Summertime has always felt like peak reading season for me. Work is slower, the days are longer, and nothing feels better than sitting outside and reading a great book. So I’ve put together a list of books perfect for summer reading. Even if you don’t have a beach near you, you can pick up one of these and head out to the pool and pretend!

Whether you’re in need of a page-turning thriller or an adorable romance, there is something for everyone on this summer reading list!

1. A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell | Goodreads
2. The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory | Goodreads
3. The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison Dickson | Goodreads
4. Breathe In, Cash Out by Madeleine Henry | Goodreads
5. Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim | Goodreads

6. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman | Goodreads
7. Layover by David Bell | Goodreads
8. Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer | Goodreads
9. The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan | Goodreads
10. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo | Goodreads

11. Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food and Love Anthology | Goodreads
12. The Last Guest House by Megan Miranda | Goodreads
13. The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley | Goodreads
14. Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner | Goodreads
15. Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey | Goodreads

16. Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck & Fortune by Roselle Lim | Goodreads
17. Man of the Year by Caroline Lousie Walker | Goodreads
18. Honestly We Meant Well by Grant Ginder | Goodreads
19. The Perfect Date by Evelyn Lozada & Holly Lorincz | Goodreads
20. Providence by Caroline Kepnes | Goodreads

21. Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein | Goodreads
22. Naturally Tan by Tan France | Goodreads
23. When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri | Goodreads
24. The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen | Goodreads
25. If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann | Goodreads

26. Mine by Courtney Cole | Goodreads
27. The Royal Secret by Lucinda Riley | Goodreads
28. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren | Goodreads
29. Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | Goodreads
30. The Southern Side of Paradise by Kristy Woodson Harvey | Goodreads

Will you be adding any of these to your list? Or do you have any others you would recommend? Tell us in the comments below!

The post 30 Perfect Summer Beach Reads For 2019 appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

From the screenplay of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, penned by the magnificent JK Rowling, to a new novel by George R.R. Martin, which follows the Targaryens centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones. Then there’s Skyward, a sci-fi novel by Brandon Sanderson, and a magical fantasy in Natasha Ngan’s Girls of Paper and Fire.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below which one you will be checking out!

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assuming she can repair the ship, navigate flight school, and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Satire meets slasher in this short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends.

Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald – The Original Screenplay by JK Rowling
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

At the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured in New York with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escapes custody and sets about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.

River Bodies by Karen Katchur
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A body just turned up in the small town of Portland, Pennsylvania. The crime is eerily similar to a twenty-year-old cold case: another victim, brutally murdered, found in the Delaware River. Lead detective Parker Reed is intent on connecting the two murders, but the locals are on lockdown, revealing nothing.

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

With all the fire and fury fans have come to expect from internationally bestselling author George R. R. Martin, this is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros. Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire and Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. After seeing her mother snatched by royal guards a decade ago, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.

Someone Like Me by M.R. Carey
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Liz Kendall wouldn’t hurt a fly. She’s a gentle woman devoted to bringing up her kids in the right way, no matter how hard times get. But there’s another side to Liz—one which is dark and malicious. A version of her who will do anything to get her way, no matter how extreme or violent. And when this other side of her takes control, the consequences are devastating. The only way Liz can save herself and her family is if she can find out where this new alter-ego has come from, and how she can stop it.

How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

On the eve of Kyle’s sentencing a year after Jamie’s death, all the other “chosen ones” are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead. Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie’s boyfriend–knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?

Those Who Knew by Idra Novey
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

On an unnamed island country ten years after the collapse of a U.S.-supported regime, Lena suspects the powerful senator she was involved with back in her student activist days is taking advantage of a young woman who’s been introducing him at rallies. When the young woman ends up dead, Lena revisits her own fraught history with the senator and the violent incident that ended their relationship. Why didn’t Lena speak up then, and will her family’s support of the former regime still impact her credibility? What if her hunch about this young woman’s death is wrong?

The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

The Moon Sister is the fifth epic story in the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley. After the death of her father – Pa Salt, an elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from around the globe – Tiggy D’Aplièse, trusting her instincts, moves to the remote wilds of Scotland. There she takes a job doing what she loves; caring for animals on the vast and isolated Kinnaird estate, employed by the enigmatic and troubled Laird, Charlie Kinnaird. From the Scottish Highlands and Spain, to South America and New York, Tiggy follows the trail back to her own exotic but complex past. And under the watchful eye of a gifted gypsy bruja she begins to embrace her own talent for healing.

Amber & Dusk by Lyra Selene
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Sylvie has always known she deserves more. Out in the permanent twilight of the Dusklands, her guardians called her power to create illusions a curse. But Sylvie knows it gives her a place in Coeur d’Or, the palais of the Amber Empress and her highborn legacies. So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City and there the empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she’ll have to consider whether it is worth the price she must pay.

Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

After the end of her marriage, Kate Granger has retreated to her parents’ home on Lake Superior to pull herself together—only to discover the body of a murdered woman washed into the shallows. Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams… One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.

What book are you most excited for this month? Tell us in the comments below!

The post November Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

The Northern Ireland historical fiction author says she wanted to celebrate the achievements of women, especially in the past. Every volume contains two stories—one in the past and one in the present.

The Seven Sisters tells the story of six sisters, adopted by a Swiss billionaire called by them as Pa Salt. He adopted the girls as babies from all over the world and gave them a home on his island in the middle of Lake Geneva. After his unexpected death, the sisters receive letters with coordinates and clues which will lead each of them to their roots and explore where they come from. On this journey, each of them not only find themselves, but also find love in different ways—a future husband, an additional family, and new friendships. In between, Riley tells also the story of a female ancestor of the protagonists books, which unfortunately for the sisters, they did not have a happy ending.

The book series name is inspired by the open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus, which is the nearest cluster to earth, The Pleiades. The name comes from Ancient Greek, plein—to sail. The constellations are important to navigate on sea, which is a part of the books as well, because Pa Salt loved to be in the open water. In Greek Mythology, the Pleiades have been the seven companions of Artemis, Daughters of the Titan Atlas and Pleione. Because of their father’s faith and the loss of their brothers, the Hyas, the sisters committed suicide. Zeus took their remains and put them in the sky, but one sister, Merope, unfortunately disappeared from the night sky, because she is now not visible for the naked eye.

Before they became the star cluster they all had an important role in Greek mythology:

• Maia—the eldest sister, was mother of Hermes by Zeus
• Electra—mother of Dardanus and Iasion, by Zeus
• Taygete—mother of Lacedaemon by Zeus
• Alcyone—mother of Hyrieus, Hyperenor and Aethusa by Poseidon
• Celaeno—mother of Lycus, Nycteus and Eurypylus by Poseidon and Lycus and Chimaereus by Prometheus
• Sterope (Asterope)—mother of Oenomaus by Ares
• Merope—the youngest sister, wooed by Orion. Other sources claim she was married to Sisyphus was mother of his children and became mortal.

The books see the sisters want love in their lives, but not in a traditional way. Riley’s goal is to show how women in the past had to be strong due to facing sexual and racial prejudices. Whereas women in the present have to be another kind of strong, to not be defined by clichés and be a modern woman who can follow her dreams. During her research, Riley travelled the world and explores the places she later wrote about.

In her own words:

“The world is sadly still not a perfect place, and I doubt it ever will be, because there will always be a new challenge ahead. Yet I truly believe that humans – especially women – thrive on this. We are, after all, the goddesses of multi-tasking! And every day – with one hand guiding my children, and the other a manuscript – I celebrate the fact that my ‘freedom’ to be who I am was won by thousands of generations of remarkable women, perhaps leading right back to The Seven Sisters themselves…

I’m sure that like me, there will be one sister in particular you will most identify with, and a sister you like the least. However, the beauty of writing about the girls is that each of them have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Just as we all do.

The Seven Sisters is a story about humanity: love, family, joy, loss, fear and pain. And above all, the one gift that is more important than any other, and has kept us humans alive throughout unbearable suffering: HOPE.”

The Seven Sisters | 2014

This book about the oldest sister, Maia, who is a translator and prefers to stay home on Lake Geneva. When her sisters leave after their father’s funeral, she opens the letter her father left for her. She soon finds herself in Brazil where she not only finds out where she comes from, but also love.

The Storm Sister | 2015

Ally loves sailing as much as her father did and her letter brings her to Norway and a sailing contest. She ends up with a new family and it may not seem as a happy end for her, but it is in its own unique way.

The Shadow Sister | 2016

Star and CeCe were brought together by Pa Salt in a short period of time that they are almost like twins. Star is more introverted and steps out of her sister’s shadow when she started to work at a bookshop in London where her journey begins.

The Pearl Sister | 2017

CeCe has to find herself again after Star seems to not rely on her as much as she used to. She drops out of college and follows her father’s letter to Thailand and Australia.

The Moon Sister | 2018

The latest novel will tell the journey of Tiggy, which will take her to Scotland. The book will be published in late 2018.

This then leaves Electra’s story to be told in 2019. It will be interesting to see how the book series will end and if we will finally meet Merope. I cannot wait for the mystery to be revealed!

Have you read The Seven Sisters series? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings.

Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

In this sweeping, epic tale of love and loss—the first in a unique, spellbinding series of seven novels—Lucinda Riley showcases her storytelling talent like never before.

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