You know the feeling: those mornings when you open your eyes to blue skies and sunlight streaming through the curtains, and you’re suddenly full of possibility. You want to make plans, get outside, absorb as much vitamin D as you can.
These are the days for a good book. Stretched out in the park, flat on a sun lounger or on your sofa with all the windows thrown open: the right novel turns an ordinary afternoon into something to remember and be grateful for. This Reading List is designed for just that occasion.
Whether you’re in the mood for Italian heat or a trip through the streets of Lagos, a hot, sticky weekend in London or a lavish summer in Rhode Island, here are five literary worlds to blissfully lose yourself in, come rain or – ideally – shine.
Still Life by Sarah Winman
A story that has the spirit of EM Forster threaded through? We’re listening. Sarah Winman’s novel opens in 1944 and follows a young English soldier called Ulysses Temper, who we first encounter sheltering from the destruction around him in a wine cellar in Tuscany. Then we meet Evelyn Skinner: an art historian dedicated to salvaging paintings, who reflects on her youth in Florence, along with her memories of a friendship with the young EM Forster. Ulysses and Evelyn’s chance encounter blossoms into a lasting bond that bridges their 40-year age gap. Back home in London, Ulysses finds himself profoundly altered by Italy and drawn back to the Tuscan hills. This sweeping, historical, character-driven novel is a gorgeous ode to art, chosen family and the architecture, wine and food of post-war Florence. A feel-good epic – read it with the sun in your eyes, in a historical piazza or between stops on a long train journey through Italy.
Evenings And Weekends by Oisín McKenna
London in the summer has a special kind of shimmering heat: the acrid smell of hot tarmac; the sticky residue of beer on picnic tables in a pub garden; the suffocating crush of sweating commuters on the tube. Oisín McKenna captures it all in Evenings And Weekends, the perfect book to pick up while you’re sunbathing in a park this summer. Dive into the world of Maggie, who is pregnant. Her boyfriend, Ed, is picking up men in public bathrooms and hiding his past with Phil, Maggie’s best friend, while Phil is navigating his infatuation with Keith, his roommate who’s in an open relationship. The complex nature of these characters and their bonds are counteracted with moments of real levity and humour, with plenty of tension to keep you hooked until the emotive end.
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Moving between Nigeria, Canada, the UK and mainland Europe, Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the story of three Nigerian women: Kambirinachi and her twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye. After an estrangement, the women contend with the different paths their lives take. Kehinde becomes an artist and mother, despite her misgivings about her maternal abilities, while Taiye fills her own void by drifting through relationships with various women, eventually finding solace in a love for cooking (just wait for Francesca’s lyrical descriptions of food). Back in Lagos, the women are reunited to heal the wounds of their past. It’s the kind of emotive, warm and multi-sensory novel that will have you totally engrossed while stretched out in the grass.
The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story Of Italy And Its Citrus Fruit by Helena Attlee
We’ll never stop singing the praises of The Land Where Lemons Grow. It’s a non-fiction travelogue in which Helena Attlee peels back the layers of the historic citrus trade in Italy. Join her as she traverses the country, exploring everything from the extraction of precious bergamot oil for the perfume industry and the (surprisingly fascinating) history of marmalade, to the influence of the Mafia rooted in the lemon gardens near Palermo. This book gets under the skin of Italy like never before, and is the perfect accompaniment to a picnic in the park or a day stretched out on a sun lounger (limoncello spritz essential). If you loved this one, don’t miss Helena’s newest book, The Fire In The Mountain: Sicily, Etna And Her People – ready to inspire your next sun-filled adventure.
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
With wedding season in full swing, what better read to pick up than The Wedding People – a sharp, funny and unexpected story of the big day gone wrong? Phoebe arrives in Newport, Rhode Island, minus the husband she planned to be there with and ready to indulge in some self-care. That is, until she checks into a hotel completely booked out for a wedding, leaving her the only outsider to the party of “wedding people". As the bride surprises Phoebe by confiding in her, Phoebe begins to open up, too, and soon she finds herself embroiled in an increasingly chaotic friendship. The novel hums with wit and satire, drawn forward by a tense undertow. It’s a delightful, pacy holiday read with surprising depth that will have you declining invitations in favour of a few more chapters in the sun.
There’s More – Delve Deeper Into Having Spent Life Seeking With The Service95 Book Club...
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DISCOVER the books that shaped Kae Tempest as a writer and man
LISTEN to Kae Tempest’s playlist to soundtrack Having Spent Life Seeking
EXPLORE our essay on the rise, fall and rebirth of the UK’s seaside towns
