The Anti-Woke Summer Reading List, Volume Two

Finding a good summer read has gotten too complicated. You pick up the buzzy beach book everyone's talking about, and three chapters in, you realize you're listening to a political rant. No, thank you! Every book here was chosen because it's a great story and free of the woke preachiness that's taken over the bestseller table. Some are thrillers, some are romances, some are historical, some are memoirs, and more than one will definitely make you cry. I've also added a few content notes so you know what you're getting into, but there's definitely something for every kind of reader. One by One by Freida McFadden If you've somehow missed the Freida McFadden phenomenon, this summer is the time to fix that. A group of friends sets out on a hiking trip to a remote getaway, gets stranded in the woods... and then the title tells you what happens next. McFadden writes short chapters and constant twists, so don't be surprised if you start at 9 p.m. and finish at 2 a.m. Plus, no explicit sex scenes, which is extremely rare for the genre. Get it on Amazon, $10 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir A man wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he's there until he pieces together that he's humanity's last shot at survival. No politics, no agenda, and a friendship that will have you grabbing a tissue by the last page. Now a movie with Ryan Gosling! Get it on Amazon, $14 Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry This is the slow-down-and-savor pick of this list. Hannah is an elderly Kentucky farm wife looking back on her life: the husband she lost to the war, the man she built a second life with, the children she raised, and the land she loved. Not a dopamine rush by any means, but Berry writes about marriage, community, and heritage with a reverence you almost never see in modern fiction. Get it on Amazon, $10 Meet You in the Middle by Devon Daniels It's an enemies-to-lovers rom-com set on Capitol Hill: a liberal Senate staffer and the gatekeeper for the conservative senator standing in her way go from waging office warfare to falling hard, and the banter is so fun. One important heads-up, though: unlike most of this list, this one does contain some explicit content. It's way more tastefully done than what you'll find on the average romance shelf, but, reader, just be aware. Get it on Amazon, $11 The Water Keeper by Charles Martin A man pilots his boat down Florida's Intracoastal Waterway on a rescue mission, and what unfolds is part thriller, part meditation on what it costs to save people. Also a refreshing portrait of masculinity (which is hard to find these days!). Fair warning that the subject matter (trafficking) is heavy, but Martin handles it with care. Get it on Amazon, $11 The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold A young reporter gets the assignment nobody wants (writing an advance obituary for a dying elderly woman) and discovers that unassuming Mrs. Kip lived a life bigger than anything in the headlines. It came out a few years ago, but the reviews are still raving. Get it on Amazon, $9 Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh Walsh is a very reliable name in feel-good romance, and this one delivers her usual witty banter, small-town cuteness, and a heroine who's easy to root for. Go ahead, throw it in the pool bag. Get it on Amazon, $8 If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair The most literal beach read ever, an adorable rom-com on a sailboat. St. Clair writes dialogue that will make you laugh out loud, and the forced-proximity-on-the-water setup is as fun as it sounds. Get it on Amazon, $9 The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower Told in journal entries, it follows Emma M. Lion, a sharp-tongued young woman in Victorian London scheming to reclaim her family home from a dreadful cousin. A friend described it as "whimsical Victorian hilarity with non-woke Gilmore vibes." Perfect for a summer-long binge. Get it on Amazon, $10 Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi One of two memoirs on this list, this one is a little heavy but absolutely worth a read. Qureshi chronicles his years-long journey as a devout Muslim that eventually led him to Christianity, and he tells it with a deep love for his family. Over half a million copies sold. Get it on Amazon, $10 What If Love Is the Point?: Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World by Carlos and Alexa PenaVega For a lighter memoir, this one's from a couple you probably grew up watching (Alexa of Spy Kids fame and Carlos of Big Time Rush ). They tell the story of finding faith in the middle of Hollywood and building a marriage that runs pretty much counter to everything the industry models. You'll be recommending it to everyone. Get it on Amazon, $12 Reverie by Drew Taylor Left at the altar, Esme Jenkins takes her honeymoon to Bora Bora alone, and what happens on the island becomes a mystery she spends the rest of the book untangling, after a freak accident erases three years of her memory. This indie series opener is twisty, funny, and unique. Get it on Amazon, $18 Not What We Pictured by Becca Kinzer Kinzer is writing some of the funniest rom-coms on the market right now, and she does it without any smut or political fixations. If your favorite part of a romance novel is the flirty banter, start here and then work through her backlist. Get it on Amazon, $10 The Huntress: A Medieval Christian Fiction by Carrie Cotten Your smut-free Outlander alternative set in medieval Scotland, with a fierce young queen protecting the last of her people deep in a dark forest. Enter the injured stranger who upends everything she's been taught about the enemy kingdom. Get it on Amazon, $6 Already in the Kudzu by Hannah Hood Lucero Lucero is an Army veteran herself, and it shows in this military romantic suspense. This series follows a woman whose dangerous past comes back seven years after she escaped it, thanks to a soldier who stands between her and the men hunting her. Add in a Blue Ridge Mountain setting and a big Irish family of brothers, and you'll want a book for each. Get it on Amazon, $13 The Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse by Jaime Jo Wright Wright is the queen of Christian gothic suspense, and this one trades her usual creepy mansions for a haunted lighthouse on the shores of Lake Superior. In 1874, a battered woman wakes on a gravesite with no memory and takes refuge with an old lighthouse keeper; in the present day, an author arrives to research the lighthouse's legend and finds the town hiding a crime. It's dual timelines with an Edgar Allan Poe thread running through it, but no guts or gore. Especially a good pick if you're almost in the mood for fall. Get it on Amazon, $10 Into a Golden Era by Gabrielle Meyer If you haven't discovered Meyer's Timeless series, prepare to lose your summer to it. The premise is addictive: heroines born with the ability to live two lives at once until a fateful birthday forces them to choose one forever. She delivers wholesome and deeply researched historical romance with agonizing stakes. Into a Golden Era is the brand-new installment, but each book stands alone, so you can start here or go back to When the Day Comes and binge forward. Get it on Amazon, $13 An American Immigrant by Johanna Rojas Vann A struggling Miami journalist takes a career-saving assignment in Colombia, the country her mother left behind, and finds the incredible story she was never told: her own family's. Rojas Vann drew on her real mother's history for this award-winning debut, and it shows. By the end, you'll want to call your mom. Get it on Amazon, $6 Want more? Check out volume one of our Anti-Woke Summer Reading List !