I spent a glorious week in Wiltshire last week, the sun shone pretty nearly constantly, the sky was an almost insane blue and the hawks were swirling lazily in the air above me.

Coming back to home and work was like the most unceremonious dumping I have felt. Coming back to the 21st Century was even worse, because for a week I had lived in 14th century England, been to Agincourt and back with the longbowmen, watched as field hands tossed hay into hayricks and then baled them, experienced the end of World War II again and again and again, and finally found myself nodding in agreement as an applied historian (who knew?) admonished all the history fans in the great, big tent to read science fiction as well as all the history books they could find time to.

We were at Chalke Valley History Festival, which was brilliant for History nerds and not bad for many other nerds as well. Just Peter and me, from Monday to Sunday. We booked talks by interesting people and… but I need to write you another whole post on the festival. It’s really good, but too much to just slide in at the top of a post ostensibly about my summer TBR pile. I only mention it because a couple of my choices have been inspired/driven by the festival. I wonder if you can tell which ones?

And so, without further ado, here is my Summer Reading List 2025:

• The Swift and The Harrier by Minette Walters. I don’t think I’ve read any Minette Walters for years, although I remember being very struck by The Ice House. We went to watch her last week at Chalke Valley. She was speaking about her new novel, which deals with the Hanging Assizes following the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, but it follows on from this book, so it makes more sense for me to read The Swift and The Harrier before moving on to The Players. It’s about a female physician, and is described as “a sweeping tale of adventure and loss, sacrifice and love, with a unique and unforgettable heroine at its heart.” We’ll see.
• Cloistered by Catherine Coldstream. I saw Catherine speak, along with Mark Vernon and Martin Shaw, on a panel about Christianity: The Return of the Myth. She was a nun in a silent order for twelve years, but left eventually, and Cloistered is the account of her time there. I think we’re all seeking deeper lives at the moment, and convent life holds an eternity of experience in combining inner sanctity with outer grace.
• The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall. This was a Richard and Judy bookclub choice. I have no idea what it will be like, but I was intrigued by the idea of a Book of Summers. These record the seven years Beth spent in Hungary, ” It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries; her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was a time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen. Since then, Beth hasn’t allowed herself to think about those years of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back into the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever.” Intriguing, like I said.
• Precipice by Robert Harris. A fictional book, but based on actual events and characters, this one is a salutory lesson that politicians from every age have scandals. This one is that H H Asquith, when he was Prime Minister during World War I, was having a… flirtation? Infatuation? Affair? Whatever, he was sending her confidential papers, writing her letters in Cabinet meetings and altogether not behaving as one would wish him to. Robert Harris is a good writer, and this one does not disappoint. I have this on Audible, and Samuel West narrates, excellently.
• The Lamplighter’s Bookshop by Sophie Austin. I finished this sipping cider in Wiltshire last week. It was a lovely romance, set in Victorian York and with a bookshop as the main locus. Nothing controversial, nothing bloodthirsty, just pure Victorian escapism and romance between…. ah, but that would be telling? Choc-Lit, but in fine bone china teacups rather than a mug.
• Victory 45 by Al Murray and James Holland. Both were at Chalke Valley History Festival last week, and we listened to them talking about the book. It’s subtitled ‘The End of the War in Eight Surrenders’ and is, indeed, about eight significant surrenders that finished World War II. I have the audiobook, and Al Murray narrates it in a voice that is rather softer and a lot easier than his Pub Landlord alterego. It wasn’t a heavy or depressing history book, although it was very emotional to read. The chapter on the surrender at the forced labour camp was harrowing. I’m halfway through, so the war hasn’t quite finished yet.

And there we have it. Six books for six weeks of summer. I’m starting (I hope) to train as a Church of England Lay Reader in September, so this may be my last free summer of reading purely for fun. I’m expecting a Worthy Reading List on Old and New Testament, Church procedures and Theology which I will enjoy, but hardly works as hygge reading for the majority, does it? We’ll see. I daresay when Theology gets too much a good romance or decent murder mystery might act as a palate cleanser.

I have another couple of weekends away ahead, which I’ll tell you about at a later date. We’re finally seeing the benefit of adult children: you just book a break, and leave them as housesitters for little more than the price of a cake or packet of fudge. Slave labour of the best sort.

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

My Christmas books are always available: Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is a good place to start, on how to make the season cosier, happier but Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas may be a faster and more seasonally appropriate read.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of summer 2025.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is by Sergey Shmidt on Unsplash. I loved the sun, the yellow flowers and the hint of summer in the meadow.