Unlike last month, I was super intentional about picking lots of different authors and genres and I’m happy to say that 50% of the books I read were written by non-white authors. All were written by women, but I have a strong preference for books about women written by women, and I’m 100% ok with having this bias.

There are some fun beach reads here, so keep scrolling for my picks!

The Lost Night, Andrea Bartz: This is the story of Lindsay, a woman in her thirties, who is a bit of a mess in her personal life. 10 years ago, Lindsay’s close friend Edie died under unclear circumstances. Lindsay can’t remember her own movements the night that Edie died, and although her death was initially ruled a suicide, Lindsay isn’t so sure anymore. If you like stories in the vein of Girl on the Train or similar with unreliable narrators, you will enjoy this book.

Overall grade: A-

So You Want to Talk about Race, Ijeoma Oluo: If you’re reading books on anti-racism, this is a great one to read. The tone is friendly but direct, packed with lots of examples, and discusses many topics around race including intersectionality, the model minority, and more. Smart, insightful, and even has touches of humor which can be rare in a book about such a nuanced topic.

Overall grade: A+

(Author is a women of color, Black)

Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner: Daphne Berg turned her viral moment into a career as a plus-size influencer, but it came at a price. It was also the day her friendship with Drue Cavanaugh ended. Now it’s six years later, and Drue is back, with a massive request. She wants Daphne to be a bridesmaid at her upcoming beach wedding. The first part of the book was a little annoying (it was a little heavy on the “influencer” stuff), but it picked up after Drue returned in the picture. I’m not going to say any more about this book, except that it’s not what I thought it was, and I enjoyed where it went.

Overall grade: B+

The Guest List, Lucy Foley: If you love a “good murder” you will enjoy this. A group of people show up on a remote island off the Irish coast for a wedding. One of them doesn’t make it through the weekend. Who dies, and who did it? You just have to read it to find out.

Overall grade: A-

The Majesties, Tiffany Tsao: Gwendolyn wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of her sister Estella murdering their entire family of 300. As Gwendolyn is in her coma, she tries to recover the memories of Estella and pinpoint when Estella became capable of murder. This book is very much like Crazy Rich Asians, if it included mass poisoning. If you enjoyed that book, you will likely enjoy this too- Gwendolyn and Estella represent the incredibly wealthy 1% of Chinese-Indonesians, so there are some very similar elements in both books.

Overall grade: A

(Author is a woman of color, Asian)

You Had me at Hello, Mhairi McFarlane: Ok, Mhairi McFarlane is my favorite new-to-me romance author. Her books are like a big dose of delicious dessert. Rachel and Ben were best friends, inseparable since the time they met in college. And then they had a big falling out. Now it’s several years later, and Ben is married, Rachel has just broken up with her college boyfriend. They reconnect. How will they fit into each other’s lives now?

Overall grade: A

Girl Gone Viral, Alisha Rai: This is book 2 in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series, but you don’t really need to read the first book, The Right Swipe, to enjoy this one. Although if you plan to read The Right Swipe, and don’t want spoilers, don’t read this until after you’ve read the first one.

Ok, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s back to this book. Kat is a reclusive widow who suffers from debilitating anxiety. Jas is her brooding bodyguard, a Veteran suffering from PTSD. Kat accidentally goes viral, and in a bid to protect her privacy, Jas takes her to his family farm to hide for a while. Will this be the perfect setting for them to act on their mutual attraction?

Overall grade: A

(Author is a woman of color, Asian)

Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo (Booker Prize Winner): Wow. This book. Wow.

This book tells the stories of 11 women + 1 non-binary person, who are loosely connected. All the women are Black and British, but other than that, their stories are independent. If you feel like you can’t read a full book right now, this is the perfect way to read them like the short stories they are - so beautifully written. One quick note - there are no periods in the stories, which takes a second to get used to, but don’t get distracted by it, because this book is worth every minute you will spend reading it.

Overall grade: A+++

(Author is a Black woman)