By Casa de Suna
Published Aug 20
Is there anything better than enjoying a sunny day poolside or beachside?
We’ll bite: enjoying either of those things with an amazing book in tow. And even if lounging by cool bodies of water isn’t what your summer looks like, we’re hoping you’re carving out a bit of time to relax. And to us, there’s no better way than relaxing than with a good read. Here are our favorite picks for summer 2025.
The Bombshell, Darrow Farr
Sitting at the top of Anna’s list is The Bombshell, a new release lauded by the New York Times Book review and a group of bestselling authors we love. Severine Guimard is the daughter of a Corsican politician, whiling away her days on the tiny island before she can take her baccalaureate exam and–hopefully–return to Paris and get her real life started. What happens instead is, on the nightly bike ride she takes to smoke free from her mother’s Puritanical scrutiny, she gets kidnapped by a group of rebels. Though she’s convinced the release should be simple–her father will pay a ransom, and that will be that–something goes wrong, and she ends up living with her abductors, and the longer she stays, the more she feels their politics taking root in her own belief system.
Fundamentally, Nussaibah Younis
We haven’t cracked Fundamentally open yet, but after our spring pick, The Safekeep, won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, we decided it would be well worth it to work our way down the shortlist. Fundamentally is a story about a woman named Nadia, who takes a job with the UN in Iraq, to lead a program designed to rehabilitate women who have been radicalized by harmful ideology. As she begins work on the program, she meets a cast of characters that make her job harder than she imagined. It’s been heralded as empathetic, informative, and hilarious in equal measure, and we can’t wait to dive in.
Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico
Another prize-contender, Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. If you’re anywhere near BookTok, you might recognize its distinctive blue cover as one of the impossibly chic Fitzcarraldo Editions. Perfection is about a couple named Tom and Anna, young creative freelancers living in Berlin–until they realize they’re bored and decide to try their hand at the “digital nomad” life. It’s a novel about selfhood, the millennial generation, perception, and so much more, and it’s brilliantly translated from the original Italian by Sophie Hughes.
Change, Édouard Louis
Vogue, BBC, and The New Yorker all lauded this 2025 release as one of the year’s best. It’s a unique autobiographical novel that follows a man named “Eddy” on his journey from his working-class hometown to Paris, where he steps into a completely new life. Desperate for a refreshed identity, he fraternizes with as many high rollers as he can; changes his name; and becomes obsessively well-read. It’s a story of class, power, and so much more; the perfect book for anyone who has ever felt out of place in some way, somewhere.
Rosewater, Liv Little
Burnt out after losing her job at a bar, struggling with creative output as an aspiring poet, and sleeping with someone that isn’t right for her, Elsie feels stuck. When she moves in with her best friend, Juliet, her life spirals even further out of control–and she realizes Juliet might be the only person who can save her. It’s a book about the familiar “I’m not where I need to be” despair that defines the late twenties of so many, told through a mixture of sharp prose and electrifying poetry. It’s a unique twist on the coming-of-age novel that you won’t want to put down.
Did you read any of our book picks? Tag us on social media using #casadesuna
