Bill Wolfe

I'm happy to report that Part 1 of this series of posts, "Authors share their summer reading plans" (June 20), received a strongly positive response. People love to know what other book lovers are reading, especially if they happen to be authors. Part 1 shared the summer reading lists of 10 authors; Part 2 features the lists of 14 authors.

The summer solstice takes place on June 20-21, depending where you live. That means it’s time for my annual survey of what authors are planning to read this summer. Writers are a great source of recommendations, especially of books that are flying below the radar. I sent out a request for summer reading lists and within days I had received 17 responses. I’ve decided to share 10 of those now, with another 10 coming in a second post early next week.

Today the Women’s Prize for Fiction, arguably the second most prestigious literary award in the UK after the Booker Prize, was awarded to Yael van der Wouden for her 2024 debut, The Safekeep. I read it last fall and found it riveting from start to finish. It’s as good a debut novel as I’ve ever read.