Cool Books for the Height of Summer
To many in the bookish set, summertime is synonymous with lighter reads. Maybe it’s the heat. The desire for chill vibes, cool drinks and napping in a hammock under a tree is undeniable. Lighter reads are perfect for letting your mind slip the chaffing bonds of reality and allow it to drift cloud-style and encumbered across the blue expanse of imagination. Of course, even lighter reads can deal with serious issues, but in my experience, the approach is less direct. The priority is often entertainment, and since I am mired in the muck of reality on the daily, with all its war, corruption and greed, I have found myself gravitating toward books that help me escape that reality, at least a little.
Being the CanLit fan girl that I am, I happen to have a list of Canadian-authored, Canadian-published books that fit this bill. I am delighted to get to share it with you here.
The Midnight Project by Christy Climenhage (Poplar Press)
This is, without a doubt, one of the most marvelously thrilling books I’ve ever read, that yes, also happens to be thought provoking – but that’s almost secondary.
Following the near-future story of Raina and Cedric – two disgraced scientists who own small-scale bespoke reproductive assistance clinic and are hired by an enigmatic billionaire to create a new species of human – The Midnight Project explores the murky depths of bioethics, climate collapse, unchecked billionaire idolization and greed, post-capitalistic and post-technological morality, friendship, and love – all with a narrative cadence that’s heart-in-your-throat, arms-to-the-sky roller coaster exciting. So, like I said, you are considering big ideas, but through the lense of high-octane entertainment.
There are so many gripping twists and turns. The Ceph (who are the human-squid-dolphin-whale-? hybrids) created by Raina and Cedric are an irresistible combination of adorable and menacing, and the dynamic between Raina and Cedric is so lightly but fully played out.
By far, my favourite character was Coralie, the only Ceph we hear from directly. She’s kind and brave and bold and while not fully human, I think that she embodies what humans should aspire to be.
In The Midnight Project, Christy Climenhage has created a story that can encourage us – playfully and with compassion and breathtaking philosophical insight – to reflect on better possible ways forward, all through the lens of fiction, which doesn’t moralize but doesn’t allow us to hide from ourselves either.
The Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park (Dundurn Press)
This book isn’t out until September 2, 2025 but that’s still technically early enough to add to your summer reading list. I’ve never read anything like Oxford Soju Club and from beginning to end, I was totally transported.
Wayne Ng (a Canadian writer I admire who also wrote a book I recommend for this list, Johnny Delivers – the story of an 18-year-old Chinese kid in Toronto in the 1970s who channels the spirit of Bruce Lee to save his family and find himself) wrote a review of Jinwoo’s novel in the Ottawa Review of Books. I think this quote sums up the book’s highlights for me, and why it makes the cut as an awesome summer read:
Korean culture continues its global renaissance with celebrated contributions in film, food, music, and now, literature. Jinwoo Park’s Oxford Soju Club is a standout debut that deepens this cultural wave and solidly plants a Canadian flag as he delivers a genre-defying spy thriller layered with psychological nuance and diaspora insight.
The novel’s tagline, “The natural enemy of a Korean is another Korean,” succinctly captures its tense, cat-and-mouse premise. Park weaves espionage, identity and the immigrant experience into a taut narrative that adheres to the familiar beats of spy fiction – cryptic last words, covert meetings, betrayals – while simultaneously subverting them to probe deeper questions of cultural belonging and fractured identity.”
All the World’s a Wonder by Melia McClure (Radiant Press)
There was no way I was prepared for how much I would adore this novel, which is Melia McClure’s second.
Following a vivid and compelling cast of characters, All the World’s a Wonder explores the chaos, beauty and darkness of the creative process. A playwright is possessed by her muses (or just mentally unstable – we aren’t sure at first). Her psychiatrist has a shady past. The muses are endearing, infuriating and dangerous.
The book itself is part novel, part script, all amazing. It makes you feel like you’re front-row, totally in awe and agog, in a live theatre performance.
McClure’s writing is explosive, her dialogue, crisp. Her experience on stage (she’s an actor – you may recognize her from Stargate Atlantis) obvious and her masterful wielding of cadence in scenes and dialogue – which are tender and sharp – is enviable.
I can’t recommend this book enough, and have 80% of its pages dog-eared, so finding a quote to share is tough but I’m going to go with a snappy one, from The Playwright herself:
There is no such thing as cutting-edge in art. Same edge. Different handle.
The Mona Lisa Sacrifice by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)
There is no way for me to talk about this book and remain calm. It’s an unputdownable and enchanting supernatural thriller that follows the unkillable Cross character – a man resurrected into the body of Jesus in the cave but who is definitely not Christ-like in disposition. He’s crass and cruel, but also has more of a moral compass than he’d like to admit and has that caged-tiger bad-boy appeal that I adore in a male protagonist, on paper. (In reality, your girl here has outgrown that attraction.)
So, Cross, as mentioned, can’t be killed. Or more accurately, he can’t stay killed. He comes back to life, every time. But he also depends on “grace” from angels to resurrect more quickly and to quell an immense hunger. And he can only get this grace by killing the angels.
Don’t get too caught up on the monstrous nature of this act though because the angels in this book aren’t ... well, angels. They are as flawed and complex as the rest of us.
At the outset of the story, an angel – who Cross had been stalking – calls on Cross to find Mona Lisa. Not the painting, though Cross doesn’t know that at first. This Mona Lisa is something – someone – else. And also, kinda not.
