Summer Reads Our Students Are Loving

We took a stroll around UNH Manchester’s scenic, state of the art campus and asked our summer students what they’ve been reading lately. Check out some of their recommendations below!
  

Goodreads summary: By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to everyone. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

 In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season.

Just like her titular heroine Carrie, Taylor Jenkins Reid has some winners under her belt ("The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo," "Daisy Jones and the Six," "Malibu Rising"). "Carrie Soto Is Back" is perfect for both the sports enthusiast and average bibliophile—the gripping first-person narration style and increasingly intense stakes give this book a thriller-esque energy that our students described as “impossible to put down” as it asked the question: What does it really take to be number one?

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “The Man” by Taylor Swift
 

Goodreads summary: It’s summertime and 17-year-old Coley has found herself alone, again. Forced to move to rural Oregon after just losing her mother, she is in no position to risk her already fragile heart. But when she meets Sonya, the attraction is immediate.

Coley worries she isn't worthy of love. Up until now, everyone she's loved has left her. And Sonya's never been with a girl before. What if she's too afraid to show up for Coley? What if by opening her heart, Coley's risking it all?

Based on the billboard-charting smash hit song and viral music video “Girls Like Girls”, Hayley Kiyoko's debut novel is about embracing your truth and realizing we are all worthy of being loved back.

Based on her iconic song and music video of the same name, "Girls Like Girls" is pop star Hayley Kiyoko’s narrative-expanding passion project. The novel tackles complex topics like parental loss, relationship violence and sexual orientation with candor and compassion, its two deeply flawed yet likable protagonists are stunningly accurate representations of teens everywhere. The depth and tenderness of this novel speak to the importance of its themes, topics that our students felt were of the utmost importance to explore.

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “Girls Like Girls” by Hayley Kiyoko
 

Goodreads summary: When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.

Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?

"Loveboat, Tapiei" is a great read for fans of shows like “XO Kitty” and “Atypical,” as all of them discuss topics such as parental approval, navigating relationship dynamics and the transition into adulthood. The main character Ever’s voice is intimate and realistic as she attempts to reconcile various aspects of her identity—both individual and cultural—with the person she’s always perceived herself to be.

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo
 

Goodreads summary: Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

Described as “Ghibli for adults,” reading "The House in the Cerulean Sea" feels like getting a warm hug (both to and from our students). The whimsical atmosphere, vivid descriptions and emotional characterizations make this a stand-out fantasy that speaks to several real-life issues. The main character Linus’ journey to self-worth and happiness is both gradual and satisfying, and the colorful supporting cast—including but not limited to a fledgling forest fairy, a sentient slime blob and a cantankerous female garden gnome—is just as memorable. This is a perfect book for readers looking for a cozy, summer, feel-good fantasy!

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles
 

Goodreads summary: Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

"The Unhoneymooners" is a whip-smart romantic comedy that fans of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "The Hating Game" will love. With an original premise, top-tier banter and thoughtful characterization, Christina Lauren proves herself a force to be reckoned with in a genre exploding in popularity. Olive and Ethan’s chemistry is infectious, and the novel’s commitment to depicting two flawed but ultimately lovable leads cements it as a standout in the romance category. Undoubtedly: "The Unhoneymooners" is an ideal beach (or any vacation location) read!

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift
 

Goodreads summary: Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.

Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself.

"The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea" is a refreshingly unique modern fairytale. Rich with worldbuilding and representation, it asks its readers to consider both the cost of doing the right thing and the choice between adhering to tradition and forging one’s own path forward. Throw in ancient oceanic magic, devious pirates and swashbuckling romance and this book is a shoo-in for our favorite summer reads!

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “Runaway” by Aurora
 

Goodreads summary: This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all...

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

You can’t get much more iconic than "The Iliad," one of the most famous stories in the entire Western canon. Our humanities majors appreciate the different (and much-needed!) perspective given in "A Thousand Ships" as it highlights some of the Trojan War’s most overlooked and exploited victims. Haynes gives everyone in the story, from the serving staff to the goddesses, a voice in the narrative, and serves as a powerful affirmation that no story is too insignificant to matter.

Optional listening to enhance reading experience: “History of Man” by Maisie Peters