by Salve Villarosa

May is coming to an end yet it’s still sweltering hot! Good thing we got books that bring can bring us to other places. Let’s continue our Summer 2015 Reading List! (Read Part 1 here.)

6. Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

For those of you who are melting in this Philippine weather, Ice will take you on a blissfully cold journey to Alaska and Canada. It’s a retelling of the Norse fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which is quite a similar story to Beauty and the Beast, except instead of a beast, it’s a polar bear, and instead of France, you get the chilling Arctic tundra.

Sarah Beth Durst does a beautiful job painting the picture of the lands way above the equator, and for someone who has yet to experience winter, I read her book with a sense of wonder and awe. So the next time you come home from running an errand, drenched in sweat, and swearing you’ll never leave the house until the rainy season, just make yourself a bowl of ice cream, curl up in bed, and play pretend with Durst’s Ice.

Pro tip: While I only included three books in this category, there’s a whole other genre out there that can get you into the wanderlust mood: historical fiction. Reading about ancient Egypt, medieval France, or pre-war England takes you to another place and another time. Personally, if I’m travelling to another country, I like bringing along a book that’s set there, just for an added cultural bonus.

Let’s face it, not all of us are spending summer gallivanting around the globe or napping poolside. A lot of people my age are spending their summers in summer classes or working as interns or fully-fledged employees. The foray into the professional or collegiate world is an adventure all on its own, however, and you can take a few of these books along with you for the ride.

7.  The Ivy by Lauren Kunze with Rina Onur

If you’re an incoming college freshmen or a hardened upperclassman struggling through the summer semester, you can find solace in this entertaining, irreverent read about life at Harvard. The plot itself is fictional, although the two authors are Harvard alums themselves, so expect to find grains of truth in the novel. Even if you’re not off to an Ivy League yourself (and let’s face it, how many of us have that in the cards), this book is still wholly relatable. #Dormlife, anyone?

8. Conversion by Katharine Howe

If you’re absolutely dreading the thought of sitting in a classroom all summer long, just look on the bright side: at least your school isn’t suffering from an outbreak of mass hysteria that eerily resembles the Salem Witch Trials.

Conversion juggles two points-of-view at the same time: the modern-day mystery surrounding prep school girls and the actual Salem Witch Trials way back in the 1700s. It’s a great excuse to use the next time your parents snatch a book out of your hands and demand that you focus on your studies: “Moooom, I was learning history. Do you know the names of all the accused during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials? That’s what I thought. Can I have my book back now?”

9. Southern Charm by Tinsley Mortimer

For those of you fresh grads struggling to go from “funemployed” to, you know, officially employed, take a moment to live vicariously through Southern Charm. It’s “Legally Blonde”-meets-“The Devil Wears Prada”, and takes you through the world of public relations and marketing. By the end of the novel, you’ll be all the more inspired to get off your butt and send out those job applications, because you’d want your own cubicle, monster boss, and paycheck (hot love interest not mandatory).

Pro tip: Use the reward system: for every paper you finish, every resume you send out, #treatyoself to a TV show binge, a pig-out session, or a reading marathon.

What are your plans for the summer? And what books are you reading? If you already have your own list prepared, along with all your summer activities, let us know in the comments! ☁