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My “Hot Girl Reading List” TBR

Friends, we’re almost there! That’s right: it’s almost time for The Fourth Annual Official Hot Girl Summer!! Now, if you’ve somehow been living under a rock and thus are a little clueless as to what “Hot Girl Summer,” is, let me help fill you in. “Hot Girl Summer” is just a summertime of maximizing you…er…hot…girl…ness… Which may leave you wondering what exactly a “Hot Girl” is. Don’t worry, though, friends! Dictionary.com has you covered with a meme definition!*

Liv[ing] your best life! Hot girl summer is a meme, originating with rapper Megan Thee Stallion, about feeling confident in who you are—and having fun and looking good while doing it.

Dictionary.com

* SIDENOTE: I didn’t even know that Dictionary.com now has a section dedicated to explaining memes, but apparently it does?

Now, to me, being a “hot girl” means being the fiercest version of you for you. Obviously, that can mean many different things to different people, but to me that means loving myself and being a confident, empowered woman who recognizes the power in her womanhood. And, of course, that involves reading some A+ “hot girl literature”! So let’s take a look at my “Hot Girl TBR”!

daisy jones & the six by taylor jenkins reid

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: I’ll admit it: I’ve already read 50% of this book, so I’m taking what I’ve read into consideration. That being said, this book is definitely a book for hot girls. Its central themes are very much about women, and the power in the unique strengths of each individual woman.

Why I Think I’ll Like It: As I mentioned previously, I’m already partially through Daisy Jones & The Six, so I already know that I enjoy what I’ve read. Plus I loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so I find it unlikely that I’ll ultimately end up hating Daisy Jones.

gone girl by gillian flynn

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: Personally, I think that the first stage of becoming a certified Hot Girl is going through a “Villain Era,” which is a period of time where you decide to be unapolagectic about putting yourself first. And what’s more “Villain Era” than the OG female villain in popular literature, Amy Dunn of Gone Girl. In fact, if I recall correctly, Gillian Flynn has actually discussed that a theme of her works is allowing women to be villains without villifying them more or less than a man would be villified in the same situation.

Why I Think I’ll Like It: What can I say—I’m a sucker for a good ol’ well-rounded, intricate, and complicated female villain! Plus I’ve really gotten into mysteries and thrillers of late, so I think this book will be a real home run for me.

beautiful world, where are you by sally rooney

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: What’s more “Hot Girl” than a book about life, love, and Marxism? Nothing, dear friends. In all seriousness, though, I’ve seen this book on so many “Hot Girl books” lists! So, naturally, I figured it’d be remiss of me to leave it off this my personal “Hot Girl books” list.

Why I Think I’ll Like It: I have a secret for you, dear friends, and it is that I, myself, could be considered a bit of a Marxist. So, of course, given Rooney’s well publicized Marxist beliefs, I’ve been pretty interested to see if/how she incorporates said beliefs into her works. I’m also kind of curious as to Rooney’s writing, as she’s such a popular author and I’ve seen so many people touting her books as “modern classics”.

the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: Every Hot Girl needs some hot romance in her life, whether it’s real life or fictional, and I hear The Love Hypotheis delivers just that! Besides, call me biased as a physicist-in-training, but women in STEM like the main character are required to have certifiable Hot Girl levels of empowerment to make it in our chosen fields!

Why I Think I’ll Like It: As mentionied previously, I, like the main character, am a woman in STEM, plus I’ve been craving a good romance novel, so I was inevitably drawn to this rumored-to-be sizzling love story starrring two scientists!

the invisible life of addie larue by v.e. schwab

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: Apparently there’s an overlap between Hot Girl books and Sad Girl books? Well, this book is as sad as I’m willing to go! What can I say, I’m an Enneagram Type Seven and we do not like wallowing in sadness.

Why I Think I’ll Like It: Okay, admittedly I’ve already read about 25% of this book and have seriously enjoyed it so far. I love the themes of loss, loneliness, and legacy and Schwab’s evocative writing. If I’m being honest, so far the book is just pure vibes, but I won’t lie, I’m eating it all up anyway!

they never learn by layne fargo

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: In a similar vein to Gone Girl, this book also focuses partially on a “female villain protagonist,” in this case a university professor who murders male faculty who’ve raped or sexually assaulted people. And feminist vigilante justice? Now that’s real Hot Girl shit, lol!

Why I Think I’ll Like It: As I mentioned above, I love female antagonists, plus this book is supposedly dark academia, which is an aesthetic I’m a big fan of! Plus I’ve only ever heard rave reviews of They Never Learn, so I’m hoping I’ll love it too.

great goddesses by nikita gill

Why It’s A “Hot Girl” Book: Great Goddesses is a collection of poetry by Nikita Gill that focuses on feminism through the lense of mythology. And we all know that there’s no greater Hot Girl than a literal goddess.

Why I Think I’ll Like It: I’ve been a major fan of Gill’s poetry for literal years now, so I’m super excited to read more of her works which are focused on goddesses and feminism! She typically focuses very much on themes of female empowerment, healing, and self love and I feel like that’s exactly what I need at the mmoment.

That’s all for today, dear friends! I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe found a book or two to add to your own Hot Girl TBR! Happy Hot Girl Summer and happy reading! Until next time, dear friends…

spill the beans, friends!

  • What’s on your Hot Girl TBR?
  • What does being a Hot Girl mean to you?
  • What are your plans for Hot Girl Summer?

Learn more the author of this post:

Lila @ Hardcover Haven
Lila is a twenty-something physics student and lover of literature who's been book blogging for an eternity. Her hobbies include reading, singing, writing, arts and crafts, and snuggling her two cats, Snoopy and Clementine.

8 comments on “My “Hot Girl Reading List” TBR

  1. I feel like all books with strong and not necessarily “good” or “likeable” women are perfect for this list. Personally, those tend to be some of my favourite characters, I love fiction that doesn’t force women to be perfectly pure and devoid of any flaws. Similarly, the whole “good for her!” genre that Gone Girl falls under is so good! I recently read Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard which is like a YA crossover between “good for her!” and “be gay, do crime” and I loved it so much! It’s about two teenagers faking their deaths to get away from their families and start a new life…things go wrong and a lot of crime happens. To me, that was definitely a hot girl book!

  2. Addie LaRue was a book that seriously haunted me for a couple days. I hope you enjoy it!

    Another suggestion for your list, if you haven’t already read it: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!

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