Kristi Eskew

Finding your footing after graduation is a whirlwind, but for Nyah, the brilliant creator behind @mysreadingnook, it became the perfect catalyst to rediscover a lifelong passion. What began as a personal visual diary to track her post-grad reading journey has blossomed into a thriving, multi-platform community across Instagram and TikTok.

What happens when you blend the sharp, relentless curiosity of a classic American detective with the vibrant, rich tapestry of West African folklore? You get Akoma, the unforgettable protagonist of Goldenborn—the stunning debut novel by Stanford alumna Ama Ofosua Lieb. Born in Ghana and having lived across six different countries before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lieb infuses her fiction with a deeply global, yet intimately personal perspective.

Summer is coming in hot. Beach days, backyard picnics, barbeques, and too many books on your TBR. If you need a little push or maybe another book to add to the never-ending list, here are some of my top summer vacation meet-cute (and meet-hate) recommendations that will have the warm fuzzies bubble into an uncontainable grin. So, lie back in your porch chairs, smell the roses, and crack these books open! What’s worse than trying to survive the great outdoors?