Other Summer Reading Picks Written by Regional Authors

Beach Read and Happy Place by Emily Henry

If you’re looking for quintessential beach reads, you won’t go wrong with any of Emily Henry’s romance books. Based in Greater Cincinnati, Henry is known for her witty, banter-filled dialogue and relatable characters, who are often found on adventures. A New York Times Best Seller, Henry has authored Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Happy Place and Book Lovers

If you’re packing for a beach vacation and want to get meta with your reading choice, Beach Read is for you — and you can read it ahead of the movie. In April, Deadline announced the book would be adapted by 20th Century Studios with director/screenwriter Yulin Kuang at the helm.

Adaptations of Henry’s The People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers are also in the works.

If you prefer the latest, Henry’s Happy Place was released just this May. Fans of the “pretend relationship” trope, take note: This one’s for you. Happy Place follows a broken-up couple who pretend to still be together during their annual vacation with their best friends, all of whom met in college and have traveled to the same cottage in Maine for years. This year also marks the group’s last in the now-for-sale cottage, hence the secrecy. Can they keep the facade up without fracturing the group’s, ahem, happy place?

The Speaking Stone: Stories Cemeteries

Tell by Michael Griffith

No matter if the weather is rainy, overcast or sunny, there’s nothing quite like a stroll in a cemetery. It’s a feeling Michael Griffith knows well. A professor of English at UC, his 2021 nonfiction novel The Speaking Stone is described as a “literary love letter to the joys of wandering graveyards.” Cincinnati has some beautiful graveyards perfect for strolling, the crown jewel being the expansive Spring Grove and Arboretum.

Established in 1845, and sprawling over 700 acres, Spring Grove is the third-largest cemetery in the U.S. Griffith took almost daily walks in the cemetery and followed up on whatever piqued his interest, which led to this collection of essays uncovering the histories behind any given headstone. Want to take more hot girl graveyard walks this summer? Let The Speaking Stone serve as inspiration.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

It’s Pride and Prejudice but set in modern-day Cincinnati. What more could a hopeless romantic Cincinnatian ask for? Sittenfeld’s 2016 novel was part of the Austen Project, a series that paired six contemporary authors with a Jane Austen classic. Read Eligible and then use it as an excuse to rewatch Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in the 2005 film adaptation –– as if you need a reason.

Lark Ascending by Silas House

Silas House is Kentucky’s current poet laureate, an honor that came on the heels of a big 2022: House was the recipient of the Duggins Prize, the largest award for an LGBTQ writer in the country, and named Appalachian of the Year. A dystopian tale of found family, Lark Ascending marks his seventh novel. Set in the near future, it sees America in flames (literally) and in the grip of religious nationalism.

The book –– winner of the 2023 Southern Book and Nautilus Book prizes –– follows Lark and his family as they attempt to escape America for Ireland, which may not be the safe haven he thought it’d be.

Bowlfuls of Blue by Alexandra McIntosh

What better time of year to ponder nature’s wonder than summer? Bowlfuls of Blue marks Kentucky native Alexandra McIntosh’s first collection of poems. In it, McIntosh weaves together meditations and reflections not only on core moments from her personal life but on nature itself, from the Kentucky and Ohio River Valley to the cosmos above.

The Parting Present by Manuel Iris Lo Que Se Irá, or The Parting Present, is a bilingual collection of poetry from Manuel Iris, a Mexican poet now residing in Cincinnati. The collection was the Readers’ Choice selection for the 2022 Ohioana Book Awards, the second oldest state literary prize in the nation. A recognition from Ohioana places Iris among some of the state’s most renowned writers, including the late, great Toni Morrison. Iris served as the poet laureate emeritus of Cincinnati from 2018-2020 and is the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s writer-in-residence.

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

Also recognized in the Ohioana Awards was Jasmine Warga for her middle grades book The Shape of Thunder, which tackles tough topics with grace. The book follows Cora and Quinn, best friends and next-door neighbors who haven’t spoken in a year; they’re both navigating grief in the aftermath of a school shooting. But when the pair come together to try to turn back time, they might just re-find friendship.

Though Warga now lives in Chicago, the author shouts out the Queen City in the bio on her website: “Like all other people from Cincinnati, I am inordinately proud of my little Midwestern city and think that Graeter’s black raspberry chip ice cream is the most delicious food in the whole world.” We agree, Jasmine!

I Always Carry My Bones by Felicia Zamora

Make your summer a Cincinnati-Ohioana triple threat with Felicia Zamora’s I Always Carry My Bones, another collection of poetry. Zamora is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for Colorado Review

Grave Things Like Love by Sara Bennett Wealer

Ready for summer to die and spooky season to take over? Get a dose of autumn (and, yes, Halloween) with the young adult novel Grave Things Like Love, which follows Elaine, a teenager who grew up in her family’s funeral home, as she navigates changing friendships, possible paranormal activity, post-highschool decisions and romance.

