Word Up

What books should be packed in your beach bag? Check out this towering stack of required reading.

Curiosity by Joan Thomas
Blending fact and fiction, Thomas weaves an unusual love story featuring the real life paleontologist Mary Anning.

Death by Design by Barbara Nadel
The latest Inspector Ikmen mystery spans Istanbul and London, as the detective tries to thwart a terrorist attack.

The Line by Olga Grushin
Inspired by the real-life episode of Igor Stravinsky’s return to Russia in 1962, Grushin’s novel explores how relationships develop between strangers when a line begins to form at a shuttered ticket booth due to a rumor that a famous exiled composer is returning to Moscow to conduct his last symphony.

An Unfinished Score by Elise Blacknell
A married viola player’s life starts to unravel after the death of her lover, a orchestra conductor, whose widow tries to blackmail her into finishing the score he was working on when he died.

Every Lost Country by Steven Heighton
Already generating award-buzz, this literary page-turner takes the reader to China and Nepal and asks the question, “When is it acceptable to be a bystander, and when do life and loyalty demand more?”

The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips
Intertwining narratives from 1672 London and present-day Cambridge, Phillips spins a tale of serial killings, murdered historians and royal secrets.

Julien Parme by Florian Zeller
Described as a French Catcher in the Rye, this book brings you the trials and tribulations of a teenage boy out for a night in Paris with a credit card purloined from his stepfather and a plan to never return home.

The Penguin Book of Crime Stories, Volume II, selected and introduced by Peter Robinson
A compilation of short works from masters of the mystery genre, including Reginald Hill, Sue Grafton, Ruth Rendell and Maureen Jennings.

Heliopolis by James Scudmore
Switching back and forth between the narrator’s current life and memories of his upbringing, Scudmore’s second novel is a rag-to-riches story of a young man facing the great social divide found in his hometown of San Paulo.

Truth by Peter Temple
The follow-up to the award-winning The Broken Shore, featuring Inspector Stephen Villani, is a tale of violence, murder, love, corruption, honour, deceit and truth.

Deloume Road by Matthew Hooton
A discovery by four young boys playing in the woods near their small town on Vancouver Island sends aftershocks through their community – affecting longtime residents and newcomers alike.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult
A young boy with Asperger’s, who is fixated on helping the police with solving crimes, is considered a suspect in a terrible murder and his family must deal with the fallout.

Woodstock Rising by Tom Wayman
A group of California college students, hippies, and activists led by a young Canadian graduate student, set out to put a satellite into orbit in homage to the recent Woodstock Festival.

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis
This intricate novel follows three generations of women as the history of Uruguay through the 20th century sparks personal tragedies, political intrigues and cultural upheaval.

We Are All Made of Glue (Viking Canada) by Marina Lewycka
The author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian mines the fertile grounds of unlikely friendship.

A Thread of Sky by Deanna Fei
Three generations of Chinese-American women travel to China and face the complexities of family, cultural identity and the repercussions of history.

Looking for more? Zoomer’s shares the best hammock-worthy reads in our summer issue.