Summer is a great time to sit back, relax, lie down by the pool and pull out a big ol’ book to read. I am constantly reading, whether it be science fiction, romance, comedy or dark books, so I love using my free time over the summer to just sit and read. This list contains a mix of YA books and a couple of others that do not quite fit into the genre that span among a variety of topics and are perfect for reading on a summer day, whether it is on the beach, by the pool or on the couch at home.

1. “I’ll Give You the Sun” by Jandy Nelson

This book takes place over the span of three years, at two different times and from two different points of view. Jude and Noah have been inseparable since before they were born. Noah is quiet and artistic, while Jude is confident and athletic. They live in California near the beach in a family with an art-obsessed mom that believes in ghosts and spirits and a realistic dad that thinks their mom’s beliefs are nonsensical. In Noah’s perspective at age 13 and Jude’s at age 16, “I’ll Give You the Sun” tells the story of these two twins, their family, their friends, their beliefs and what drove them apart. You will not be able to put it down. It is a great read for a windy summer day on a park bench, where you can lie down and admire the words that are even more beautiful than the scenery around you.

2. "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart

This book takes place during the summer on the beach in Martha’s Vineyard, so it would definitely be an interesting book to read on the beach. Cady’s family is really wealthy. Every summer, her mother and her mother’s two sisters go with their father and their children to the beach for a fun summer of sun and family bonding. But if you take a closer look, you can find that there is much more to this family than a bunch of relaxed vacations. With her cousins Johnny and Mirren, and their friend Gat, Cady tries to get to the bottom of her family’s dark secrets and stiff views. In particular, there is one summer she cannot seem to remember and keeps going back to. If she can just figure out what happened, then maybe she and the other “liars” can piece together how to solve the problems in their family. This book is short yet packed with a full, suspenseful plot. All that I ask is that you do not look ahead, and that you stick with it until the very end, because it will definitely leave you lying on the beach, trying to comprehend what you just read.

3. "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" by Jenny Han

This is a lighter read, but by no means less clever or exciting than the others. Lara Jean Covey is a hopeless romantic who writes letters like diary entries to every boy she has ever had feelings for, and then puts them into a box in her room. This is just a fine way for her to deal with her emotions, until one day they are mysteriously mailed out and she has to find a way to convince her sister’s ex-boyfriend that she is not in love with him. Somehow she gets roped into fake-dating the most popular guy in school while hiding her feelings from the boy next door, who her older sister recently broke up with. This book is fun, funny and will just make you feel warm while focusing on friendships, the bonds between siblings and just what it means to be in love. I read it over the course of four hours last summer while sitting on the couch in my living room, and it is honestly the perfect book for a bright summer day.

4. "Attachments" by Rainbow Rowell

This is another fun one. In his late twenties and still not knowing what he wants to do with his life, Lincoln gets a job at a newspaper. However, instead of being a writer or editor, Lincoln is in charge of checking over the network by reading people’s emails and making sure they are not sending out curse words or dirty jokes through their work emails. Though a bit boring, this job is tolerable for him until he comes Beth’s and Jennifer’s series of emails and finds himself reading their exchanges and falling in love with Beth. I never thought it could work to make a story about a guy who fell in love with a woman he would not even be able to recognize in person by invading her privacy and obsessing from afar, but Rowell really writes this well. She makes you wonder about the internet and how it affects modern romance. This is a great summer read to pick up on the beach, where you can laugh and smile at each piece of dialogue while sitting in the sun.

5. "Winger" by Andrew Smith

This book will give you so many emotions that you’ll have to stop and stare at a wall just to get your bearings. Ryan Dean West is a junior in high school who happens to be only 14 years old. Ridiculously smart, an amazing artist, and excellent at rugby, Ryan Dean might appear to have everything going for him. But he is stuck at a boarding school in Seattle because his parents do not want him at home, and now he is living in the dorm for all the troublemakers because of one mistake last year. This book details Ryan Dean’s junior year as he tries to make his best friend Annie see him as more than just her cute little friend, and as he navigates living with the biggest, scariest guys on campus. With a balance of drawings and words, laughter and tears, dirty jokes and intelligent descriptions, “Winger” is a powerful comedy with a mix of dark points and a gut-wrenching plot twist. This book should only be read when you have at least a weekend of free time available, because as soon as you open page one, you won’t be able to stop reading until the last line.

6. "No Matter the Wreckage" by Sarah Kay

When I wrote that not everything on this list was technically a YA novel, I was really just talking about this one. This is a book of poems by the spoken-word poet Sarah Kay, but I could not help including this piece. I tend to be someone who dozes off to poetry. However, Sarah Kay’s poems are something else entirely. They are clever, funny, tear-inducing and all-too real. She writes about a toothbrush falling in love with a bicycle tire, her mom finding her brother’s collection of inappropriate photos on the family computer and using them to mess with him, and her thoughts about her past loves. She will make you laugh and cry while really painting pictures with each poem. Even if you’re not a huge poetry fan — especially if you don’t like poetry — I recommend you try out this book. Whether you’re reading her poems on the beach, in bed in the morning or at the mic in a coffeehouse, I can guarantee that they will stick with you as much as they have with me.

7. "The Beginning of Everything" by Robin Schneider

Do you love the typical YA books about love, heartbreak and everything in between? If yes, then be prepared to shake things up with this book. If not, then be glad that this book is not typical. Ezra is the tennis captain and the most popular guy in school, until he gets into a car accident that forces him to walk with a cane and give up his expected future of going to school for tennis. Now in his senior year of high school, Ezra does not want to just ignore what happened. Unlike the typical popular jock character that has been overdone in so many novels before this one, Ezra is not a cocky guy that has a change of heart. He is kind, thoughtful, observant and modest. He cannot get over the fact that all of his friends did not visit him in the hospital and seemed to care very little about his accident, so he goes out of his way to get some space from them, even if that means being alone. Despite drifting apart in elementary school, Ezra’s former friend Toby sits down next to him on the first day of school and pulls him into his own life. Ezra gets to know Toby’s friends including Luke, the leader; Phoebe, the journalist; and Cassidy, the mysterious new student. He finds himself getting more involved at school and learning more about himself, while at the same falling in love with and trying to get to know the cryptic Cassidy. This book is beautiful, clever and hopeful, and it is just the book to read while sitting under a tree and enjoying your free time this summer.

If you read all the way to the end of this list, I thank you. I hope you check out at least one of these books — for a book lover such as myself, let me tell you that for me to pick just seven to put on this list, they really are the best of the best. You can find them in bookstores or online, as most of them have come out fairly recently, though you might be able to get ahold of your local librarian for some assistance. Happy reading!