s Return To Fiction“)
  5. Inheritance from Mother” by Minae Mizumura
  6. You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” by Sherman Alexie
  7. The Book of Emma Reyes: A Memoir” by Emma Reyes
  8. What We Lose” Zinzi Clemmons (2017)
  9. The Readymade Thief” by Augustus Rose
  10. Magpie Murders” by Anthony Horowitz

Summer Reading Suggestions From Our Listeners

  1. American Gods” by Neil Gaiman
  2. Home Waters” by Joseph Monninger
  3. The Expanse Series” by James S.A. Corey
  4. Written in Stone: A Journey Through the Stone Age and the Origins of Modern Language” by Christopher Stevens
  5. Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White” by Michael Tisserand
  6. Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi
  7. The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein
  8. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World” by Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama, and Douglas Carlton Abrams
  9. A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles

Still craving summer reading recommendations? Here are the books the On Point staff thinks you should take with you on your next summer adventure.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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