We all love a good summer book, but why stop there? A summer series means less getting up and more time with characters we grow to love—sounds perfect to me! Each of these eight sweet summer series follows a girl, or groups of girls, in enchanting settings throughout their summers, loves, and heartaches—all to discover their real selves and learn something about the world along the way.
First on the list is Jenny Han’s summer trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty, perfect for anyone wanting a story about the complications of summer love. Belly lives for the months of June through August, where she leaves her boring life behind for a summer at a beach house with her closest family friends. But now that they’re older, Cousins Beach isn’t just a simple place of friends and good times. Throughout the three books about successive summers, Belly has to discover what (and who) is in her heart and decide whether she will be true to herself.
This next trilogy from Jenny Han is less specifically focused on summer, but it’s still a perfect read for this season. The first book in this trilogy, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is now a famous movie, but it’s also a beautiful summer romance! For everyone who loved the story of Lara Jean confronting her past crushes, this summer is the perfect chance to pick up all three books and take the journey with her as she discovers what love really means.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the quintessential summer series: full of vacations, camps, drama, and adventure. Four best friends pass around a pair of pants in their very different lives, with a sisterhood that endures through successive summers. Starting midway through high school and continuing past college, each of the four main books covers one summer, along with a fifth book showing the friends a decade later. You won’t want to miss Ann Brashares’ famous series this summer!
For readers who enjoy seeing a group of four close girl friends grow up together, Heather Vogel Frederick’s Mother-Daughter Book Club series is a wonderful choice. This beloved series follows the girls from junior high into college, accompanied by their great (and often classic) reads from the book club. Experience the New-England Concord life of Megan, Cassidy, Emma, and Jess, along with their mothers (and others) as they navigate through the crazy, wonderful, messy years of young adulthood.
Sophie Kinsella’s hilarious protagonist Becky Bloomwood has a huge presence, a gigantic shopping addiction, and an even bigger heart. For anyone looking to enjoy a little more time to read (and shop) this summer, Confessions of a Shopaholic and its sequels are the perfect companions for your outings! Fans of the first book (and/or movie) may be unaware that there are eight more Shopaholics books. Each of Becky’s stories are fast-paced with hilarious escapades paired with heart-warming relationships and important life lessons, all told in Kinsella’s trademark fun and compelling voice.
Jodi Lynn Anderson’s Peaches series, often described as The Breakfast Club meets The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, is the perfect Southern summer set in a special peach orchard in Georgia. Three best friends—Leeda, Murphy, and Birdie—experience a roller coaster of ups and downs throughout this trilogy of summer love and experience. Bursting with charm and humor, but also with poignant insights into love and friendship, the Peaches books are enduring summer classics to come back to over and over.
In Leah Rae Miller’s quick and fun The Summer I Became a Nerd, cheerleader Maddie tries to hide her secret comic book obsession; but, that doesn’t hold up when she starts to fall for a guy who isn’t afraid to be who he really is. As someone who kept re-reading Ready Player One, I really enjoyed this more romantic summer series that still had video game and comic book action! The second book, Romancing the Nerd, continues this fun combination but with new characters, telling the story from the guy’s perspective.
And last but not least…a series now becoming vintage but still beloved, at least by me: Ann M. Martin’s Babysitters’ Club! I reread this series every summer for years, going from Kristy’s Big Idea all the way to Super Special # 12. With literally hundreds of quick, fun reads about this group of friends in Stoneybrook, Connecticut, you’ll never run out of summer reading material again!
The Spellbinding Shelf 