Cincinnati Scavenger by Kathryn Witt

Looking for staycation inspiration?

Let Cincinnati Scavenger serve as your guide. Published in 2022, this interactive book lays out 300 riddles spread across 19 of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods. A travel writer who grew up in the Queen City, Witt also penned Secret Cincinnati, which bills itself as a guide to the city’s weird, wonderful and obscure attractions.

Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel

Dayswork is set to be released by W.W. Norton at the tail-end of summer on Sept. 5, giving you just enough time to squeeze it in for end-of-season reading goals. Co-authored by two UC Creative Writing faculty members, Dayswork is set during the COVID-19 pandemic as a woman immerses herself in researching the life and work of Moby Dick author Herman Melville. As she increasingly loses herself in Melville’s world, her own life also faces a reckoning.

The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor lives in Arizona, but she was born in Cincinnati. The acclaimed sci-fi author has scored a host of accolades –– including multiple Hugo and Nebula recognitions –– for her works. Originally published in 2007, The Shadow Speaker is set in a Nigerian village in 2070, post-nuclear fallout. It’s the perfect time to revisit Okorafor’s book; an expanded, deluxe version with a new introduction is due this September, with a sequel set for December. Okorafor has written books for both children and adults, along with comics including Black Panther: Long Live the King

Sounds Like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman

Now a creative writing professor at Northern Kentucky University, Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman’s debut comingof-age memoir weaves the story of how she once became a fake violinist. Released in 2019, the novel was a finalist for that year’s National Book Critics Circle Award in Autobiography. It follows Hindman as she struggles to pay her college tuition, which leads her to accept a position in an ensemble –– an ensemble that plays with the microphones off. Instead, unbeknownst to audiences, music blasts from a CD player.

Met the End by Holly Brians Ragusa

Another memoir, Holly Brians Ragusa’s Met the End is a heavy read that blends personal history with public. Coined as a “true crime survival memoir,” Brians Ragusa explores the life and death of her father, John Powell, the first known victim of serial killer Donald Harvey. Self-published in late 2022, Met the End hails back to 1980s Cincinnati, when the case first unfolded. The memoir weaves through decades of time, research, news clippings and introspection. Met the End is just as much about the city itself as Brians Ragusa and her family grappling with tragedy.

The Bourbon King by Bob Batchelor

History and true crime buffs will appreciate Bob Batchelor’s deep dive into infamous bootlegger George Remus, who ran his operation out of Cincinnati. Remus served as the inspiration for F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s beloved classic The Great Gatsby, and readers can expect the same theatrics –– murder, booze, romance and heaps of cash –– laid bare in Batchelor’s prose.

The Strikeout Artist by Joseph Bates

Move over Joey Votto, enter… Franz Kafka? Published by BlazeVOX in 2022, Joseph Bates’ fictionalized tale imagines Bohemian writer Franz Kafka as a star pitcher for the New York Knights-Errant. Set in 1912, the story introduces readers (and Kafka) to the Knights-Errant as they face 61 straight losses in their 120-game season. Bates teaches creative writing at Miami University in Oxford.

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

The small-screen adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit enraptured viewers in the early days of the pandemic (and, certainly, was more esteemed than other pandemic viewing — looking at you, Tiger King). It’s a good time to revisit the series, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy as chess player extraordinaire Beth

Harmon. But this time around, pick up the 1983 novel it’s based on. Both the book and movie are partially set in Kentucky, where Harmon’s skills first shine. Tevis grew up in Kentucky, attended the University of Kentucky and later taught at multiple colleges around the region, including Northern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky and Ohio University.

Defenestrate by Renée Branum

Released in early 2022, Renée Branum’s debut novel is narrated by Marta who, along with her twin brother Nick, has long been fascinated with their family’s history of falling and defenestration, or the act of throwing someone (or something) out of a window. The term has a long history with the city of Prague, the origin of their family’s supposed “falling curse,” and where the twins move after a fight with their devout Catholic mother. Branum lives in Cincinnati and is currently pursuing a doctorate in fiction writing.

What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart

Need an adventure this summer? Step into the life of actor Charlie Outlaw, who takes a trip to an island to escape fame and nurse his wounds after a breakup.

Instead of peace and quiet, Charlie’s trip takes him deep into the jungle. What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw grapples with fame, public identity and what it means to play a hero –– both on screen and in real life. Stewart, who teaches at the University of Cincinnati, is also the author of Body of a Girl, The Myth of You and Me, Husband and Wife and The New Neighbor