Cross, whose plan was to make short work of the angel and absorb his grace, agrees to this mission for one reason only: because the angel tells him he will tell Cross where Judas is if Cross finds her. Yes, that Judas, but remember, Cross isn’t Christ, so the grudge Cross has for Judas is not Christ’s but another betrayal altogether.
No spoilers here though. I want everyone to read this book, which is the first in a series of four. (The fourth book is out this fall and I can’t wait!)
The writing is crisp and rhythmic. Told in the first person, Cross speaks directly to the reader, which drew me right into the action.
The Stones of Burren Bay (Young Adult) by Emily De Angelis (Latitude 46)
Classifying a book as YA can be helpful, insofar as it lets people know the book is accessible for younger readers (and I say accessible instead of suitable because “suitable” is a slippery slope. “Suitable” smacks of a certain moral classification that can transmogrify into book bans and bonfires, you know?)
So when I mention above, beside the title, that this novel is YA, I include it to signal that I read it (and enjoyed it) and my 10-year-old read it, understood it (and enjoyed it too).
The Stones of Burren Bay follows the story of Norrie, a young artist who, at the beginning of the book, loses her grandmother – the one person in the world she trusts and feels protected by. Norrie’s mother is something of a ghost of character – both there and not, without conviction or substance – and her father is a narcissist, opportunist scumbag who is constantly selling anything of value out from under them. And when Norrie’s grandmother passes, he is quick to plunder her belongings for anything of value.
This is an absorbing, wonderfully written story with lots of emotional twists and turns. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that tragedy strikes again, and Norrie finds herself living with a friend of her mother’s and the friend’s husband and daughter in remote, beautiful, hallowed Burren Bay in Manitoulin Island (so, a fictional place in a real place).
Past and present intertwine with a lovely dusting of Celtic spiritualism. I got strong Lucy Maud Montgomery vibes from this read, not because the writing styles are the same or because of the plot of the book, but because of the way the writers pull back the veil and re-enchant the readers with the world around them. Because of the way art is celebrated as a force for change; for good.
The Stones of Burren Bay is one of those books that cracks open the sky a little; reminds you of the magic that existed in the world you knew as a child. A lovely read.
Countess by Suzan Palumbo (ECW Press)
I read this book waiting for my kids while they waited in line for rides at a theme park. Countess is a queer Count of Monte Cristo in space and it’s so good! I’ve always loved this plot line since it involves everything that makes a good story for me: love, revenge, crushing systems of oppression, and in Palumbo’s retelling of it (read: don’t expect a classic retelling), smashing the patriarchy.
Of course, like all the reads on this list, the book is also highly entertaining. It’s also relatively short – novella length. So if you’re like me and can’t do the scary rides at amusement parks anymore without puking or passing out (I did both), grab this book, snag a spot in the shade, and get ready to be utterly thrilled without getting covered in vomit.
Home Fires Burn by Anthony Bidulka (Stonehouse Publishing)
Anthony is a Canadian legend of the mystery thriller genre. He won an Independent Publisher Book Award being named Gold Medalist as the 2023 Canada West Best Overall Fiction novel and was awarded the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence as Canada’s Best Crime Novel for 2023. Home Fires Burn is his final book in the Merry Bell series – which features trans woman private investigator Merry Bell.
As a cooling antithesis to humidity, the novel starts with us witnessing the demise of a celebrated philanthropist, who is later found slumped against his car, frozen to death. Merry Bell is hired by his son, country music star Evan Whatley, to find out the truth behind what really happened on that desolate stretch of road. As Merry’s investigation uncovers old wounds that never healed, her own are revealed as she confronts her pre-transition past and questions the boundaries of family and friendship.
I read this final book first and have now gone back and started to read the other two which are equally marvellous. If you’re looking for a compelling and compulsively readable mystery crime series to read this summer that celebrates the diversity of person and place (the story is set in small city Saskatchewan!) then I highly recommend this series by Anthony, an exceptional Canadian author.
The List of Last Chances by Christina Myers (Caitlin Press)
The List of Last Chances is a spirited and deeply moving fusion of rom-com and literature that is begging to be optioned for film.
The story follows Ruthie, who has recently left her cheating boyfriend and is busy drinking herself insensible on her friend Julie's couch. With Julie's prodding, Ruthie – who has been let go from her job as a home health aide for her poor performance post-break-up – applies for and accepts a job as a companion for Kay, an indomitable octogenarian whose arguably overly cautious and concerned son, David, is (basically) forcing to her leave PEI and move in with him in Vancouver.
The bulk of the story takes place on this road trip as we watch the friendship between Ruthie and Kay develop while they tick off items on Kay's bucket list. We're also witness to an awkward romance blooming between Ruthie and David. (You know in rom-coms when one character is doing something SO embarrassing you just can't watch? Yeah, well, same here. There were a couple of points I had to roll over and bury my face in the pillow, squirming and giggling with discomfort.)
Myers' writing bubbles and drifts beautifully; it brings us into the heart and minds of the characters and is also, at times, gorgeously lyrical. So, yes, while this book does follow many of the tropes of the rom-com genre (which I’m not disrespecting; I love it), there's also a depth of perception, feeling and nuance that puts The List of Last Chances squarely into the category of literature too.
An addictively readable, delightfully entertaining book!