Summer is a great time to execute the travel plans you've been dreaming up all year long. It's time to replicate those drool-worthy instagram pics with trips to mountain tops, foodie towns, warm sandy beaches and everything in-between!  

Be sure you take the time to RECOVER from one excursion to the next. REST is an important part of the recovery process and allows your body to recharge so your personal summerfest doesn't become a sufferfest! We suggest you throw on a pair of Lily Trotters Compression socks and put your feet up with a good book in-hand.  

Here are some of our favorite literary finds we think you'll enjoy reading when you find yourself with some downtime this summer. Do you have a book you recently just couldn't put down? If so, share in the comments below!

On Every List

Tangerine by Christine Mangan

"An rekindling of a former friendship has Alice [questioning] everything around her: her relationship with her enigmatic friend, her decision to ever come to Tangier, and her very own state of mind. Mangan's debut novel portrays a toxic relationship in an exotic, suspenseful atmosphere." Fans of Gone Girl or Girl on a Train will want to read this one next!

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

"Ademi's West African-inspired fantasy debut conjures a world of magic and danger! Zélie has one chance to bring magic back to her people and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good..and confront her own growing powers."

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

A new take on the traditional love triangle, "this stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control...While [this book] confronts thorny issues around race and the criminal justice system it is...also a meditation on the creation of art, the meaning of family and the conflict between duty and desire."

Beach Reads

All We Ever Wanted  Emily Griffin

“Nina Browning has it all: the handsome husband, the Ivy-League-bound teenage son, and the big house in the Nashville suburbs. But with one unthinkable social media post from her beloved child, could it all fall apart? Dealing with issues of class, money, and race, All We Ever Wanted is the book everyone will be talking about.”

A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey

"The two-time Booker Prize-winning author now gives us a wildly exuberant, wily new novel that circumnavigates 1954 Australia, revealing as much about the country/continent as it does about three audacious individuals who take part in the infamous 10,000-mile race, the Redex Trial."

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory 

"A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in this fun and flirty multicultural romance debut." An updated take on the fake-to-forever date for those who love swoony rom-coms!

Inspiring

Clock Dance by Anne Tyler

"One day, Willa receives a startling phone call from a stranger. Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to look after a young woman she's never met, her nine-year-old daughter, and their dog, Airplane. This impulsive decision will lead Willa into uncharted territory...A bewitching novel of hope and transformation."

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

"The fascinating biography of one of the people responsible for tidying up homes in the wake of natural―and unnatural―catastrophes and fatalities...an extraordinary person dedicated to making order out of chaos with compassion, revealing the common ground [we share] with those struck by tragedy."

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

A Place for Us takes us back to the beginning of a family’s life: from the bonds that bring them together, to the differences that pull them apart. All the joy and struggle of family life is here, from [parents] Rafiq and Layla’s own arrival in America from India, to the years in which their children—each in their own way—tread between two cultures, seeking to find their place in the world, as well as a path home. [This] is a book for our times: an astonishingly tender-hearted novel of identity and belonging, and a resonant portrait of what it means to be an American family today."

Running!

Reborn on the Run: My Journey from Addiction to Ultramarathons by Catra Corbett

"Aside from her rock star looks, Catra Corbett is a standout in the running world on her accomplishments alone. Catra is the first American woman to run over one hundred miles or more on more than one hundred occasions and the first to run one hundred and two hundred miles in the Ohlone Wilderness, and she holds the fastest known double time for the 425-miles long John Muir Trail, completing it in twelve days, four hours, and fifty-seven minutes...And, unbelievably, she's also a former meth addict." 

Endure by Alex Hutchinson

"Hutchinson, a former national-team long-distance runner and Cambridge-trained physicist, was one of only two reporters granted access to Nike’s top-secret training project to break the two-hour marathon barrier, an extreme quest he traces throughout the book. But the lessons he draws from shadowing elite athletes and from traveling to high-tech labs around the world are surprisingly universal. Endurance, Hutchinson writes, is 'the struggle to continue against a mounting desire to stop'—and we’re always capable of pushing a little farther."

Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory by Deena Kastor and Michelle Hamilton

"Let Your Mind Run is a fascinating intimate look inside the mind of an elite athlete, a remarkable story of achievement, and an insightful primer on how the small steps of cultivating positivity can give anyone a competitive edge."

NORTH: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail by Scott Jurek

"After two decades of racing, training, speaking, and touring [as a world renown ultrarunner], Jurek felt an urgent need to discover something new about himself. He embarked on a wholly unique challenge, one that would force him to grow as a person and as an athlete: breaking the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. North is the story of the 2,189-mile journey that nearly shattered him."

Cookbooks

Run Fast. Eat Slow. by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky

"From world-class marathoner and 4-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan and chef Elyse Kopecky comes a whole foods, flavor-forward cookbook that proves food can be indulgent and nourishing at the same time. Finally here's a cookbook for runners that shows fat is essential for flavor and performance and that counting calories, obsessing over protein, and restrictive dieting does more harm than good."

And coming very soon... Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. from the same authors!

Chloe Flavor: Saucy, Crispy, Spicy, Vegan by Chloe Coscarelli

"Chloe believes the most delicious dishes come from plant-based ingredients, and has debunked the myth that vegan cooking is bland and visually unenticing. Every recipe here is bold in taste, loud in color, unabashedly unique, and, above all, easy to make." 

Coconuts and Collards: Recipes and Stories from Puerto Rico to the Deep South by Von Diaz

"When her family moved from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, Von Diaz traded plantains, roast pork, and malta for grits, fried chicken, and sweet tea. Brimming with humor and nostalgia, Coconuts and Collards is a recipe-packed memoir of growing up Latina in the Deep South."

Cake by Maira Kalman and Barbara Scott-Goodman

"In Cake, renowned artist and author Maira Kalman and food writer Barbara Scott-Goodman bring us a beautifully illustrated book dedicated to their mutual love of cakes. Kalman's enchanting illustrations, in her inimitable style, and Scott-Goodman's mouthwatering recipes complement each other perfectly, making Cake a joyful whimsical celebration of a timeless dessert." This is one for those of us who enjoy looking at food art...maybe even more than cooking!