Summer is finally coming to an end. And the current heatwave is making me even more ready for the fall weather. But despite the heat making my brain feel like mush, I did manage to read some really great books this summer. And today I’m sharing the six best books I read in June, July, and August. I almost always have at least one nonfiction book on my quarterly favorites lists, but this time I have three. So it’s split evenly between fiction and nonfiction. Apparently this was the summer of me reading really great memoirs. And I’m not mad about it.

If you are interested in seeing everything I read this summer, click the links below to check out my monthly wrap ups for each month. Otherwise, keep scrolling to see which of my summer reads I loved the most.

June – July – August

A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Not going to lie, I picked this book up solely because of the cover – it’s peak dark cottagecore vibes. Which is not at all what this book is. But I guess it worked, because I still loved it. This memoir is about Billy-Ray Belcourt’s experiences as an indigenous gay man. He explores his sexuality and also discovers how his background affects how people see him. I brought this to work and flew through it in two days during my lunch break. I even ended up brining in book tabs because the writing was so gorgeous, I wanted to mark certain quotes to come back to. Annotating books isn’t something I do often, but I felt the need to do it here, which is unusual for me.

As the only non-celebrity memoir on this list, I didn’t really know what I was getting into with this book. I knew it is LGBTQ+ somehow, the author is indigenous, and the cover is beautiful. I’d seen some positive reviews, but that’s not really the best indicator of whether or not I’ll like a book (I go against the grain a lot). So I didn’t quite know how I was going to feel about this book. But I am so glad that cover drew me in, because this is a brilliant memoir. Not the easiest read – there were more than a couple times this book made me feel sad or anxious – but so worth it.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

One thing you should probably know about me: my brain will physically not let me read books that are super popular like 99% of the time. If I see every single person talking about a book and how I “need to” read it, I immediately lose any desire to pick it up. So despite the fact that The Martian is one of my favorite books and I’ve enjoyed all of the Andy Weir books I have read so far, I let this book sit on my shelves for a year. I finally got around to reading it this summer, and you were all right. Project Hail Mary is brilliant.

This book just felt like classic Andy Weir. It’s the closest I think he’s gotten to recapturing the magic that is The Martian. Which is kind of a big ask. But there’s a certain character added that sets this apart from The Martian, and made this feel so unique. I really don’t want to give too much away, because I had so much fun exploring this book. But if you’re one of the (few) people who haven’t read it yet and loved The Martian, it’s a must-read. Or if you just like good sci-fi, because Project Hail Mary is definitely up there.

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

It has been a while since I’ve read a celebrity memoir, but this summer I picked up two of them. And they both made this list. The first is Mean Baby by Selma Blair. She isn’t an actress I follow particularly closely, if I’m honest. I enjoy her work when I see it, but I don’t feel like I’ve seen very much of it. The reason I picked up this book isn’t because I’m a huge fan of her acting (which isn’t to say she isn’t great). It’s because I’ve been following her journey ever since she announced that she was diagnosed with MS. Because it was within a month of my own diagnosis.

She’s become kind of the poster child for MS, and has done some really great work in brining attention to the disease. Reading the parts of this memoir in which she talks about her MS was definitely a little hard for me. I saw some of my own experiences mirrored, but I also just wanted to scream at her to stop brushing it off and go to the doctor already! But while that is definitely a big part of this book, there is so much more to it. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Selma and her life. This was a really great memoir, well-written and impactful. It’s one I would definitely recommend!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

I love octopuses. I’ve read about them a lot, but it’s all been nonfiction. So when I saw that there was a new release with an octopus as one of the characters, I immediately ordered a copy. Fortunately, it is not one of the times that I regret my insta-buy decision. Because this book is good. Definitely one of my favorites of the year so far. It’s just a wonderful, heartwarming story about an octopus and the woman he befriends.

This is one of those books that it’s just fun to experience as you go, so I don’t want to give too much away. But I will say that if you like Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, you’ll like this book, too. We have a grumpy old octopus and some family drama and it’s just a brilliant story. I already want to read it again. I would also highly recommend the audiobook of this one, because Michael Urie voices the octopus, Marcellus, and he is perfect. (Yes, the octopus is a POV character.)

“Galatea” by Madeline Miller

Yes, this one is technically a short story, but it was published as a standalone, so I’m counting it as a book. Either way, I loved it. I was a little skeptical picking it up because I loved The Song of Achilles and Circe so much, and wasn’t sure this one would live up to my expectations. But I was browsing the ebooks available from my library one day and saw this one, so I decided to pick it up.

Since this is so sort, I don’t really want to give anything away. But it is fantastic. Unsettling, fantastical, feminist, all the good things. It was one of those pieces of short fiction that I wished was a full novel as soon as I finished it. And then I realized that what works so well about this story is that we only get that small little snapshot of these characters. And it’s perfect. If you like Madeline Miller, definitely check this one out. But I also think you’d like it if you enjoyed books like Bunny by Mona Awad or even Margaret Atwood’s books.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Finally, the book everyone (and their mother) is talking about this summer: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. Again, this is a memoir I picked up not because I’m a huge fan of Jennette McCurdy. I was actually a little too old for iCarly when it aired, so I never watched them. My younger sister did, though, so I did know who Jennette was. I picked up this book not because I was a fan or because everyone else was reading it, but because I was curious to see a portrayal of a toxic mother. Because that’s something Jennette and I have in common.

And I found this book really interesting. Heartbreaking, but fascinating, and it made me really want to root for Jennette and the person she has become. I can see why everyone has been loving this book so much. It’s definitely well-deserved. I really hope she writes something else, because I would love to read it. But mostly, I enjoyed this because I don’t see a lot of mothers in the media that I can relate to. It was sad, but really refreshing to see. (I’m considering doing a full post on what I thought of the book from that perspective, so let me know if that’s something you’re interested in.)

That’s it for my summer favorites! Overall, I am pretty happy with my summer reading, and I’m excited to read more great books this fall.

What’s the best book you read this summer?

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