Influencer @thebooksatchel who’s participating in the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge (@SRC2018), has shared with She Reads the books she can’t wait to dive into this summer. Read along with her book picks this summer and don’t forget to reserve your spot for the season’s biggest reading challenge.

Things Bright and Beautiful by Anbara Salam

Things Bright and Beautiful is one of the most anticipated debuts of 2018. It is set on a remote South Pacific island in 1954. When Bea accompanies her missionary husband to the island, she knows it will be a challenging experience with the hostile natives and teeming insects. A new visitor adds to the suffocating atmosphere and unexpected incidents ensue.

The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan

The Gloaming is a coming-of-age novel set on a magical island where no one dies, but a person eventually turns into stone on the cliffs looking out toward the sea. A love story blossoms between one of the girls and a mermaid. The two of them leave the island and return years later. The Gloaming explores the themes of identity and grief through elements of folklore and magic.

The Legends of Khasak by O. V. Vijayan

The Legends of Khasak is a magical realism novel translated from Malayalam by the author himself. It portrays the rustic village life in a mythical place named Khasak known for a multi-religious community. This masterpiece literally divided Malayalam literature into pre-Khasak and post-Khasak eras.

When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy

A young writer falls in love with a university professor over politics and poetry. When she is pushed to a corner through violence and dominance of male ego, she resists and fights back. The novel is a feminist look at an abusive marriage and the psychological impact of the same.