Just Thrive's Favorites: Summer Reads (2025)
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The Just Thrive team chimed in to share their favorite summer reading recommendations. We hope you love them as much as we do!
1. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Team member recommendation: Beth (head of partnerships)
Why she likes it: "Easy beach read about love and friendship."
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Funny Story comes a sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
2. All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Team member recommendation: Karen (inventory manager)
Why she likes it: "Captivating story about a missing person with an unlikely hero and finding hope and love even in the darkest places. I could not put this book down."
New York Times Best Seller • Over One Million Copies Sold • From the author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that “hits like a sledgehammer . . . an absolutely must-read novel” (Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl).
“Kept me frantically turning the pages and somehow made me cry at the end . . . Brava!”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
“Melds tense suspense with a powerful exploration of devotion, obsession, and love.”—People (Best New Books)
A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.
3. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
Team member recommendation: Kinjal (marketing team)
Why she likes it: "It's full of hillariously inspiring stories about how to love what you can't change."
The first ever self-development book to help millions of people around the globe transform their lives using humor, irreverence, and the occasional curse word—now updated and expanded for its 10th anniversary with a brand-new foreword, reader's guide, and more!
- Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want.
- Shift your energy and attract what you desire.
- Create a life you totally love. And start creating it NOW.
- Make some damn money already. The kind you've never made before
By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand how to blast past what’s holding you back, make some serious changes, and start living the kind of life that once seemed impossible.
4. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Team member recommendation: Kenzie (customer support team)
Why she likes it: "I love historical fiction, specifically WW2. This was such an interesting perspective I hadn't read before! Mystery, love, history, the trifecta!"
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.
“The reigning queen of historical fiction” -Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.
5. Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
Team member recommendation: Jenny (marketing manager) & Sara (partnerships team)
Why they like it: "Fantasy story with amazing world building and character development."
One of the best fantasy book series of the past decade." -Time Magazine
When magic has gone from the world and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She is a prisoner, but if she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will become the King's Champion and earn her freedom. But the evil she encounters in the castle goes deep, and as dark forces gather on the horizon-forces that threaten to destroy her entire world-the assassin must take her place in a fight greater than she could ever have imagined.
6. A Voice in the Wind by Francine River
Team member recommendation: Leslie (wholesale team)
Why she likes it: "Historical Fiction about love, culture and a deeper connection to your faith."
Book 1 in the 3-book historical Christian fiction series by the New York Times bestselling author of Redeeming Love and The Masterpiece.
The first book in the beloved Mark of the Lion series, A Voice in the Wind brings readers back to the first century Roman empire and introduces them to a character they will never forget―Hadassah.
A Voice in the Wind is perfect for fans of:
- Christian romance
- Biblical and historical fiction
- Themes of grace, love, and standing firm in your faith
- Includes discussion questions suitable for individual use or group discussions
7. Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash
Team member recommendation: Karen (inventory manager)
Why she likes it: "Deals with the characters' agonizing decision to send their daughter to America and how both families live through WW2 on opposite sides of the Atlantic."
“Spence-Ash has written the novel in eight points of view, but each character is utterly three-dimensional and distinct. This debut novel captivated me from start to finish." ―Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton Series
A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own.
8. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Team member recommendation: Brandi (marketing team)
Why she likes it: "My favorite book in 2 years! Anyone into science fiction and apocalypse genres would love this. It's a fast-paced fun read, not too heavy given the scenario. I couldn't put it down. Ultimately it's a lovely (and unexpected) story of friendship."
The #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Martian Soon to be a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with a screenplay by Drew Goddard
Winner of the 2022 Audie Awards' Audiobook of the Year
Number-One Audible and New York Times Audio Best Seller
More than one million audiobooks sold
A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this incredible new science-based thriller from the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Martian.
9. My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
By Laura Kamoie and Stephanie Dray
Team member recommendation: Charles (creative director)
Why he likes it: "If you enjoyed Hamilton, this book is a must read. It tells the Hamilton story from the perspective of his wife who was significant in her own right, both in her upbringing and what she accomplished after the death of her husband."
"Not since I read Erik Larson's Dead Wake have I had such an edge-of-my-seat immersion into historical events. [...] No study of Alexander Hamilton would be complete without reading this book." -Karen White, New York Times bestselling author
From the New York Times bestselling authors of America's First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton--a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy. In this haunting, moving, and beautifully written novel, Dray and Kamoie used thousands of letters and original sources to tell Eliza's story as it's never been told before--not just as the wronged wife at the center of a political sex scandal--but also as a founding mother who shaped an American legacy in her own right.
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