For me, each season brings a renewed sense of excitement about reading, one of my go-to hobbies. In the summer — my favorite time of year — I love diving into more lighthearted and entertaining books in my reading spot of choice: the Life Time Beach Club. There, the sun is shining, the towels are fluffy and fresh, and my tea tumbler is always filled with iced tea.
Are you a book lover too? To help you choose your next read, we rounded up a list of recommendations from a few of our team members to inspire you as you enjoy these long summer days.
Fiction
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Recommended by: Claire Carver, editorial intern at Experience Life
This is a great, enthralling read. It covers a lot of different genres — mystery, drama, and romance — all in a coming-of-age story. It’s set in the south, so you get that summer, outdoors vibe, which makes it a perfect book to pick up during the summer season. I would recommend it because it’s an easy read, it’s entertaining, and it talks about wildlife in a way that inspires me to want to be outside. Fun fact: This book was selected for Reese Witherspoon’s book club in 2018 and went on to become a major motion picture in 2022!
The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie
Recommended by: Mike Borell, associate director of project management at Life Time
If you’re into wizards, warlords, wonderful magic systems, and absolute medieval brutality, you will love The First Law series! It includes a trilogy, plus another three stand-alone novels that all take place in the same world. The character development is incredible, the writing style and storylines make it impossible to put the book down, and every night you will go to sleep eager to dive back into the hero’s journey the next day.
My personal favorite key character is Logen Ninefingers — a.k.a. “The Bloody-Nine” — a berserker-style barbarian with a surprisingly thoughtful and philosophical side.
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Recommended by: Anna Buss, social media community specialist at Life Time
This book reignited my passion for reading with its emotional, whirlwind tale of two best friends reuniting after a decade apart. Filled with a perfect blend of comedy, heartache, and romance, I’ve yet to find a book that has stayed with me quite like this one.
My copy of the book has been passed through my entire friend group, and all have enjoyed it as much as I have. I will always recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into reading or is simply looking for an amazing book!
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Recommended by: Julie Brown, senior lead general at Life Time in St. Louis Park, Minn.
Every choice we make can have a ripple effect in our lives, and this page-turning novel will keep you on the edge of every chapter as you explore the parallel universes of Jason Dressen’s life.
Jason has a modest life, and he’s happy, but something nags at him: Did choices from his past send him down a path less fulfilling than his potential? Jason is pulled into the unknown and is forced to discover that his life might not be as simple as it once seemed had he made a different choice years ago.
Perhaps you’ve wondered about how your choices — both conscious and unconscious —impact your days, but what about the course of your entire life? This incredible story allowed me to think back to many moments in my own life that created the path that I’ve chosen, and perhaps that has chosen me. This book is a great option for a beach chair or plane ride read and can even find a spot on your audiobook queue, as it did for me.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Recommended by: Andrew Ellingson, team member communications specialist at Life Time
I think I’ve read this series 10 times over, and that might even be undershooting it. Red Rising is the title of the first book in a saga of six books (with a seventh due out likely in 2025). It is my favorite series of all time.
It tells the story of Darrow, a “Red,” in a society set 700 years in the future. Humans have colonized the solar system, and to do so, they built a caste-based hierarchal system based on colors. Atop all other colors stand the Golds, 7-foot-tall war machines that conquer planets, sail massive starships, and rule the worlds with iron fists.
Every color has a role to play in the society. Darrow, as a Red, is a miner under the surface of Mars. For his entire life, he has been led to believe that the work of Reds beneath the planet is to prepare it for humanity’s arrival — but Darrow and all Reds have been lied to. Humanity arrived generations ago, and he, along with billions of his people, are actually slaves being used for labor.
Shortly after the story begins, tragedy strikes. Reeling, Darrow is given the opportunity to infiltrate the Golds (won’t tell you how!) and destroy them from within by entering the institute, a brutal proving ground for up-and-coming Golds. He’ll sacrifice everything to avenge what he’s lost, even if that means becoming what he hates most.
Red Rising is in the young-adult genre but quickly turns more into an adult story (there is violence and language, just a fair warning!) as it gets into books two and three. But it’s worth the ride, I promise. There’s an initial trilogy and then a second one, which has turned into four books instead of three, with a time jump in between. I recommend this series to literally anyone who asks for book recommendations.
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Recommended by: Emily Ewen, senior writer and content editor at Life Time
Oona Out of Order is a great choice if you’re looking to get into the genre of magical realism. I read this last summer, and the story still sticks with me.
On her 19th birthday, Oona faints and wakes up 32 years in the future in her 51-year-old body. She learns that with each passing year, she will leap to another age in her life at random — living her life out of order. At the beginning of each year, she must put the puzzle pieces of her life together and grasp what it means to live fully in the moment.
Oona’s story is full of fun twists and turns that had me reflecting on my own life and the burdens of time. This would be a great pick for a book club discussion!
