What are you reading this summer?

Summer is here — and so are more book recommendations from my friends and Podium contributors. It’s the perfect season for getting lost in a thrilling read, whether you have hours to spend on a plane, a beach, a cottage or a train. Or perhaps you are in your own home looking for an escape with an exciting page-turner.

I hope you enjoy their suggestions — and please comment below with your own reads. I’d love to hear what’s on everyone’s list.

— Malala

Breaking Bad meets Crazy Rich Asians meets Thelma and Louise with fantastic handbags. An utter delight. This novel flips the model minority myth on its head, and establishes dynamic, iconic characters in Ava and Winnie. Ava is bored in her “perfect” adult life until her old college roommate, Winnie, breezes back into Ava’s world with a lucrative and seemingly easy proposition. Things quickly escalate, and Ava finds herself holding the bag, literally and figuratively. There was a massive bidding war for the TV rights to this book when I was at my last job, and I was gutted when I didn’t get it. Congrats to Sony. I can’t wait to watch.

Erika recommends: Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

These days, it feels like we're either working hard or vegging out. But what happened to having fun— to really enjoying your life? That's where this lovely book by Catherine Price comes in. Catherine makes the case that we all need to intentionally prioritize getting more fun in our life. She makes that case that fun can make us happier and healthier, but that we need to make sure we're finding it in the right ways. It's a book that's completely changed how I think about my own leisure time.

Laurie recommends: Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price

This book celebrates the strides black women have made and also includes practical advice from dozens of the most successful black women in Britain.

Simi recommends: ​​Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené

The Best of Everything truly lives up to its title. Rona Jaffe’s book about five young women making their way in the publishing world in the 1950s reads like Mad Men, but if the protagonists were Peggy Olsen and her counterparts. Written in 1958, it feels very modern – the characters grapple with sexism in the workplace, harassment, finding love and navigating their ambitions in a world that doesn’t always welcome them. I’m not the type of reader to revisit books, but The Best of Everything is one I return to every summer.

Hannah recommends: The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe