Summer is one of the best times to read since many people have the time to read during their vacation! I am also headed to the cottage this month and will ensure that I have a good book to enjoy in between swimming and kayaking! In my list of best books for summer 2025 reading, I have included some new books and some that were written in the recent past that are definitely worth your time! Please let me know if any of these books interest you!
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
This is a story of a group of childhood friends who bond over the course of a summer through their summer antics, quirky humour and loss. The friends – Joar, Ted, Ali and the artist, Kim, known as C. Jat – have a common thread: each come from dysfunctional families. The joy the friends experience that summer is captured in a painting by Kim, who goes on to become a famous artist. Yet most people observing the painting see only the sea and not the group of friends sitting on the dock in the background. Twenty-five years later, Louisa comes into contact with the painting and is determined to find out about the mysterious figures. Although the story jumps back and forth between two timelines, the plot is easy to follow. This book led me to revisit my own cherished childhood summers and and the easy camaraderie and lack of self-consciousness of the group reminded me of the comfortable interactions I had with my 12-year-old friends. One of the best books for summer 2025!
Published by Simon & Schuster
ISBN No.: 978-1-9821-2165-5, CAD$26.99
Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
If you enjoyed Hana Khan Carries On, you’ll probably like Detective Aunty, the latest novel from Uzma Jalaluddin. Taking place in Scarborough, Toronto readers will be familiar with many of the landmarks and cultural references. The story focuses on Kausar Khan, a Muslim woman living in North Bay, who has recently been widowed. Kausar receives a phone call informing her that her daughter, Sana, an owner of a high-end Toronto desi clothing store, is under suspicion for murder of her landlord. Kausar has always had a shrewd mind and is known for her informal sleuthing of family matters. Not believing that Sana is responsible, Kausar becomes determined to find out who the real killer is and lands on Sana’s Toronto doorstep. Kausar, who has always had a somewhat uneasy relationship with her daughter, learns that Sana’s marriage is falling apart. This delightful story is not only a murder mystery, but also a narrative about the undeniable pull of family ties, and the challenges experienced by immigrants living in Toronto.
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., CAN $25.99
ISBN No. 978-1-4434-7284-5
Angelhunting A Seamus Caron Mystery by Ji Hong Sayo
Private Detective Seamus Caron is just getting by in his line of work – he’s sleeping in his Toronto office and eating ramen noodles for dinner – until he is approached by his longtime friend, Homicide Detective Sandra Blair to help find the murderer of a well-known mob lawyer. To help him with admin and other duties on the new case, Seamus hires a secretary, Maxwell Moscovitz, a scrappy, no nonsense young woman who has just graduated with a music degree. The two start off their business relationship with a somewhat prickly tone, but that disappears as they realize they have each other’s backs. Other characters that provide some colour include Seamus’s friend Jackson, a former conman turned cook at a Little Chinatown restaurant. This is a super fun read with quirky characters and witty dialogue that takes the reader into the seedy underbelly of organized crime in Toronto.
Published by ECW Press, $24.95 CAN
ISBN No. 978-1-77041-817-2
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
At over 650 pages, Cutting for Stone by Abrham Verghese is a novel that you’ll want to read during summer vacation when you have extra time. Don’t get turned off by the volume of pages; however, as every word is thoughtfully chosen. Verghese has crafted a story of twin brothers born in Ethiopia as a result of a secret tryst between Thomas Stone, a British surgeon and an Indian nun. When their mother dies in childbirth, Stone disappears and the twins are informally adopted by an Indian couple, Hema and Ghosh, who are also medical practitioners. The twins both become respected surgeons – one in Ethiopia and one in New York City and their life paths are tragically connected by a young woman from their Ethiopian household.
This novel is fascinating for its depiction of human anatomy, disease and surgical remedies and it certainly helps that Verghese is Senior Associate Chair for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. But it’s not only a novel of science; it is a novel of betrayal, love and forgiveness.
Published by Vintage Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited
ISBN No.: 9-780307-357786 CAN$22
Educated by Tara Westover
Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated, elicited so many conflicting emotions in me from anger to inspiration. Westover shares about her unconventional upbringing with her survivalist Mormon parents in Idaho. Tara’s parents and particularly her father, believed that doomsday was near and as a result, they did not trust the educational system or the medical profession. So Tara and her siblings were homeschooled by their mother on paper, but there was very little formal teaching provided. Their father ran a junkyard and the children were forced to help out, regularly incurring injuries as a result of their father’s neglect. They were not treated at hospital, but instead received home treatments from their herbalist mother. Tara was determined to become educated and started studying English grammar and mathematics so that she could apply to university. She was accepted at Brigham Young University and went on to receive post-graduate degrees at Cambridge and Harvard. In fact, she and two of her siblings have their Ph.D. As someone who also had a lifelong dream of obtaining a degree and did so in her forties, I could not help be inspired by the challenges that Tara overcame in order to achieve her education.
Published by HarperCollins Publishers, CAN$22.99
ISBN No.: 9-781-443-452-489
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
This is my first Jodi Picoult book I’ve read and I really enjoyed it! In Leaving Time, we are offered multiple points of view regarding two incidents: a murder in an elephant sanctuary in New England, and the disappearance of Jenna’s mother, Alice. Eleven-year-old Jenna doesn’t understand why her mother abandoned her when she was a child and she is determined to find her. She seeks the help of Serenity, a psychic and Virgil, a former detective. In a previous timeline, Alice is conducting her research on grief in elephants at the sanctuary when a murder takes place. The two incidents are linked and we are taken on a long journey with a twisty ending. Picoult, I have read, typically does extensive research for her novels and Leaving Time is no exception. You will learn a lot about the remarkable behaviour of elephants and if you were not previously a lover of the species, you will be by the end of the story.
Published by Ballantyne Books, an imprint of Random House. US$18
ISBN No. 978-0-345-54494-0
I hope you enjoyed reading about these best books for summer 2025 reading. Enjoy the rest of the summer! You may be interested in reading, “Things to Do in Toronto in August 2025“
