Vancouver bookstores recommend popular summer reads
It's summertime and if you're going to the beach, cabin or just your backyard, then a good book is almost as necessary as sunblock.
"Summer is all about fun books. And it's a chance to read that guilty pleasure," says Samantha Fraenkel, assistant manager at The Book Warehouse in Vancouver.
"[People] hit the beach, are on holiday and they want something they can just dive right into."
Summer reading for adults
There's no shortage of popular books to read this summer. Here are some of Fraenkel's recommendations:
- The Martian by Andy Weir. (It was also made into a film starring Matt Damon).
- Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.
- The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty is "the perfect guilty beach pleasure," according to Frankel.
- Popular Canadian authors include Joseph Boyden and Caroline Adderson.
- Non-fiction favourites include Alan Cumming's Not My Father's Son.
- Readers are also buying a lot of crime novels, such as Paula Hawkins' psychological thriller The Girl On The Train, Peter May's The Blackhouse and the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson.
Children's books
According to Kidsbooks co-owner Phyllis Simon, children also have plenty of good options.
"Kids are in love with reading and this is a good thing," she said. "They want to read books that are physical objects that they can carry, hold and even keep."
Children under the age nine are the most voracious-reading demographic because their reading skills are just forming, she says.
Here are some popular recommendations for kids:
- Stories based on Greek mythology, such as the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and The Beasts of Olympus series by Lucy Coats, have pre-teen appeal.
- Dean and Shannon Hale's Princess in Black is liked for its illustrations.
- Tesla's Attic by Neal Shusterman is popular with older teens.
