2025 Summer Book Recommendations June 11, 2025 – Posted in: Book Club, Book Recs, Uncategorised – Tags: Fiction, Recommendations, Summer
From Mawenzi House Publishers to our devoted readers, summer has officially started! This summer we want to shine some sunlight on our fiction titles. From teenagers attempting to destroy Shakespeare’s manuscripts, to small Indian Muslim communities torn apart by archaic social customs, embark on a journey with these six books.
1. The Blessed Curse by Sarmad Sehbai
We start our summer reading list with a dark comedy about searching for a male aphrodisiac. A group of powerful men fearing male impotence embark on a bizarre journey to find the ultimate aphrodisiac. The Blessed Curse is a savage satire, blending the real and unreal, and is also an exposé into Pakistan’s corruption. If you are searching for a quirky, but informative read, this book is for you.
2. Killing Shakespeare by Koom Kankesan
Let’s travel back in history with students to the days of Shakespeare… to burn his manuscripts? Tired of learning Shakespeare, Isabel, Suresh, and Nathan, three high school students time travel back in time to destroy all of Shakespeare’s works only to face larger problems, like Francis Drake, John Dee, Walter Raleigh, Shakespeare… and their lost time machine. The latter is the least of their worries.
3. Keepers of the Faith by Shaukat Ajmeri
Keepers of the Faith is set within a small Muslim sect of India, ruled by an avaricious priesthood that demands absolute submission while enforcing archaic social customs. When a section of the community rebels, it is summarily excommunicated. Shunned by friends and family and denied religious rites, the peaceful community is split into two.
4. Maame (Mother) by Elizabeth Allua Vaah
Maame is a collection of short stories showcasing women’s lives in a small Ghanaian community. The women’s lives are in flux as they exist in the real and supernatural.
Before every girl becomes a woman, there is a small window where girls learn how to succeed as a mother, but what is success, and what happens when these girls have had enough?
5. Arrival of the Snake-Woman and Other Short Stories by Olive Senior
Another book to add to your short story collection is Arrival of the Snake-Woman by Olive Senior. Infused with wit and humour, Senior still captures the tensions brought on by rapid change and conflicting loyalties in her writing. These short stories span over 150 years and are ripe with character exploration, human spirit, and complex discussions of race, class, and cultural and ethnic identity.
6. Spiritual Pursuits and Other Short Stories by Lien Chao
To finish off our list, we recommend Spiritual Pursuits. These short stories span decades from the 1980s to the 2020s. Each story examines a meeting place of people, the connections they share, and observations about their lives. These short stories offer an incredible look into Toronto’s diverse and friendly neighbourhood without you needing to travel all the way to the city.
That’s a wrap! We hope you enjoy these books as much as the journey they take you on. Happy page turning and may your book never meet an unfortunate end.