Your New Summer Reads: 5 Books All About Fun, Flings, and Friendship

By Ahtiya Liles 

As the weather warms up and we start planning our Summertime fun, we all want a good book to have on hand as we soak up the sun! Here are 5 BIPOC books serving all the fun, flings, and friendship vibes:

1. The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann is a contemporary romance following Joy, who is in love with her best friend Malcolm, who’s in love with another woman, and invites them both and this other woman’s male best friend on a weekend getaway. Joy decides to try to make her best friend jealous by pretending to fall for the other woman’s best friend Fox, and the story takes off from there. Joy’s journey of wading through her emotions for her best friend while also finding a way to love herself in the process is cathartic and absolutely hilarious. This book is messy, funny, and a perfect Summertime read. If you like single-perspective romcoms that feature vacations, have low spice levels, and have a bit of a love square situation going on, definitely check out The Romantic Agenda!
2. Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe is a literary coming-of-age fiction novel about friendship, community, and resilience, set in a housing project in Chicago during a life-altering summer. Last Summer on State Street gives heart and reality to the idea of gentrification by pulling back the veil on what it really is: displacement of those who live in emotional and literal peril and poverty on a daily basis. There’s themes of Black girlhood interwoven with the complexities of being Black and poor, which are then juxtaposed with moments of the protagonist and her friends just being little girls trying to enjoy their summer. The stylistic choice of the narrator telling us her story with a measure of hindsight is fascinating because readers know, in a larger sense, how it ends. It lends to a sense of foreboding but also allows readers to fully focus on the characters and their relationships. While readers may know, abstractly, where the story is headed, they do not necessarily know how they end up there, and Wolfe does an incredible job shepherding us on the protagonist’s journey.
3. The Black Queen by Jumata Emill is about the aftermath of the vicious murder of one town’s first Black homecoming queen, Nova, and the subsequent unraveling of the town’s very fabric. The Black Queen digs deep into the inherited mental segregation our country has passed on to the younger generations. It examines how forced “diversity” does not promote inclusion or harmony. The two warring perspectives of Duchess (Nova’s best friend) and Tinsley (Nova’s sworn enemy) create such tension; their voices are so distinct and the discord of their partnership adds a nice layer of tautness to the atmosphere. You’ll finish this book and will want to sob and scream all at once; it packs one helluva punch.
4. The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope is an historical fantasy novel set in the 1920s about a woman able to communicate with spirits who must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a heist in order to free herself from her cursed debt. Looking for a historical fantasy with spirit magic? Read this book. In the mood for any genre but itching for 1920s vibes and an exploration of class and colorism in the Black community? Read this book. Searching for a fantasy with a heist element that’ll keep you needing to know what happens next and reluctant wielders of magic due to complex and rich backstories? Read this book. The Monsters We Defy boasts an excellent balance of character work and a larger plot; readers will be invested in not just the main character Clara but in the entire crew of heist members.
5. Set On You by Amy Lea is a contemporary romance about a plus-sized gym influencer and her firefighter gym rival who must learn to get along when they learn their formerly single grandparents have fallen in love and are now engaged to be married. The social media aspect of this one is fun, and it’s both funny and introspective, especially in regards to how self-love is an ever-evolving concept for most of us. Set On You does an excellent job showing how self-love and self-acceptance and growth is not a linear journey. I also appreciated how Crystal’s personal journey had to blossom before she could truly invest in her relationship with Scott and how Scott, in turn, understood and respected that.

As we all begin to bask in Summer goodness, remember to throw a book in your bag or preload your ereader or audiobook app with one of these five reads to kick off a great Summer of reading!

Happy Reading!