Who else is getting a little sick of being indoors? I’m not a super outdoorsy person, but I do enjoy the occasional venturing to places outside my home – you know, like the bookstore, the coffee shop, etc. Maybe once a year or so, my boyfriend & I will make a 2 hour drive to Tahoe or some NorCal place with trees too large for this world (in a good way!), and we’ll pretend we’re experienced hikers (we aren’t). Every time, we end up leaving exhausted, vowing never to return because “this whole outdoors thing is NOT for us!”
That said, I don’t particularly love spending all my time indoors or under a curfew, so as summer time rolls around, I’ve found myself craving things I wouldn’t normally – sun, beaches, camping, exploration!
I thought it’d be fun to put together a little reading list of books that fit these genres so I can sort of ~live vicariously~ through them, hopefully maybe soaking up some imaginary rays (and blood splatter!) from my summer TBR pickings.
For these, I’ve decided to stick to a mostly horror theme, but I will be reading a few other books this summer as well! I’ll share a full “what I’m reading soon” post next week sometime!
1) THE DEEP by Nick Cutter
I read THE TROOP by the same author a few years ago, and I remember loving it! I’ve owned this book for almost as long, but just haven’t prioritized it for some reason – probably because the font in my UK copy is very tiny, and it’s a little intimidating. 😂 Offering a synopsis about a world-wide plague, and a Marianas Trench-located possible “cure”, I’m super interested and definitely looking forward to finally reading it this summer!
Click here for the Goodreads page!
2) OCEAN GRAVE by Matt Serafini
I’ll have a review for Serafini’s RITES OF EXTINCTION on here soon, which I read recently & loved. I’d been saving this one for summer, since I like matching my book themes to seasons (when possible!), so now is the perfect time to get to it! The cover is super cool – I don’t know how big of a part that huge sea creature is gonna play, but I AM HERE FOR IT! The synopsis makes this one sound like it’s part creature feature, part adventure, which should make for some fun reading!
Click here for the Goodreads page!
3) INFERNAL by Cheryl Low
I love spooky island horror books – I’m actually going to be sharing another list soon featuring my favorite island/sea-based horror books, and I’m expecting that once I finish Infernal, it’ll be on there, too, just judging from the bit of it I’ve already read!
Click here for the Goodreads page!
4) FRACTURED TIDE by Leslie Lutz
When I heard about this one being marketed as “Lost” meets “Stranger Things”, I wanted it immediately! I’ve been trying to find more good YA books to recommend lately – they are not just for teens, I swear! – and I’m really hoping to love this one enough to add it to my growing pile of “suggested horror YA reads”.
Click here for the Goodreads page!
5) KILL RIVER by Cameron Roubique
I’ve had this one since last year, but it’s another I wanted to save for summer ’cause it just seems like it’ll be more fun that way! I’ve talked about it before on my blog, but theme parks, water parks, carnivals, circuses, and camps are some of my MOST FAVORITE SETTINGS in horror fiction. I know lots of people prefer spooky houses, or outdoors-y places, but having a location meant for fun & excitement, and watching it turned into a bloodstained hellscape just really bumps the reading experience up a notch for me, I can’t lie. So excited for this one, especially since the author recently released the third book in the trilogy! I have some catching up to do!
Click here for the Goodreads page!
6) THE SUMMER JOB by Adam Cesare
I’ve heard so many people talk about this one, and I don’t know why I haven’t gotten around to it yet! This year, I’ve read four other books by Cesare and have enjoyed all of them (including CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, which comes out later this year and should definitely be on your radar if it isn’t already because it’s so good!), so I have no doubt I’ll like this one, too.
Click here for the Goodreads page!
What are your summer reading plans? Have you made any themed TBRs, or will you just be winging it as you go? I hope you enjoy your reading, whichever way you go!
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I love this TBR! ❤ Summer horror is one of my favorite types of horror. I have Kill River on my reading list for this month, so let me know if you want to read it together! ♥ And now I'm going to go check out Ocean Grave because that cover is AWESOME lmao!
Kill River is amazing! I can’t recommend it enough. I also just read The Summer Job, and it was pretty fun. I’m checking out Ocean Grave next.