May 25, 2026 by Daniela Fleming (‘26)
Hi everyone! Welcome back to Five Stars! The series where I… just kidding. Not this edition. Maybe next time, because I do have a few “Five-Stars” worthy books to recommend, and I’d love to return to where I began my Lightning Rod journey. We’re branching out today. And while I don’t love blindly recommending books that I don’t know if I even like at all, I figured I’d share a few books I intend to read this summer. They may be terrible, or a new favorite, but that’s the beauty of reading. Just because I don’t love it doesn’t mean you can’t! Without further ado, here are a few of my to-be-read books in the coming months (although fair warning, none of them are very light and summery at all).
Source: amazon.com
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke – A popular tradwife influencer wakes up one day to find that she has been transported to the past, and the lifestyle she’s been preaching is more like a nightmare than the dream she’s been expecting.
I saw someone lauding this book on social media, and I do love creative ideas. It seems dark, fresh, and relevant to debates that have been circulating online recently. It was published this year and already has almost 200,000 ratings on Goodreads alone.
Source: amazon.com
Recursion by Blake Crouch – Some affliction has been causing people to go mad suddenly; by planting false memories of a life they’ve never lived in their minds. Somehow, this disease is also changing the very fabric of the past. The protagonist teams up with a brilliant neuroscientist to try and defeat their powerful opponent.
I’ve read Blake Crouch books before, like Dark Matter, and anything creatively sci-fi immediately intrigues me; it’s a genre that I can never get enough of. I find that what’s been most popular recently is romance and fantasy, but in my opinion, sci-fi done right is even better and completely underrated. I have high hopes for this one.
Source: amazon.com
The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier – The Beacon Hill Butcher was a gruesome serial killer that terrorized Seattle until he was killed by the police. Years later, that same police chief gives his house to his son, as he is too old to manage it anymore. While exploring the property, he discovers a locked crate; inside a dark secret that upends what he thought he knew about his life and family. Should he come forward, or should he leave the past in the past?
I came across this title on a list of “advanced” thrillers. Just like with romance, dystopian, or any genre, reading too much of one thing all at once leaves the books feeling bland. The same tropes and twists are overused, and it sucks when you get bored of a genre that used to be fun. Thrillers are no exception to this, and when I heard that this book was unique, twisty, and gruesome in a way that would shock even avid thriller fans, I knew it was going on my list.
Source: amazon.com
The Last Party by A. R. Torre – In an idyllic, affluent community, a mother lives happily with her husband and daughter. However, she has a secret. She’s grown obsessed with a crime that occurred decades ago: a man confessed to murdering two young girls yet never was condemned. She’s not the only one who remembers – a doctoral student is also bent on getting the killer to open up about the truths surrounding that night so many years ago. But all isn’t as it seems, and the past and present begin to overlap in unexpected, dark ways.
Need I say more? This book has been on my list for a while, and the only reason I haven’t read it already is because I haven’t been able to find it on the library system that I use. If I can ever manage to track this book down, I will be sat.
So, if you want to twin with me this summer, read one of these books, and let me know what you think! You and I will be the only ones reading about murder on the beach instead of a vibey, light summer romance. I love that for us!
And remember, take these not-really-recommendations with a grain of salt. I’m a tough grader and very few books are worthy of a Five-Stars appearance. These books have yet to earn any praise from me. Speaking of which, look out for a new Five Stars entry soon – I fear I’ve been slacking.
Happy reading, and happy spring!