Nonfiction
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown
Recommended by: Sara Ellingsworth, executive administrative assistant and podcast coordinator at Experience Life
Brené Brown sums it up best when she says, “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.” As someone who has connections all over the world, forging a community to belong with has been a lifelong pursuit, one I’m sure will endure the span of my lifetime.
Yet, as Brown taught me throughout this book, “True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary.”
Written in her characteristic depth and interwoven with research and storytelling, Brown gripped me with her insights. If you’re finding yourself in a “wilderness” season of your life, give it a read. You might find that the wilderness, as Brown writes, “Turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand.”
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Recommended by: Emma Graves, Master Trainer and Dynamic Personal Trainer at Life Time in Chicago, Ill
When you want to make a change in your life, deciding where to start and how to continue can feel overwhelming. This is one reason why I love Atomic Habits by James Clear so much: This book shifted my perspective to focus on small, everyday actions that cumulatively build identity over time.
By focusing on getting one percent better every day — versus changing everything all at once — we can make sustainable changes in our lives. Whether you want to be a better friend or partner, be more consistent with your workouts, pick up a new hobby, or just take better care of your mind and body, this book is a great help.
I love this quote in particular, “Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime, these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
Recommended by: Dan DeBaun, manager of public relations at Life Time
This was a difficult read for me, but in a good way. Very few people want to think about death and how to best approach it near the end. This book challenged a lot of assumptions I had about the aging process and hospice care specifically.
A key finding: People, when left to their own choices, will often trade safety for independence as they get older. Unfortunately, hospitals and nursing homes often isolate the sick and dying, and procedures are done at all costs to keep someone alive with the possibility of tremendous suffering, etc.
This book is full of fascinating information and studies, but what I really love is how Dr. Gawande mixes in his own personal experiences with aging and hospice care throughout the book. It leads to an ending that really touched me and made me think.
This is a beautiful nonfiction book I’d recommend to anyone, especially those who have questions about aging for themselves or their family and friends. As it says in the book, “Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end.”
Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison
Recommended by: Molly Tynjala, associate editor/fact checker at Experience Life
My book recommendation of the summer (and perhaps the year) is this recently published memoir by Leslie Jamison. Jamison’s anecdotes from her life while navigating a divorce and the early days of motherhood are raw, vulnerable, and beautifully rendered.
If it is a love story, it certainly is “another kind;” this is not a romance. Rather, it centers on the love we have for and receive from our children, our parents, and our friends — love that is imperfect and messy, but ultimately worth committing to. Which, now that I think about it, strikes me as the most romantic notion of all.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Recommended by: Johnny de Triquet, senior studio leader at Life Time in Manhattan, N.Y.
A couple months ago, I asked my friend and Alpha director, David Freeman, for a book recommendation for a long flight; he recommended this one. The premise of this particularly resonated with me as it discusses the idea of focusing on the most important and meaningful aspects of life while eliminating anything that could be nonessential and distracting.
Essentialism made me take a step back and truly define what elements may be nonessential in working toward my most purposeful and fulfilling life. This book is the perfect summer read that can help you identify strategic eliminations that may inspire huge personal and professional growth opportunities. I highly recommend!
This Is Why You Dream: What Your Sleeping Brain Reveals About Your Waking Life by Rahul Jandial, MD, PhD
Recommended by: Michael Dregni, deputy editor at Experience Life
Who isn’t curious, if not fascinated, by dreams: What you dream, what it might mean, what it may say about you? Jandial is both a neuroscientist and neurosurgeon, and this book serves as a sort of companion to Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD.
Jandial explains in easily digestible prose the latest research into our dreamworlds, including nightmares, erotic dreams, children’s dreams, and how our dreams compare with our ancestors’ and people of other cultures (spoiler alert: they’re largely similar!). He also provides functional, serviceable advice on rewiring nightmares into more tranquil dreams, understanding what our dreams are saying about our deepest, hidden desires, and more.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Recommended by: Barbara Powell, MA, NBC-HWC, Life Time Mind Coach
Like many, I’ve been feeling the weight of the world lately. In that heaviness, this book found its way to me by recommendation of a friend. I’ve been devouring it, chapter by chapter, ever since.
Filled with Indigenous story, strong science, and natural teachings, this book is an immersive read. The author, part of the Potawatomi Nation, brings nature back into our hands, connecting us to all of Earth’s inhabitants. Her way with words is magical, and I couldn’t help but read whole paragraphs aloud just to hear how it sounded. Much of it catapulted me back to my childhood, which was full of skinned knees, dirty fingernails, and long days of outdoor exploration.
If you want to slow down, get connected, and breathe new perspective into how you interact with Mother Earth, this is it. Make it more special by reading it while barefoot on the grass by a green-blue lake, or up high with the songbirds in the nook of a treehouse. I have a sense you’ll feel a bit more ease in your summer days, like I already do.
