What would the Sex and the City gals be reading this summer?

When it comes to Sex and the City, are you a Carrie or a Samantha? Perhaps the more important question is, what would Carrie or Samantha be reading?

I’ve never been a Sex and the City mega-fan, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t watched and enjoyed the entire series. And with the contentious Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That, currently hitting our screens, I couldn’t help but wonder (lol) … which books would the gals be reading over the summer break?

Now, I know that it’s currently the middle of winter in NYC right now so you’ll have to indulge me, but I took a little peek at our Summer Reading Guide for some inspiration. Here are the books I think Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha would be checking out …

Carrie

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

In my mind, there’s a future plotline where one of Carrie’s books gets picked up by Reese Witherspoon’s book club (a move perhaps wrangled by Ms. Samantha Jones, publicist extraordinaire). This book, a 2021 Reese’s pick described as ‘magnificent literary debut about the myriad loves that make up a life’, seems made for Carrie.

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Before anyone else is awake, on a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the glorious fresh water pond below ‘The Paper Palace’ – the gently decaying summer camp in the back woods of Cape Cod where her family has spent every summer for generations. So begins a story that unfolds over 24 hours and across 50 years, as Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her much-loved husband, Peter, and the life she imagined would be hers with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives.

Buy it here

Charlotte

The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgerton: Book 2) by Julia Quinn

Like in the notorious season 1 episode in which a certain magical toy turns her into a recluse, I can absolutely see Charlotte York being swept away by both the Bridgerton Netflix series and book series by Julia Quinn. And with Netflix gearing up for season two, this book would definitely be Charlotte’s pick.

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This time the gossip columnists have it wrong. London’s most elusive bachelor Anthony Bridgerton hasn’t just decided to marry — he’s even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended’s older sister, Kate Sheffield — the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate’s the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams …

Buy it here

Miranda

Wahala by Nikki May

In And Just Like That, we see Miranda heading back to school to retrain as a human rights lawyer and learning a lot more about her power and privilege as a white woman in America. Described as ‘a multi-cultural Sex and the City with a killer edge’, Wahala seems like the kind of thing Miranda would be into as someone trying to diversify her literary horizons. (It also just sounds very cool.)

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Ronke, Simi and Boo are inseparable mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English, though not all of them choose to see it that way. Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them …

Buy it here

Samantha

This Day (365 Days: Book 2) by Blanka Lipińska

Having a sexual escapade with a Mafia Don while on holidays in Sicily sounds extreme to most of us, but it’d probably be par for the course for the brazenly bold Samantha Jones. Which is why I think she’d love the 365 Days erotic romance series by Blanka Lipinska, especially the just-released sequel, This Day.

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When Laura was abducted by the powerful Mafia Don Massimo Torricelli, she never dreamed that she’d embark on a passionate affair with her menacing, seductive captor – much less fall in love with him. Now her new life in Sicily seems picture-perfect, with a grand wedding, a devoted and devastatingly handsome husband, a baby on the way, and all the sumptuous glamour – servants, ritzy cars, seaside palazzos – she could ever desire. But there are cracks in this fairytale façade of luxe domestic bliss.

Buy it here

Bonus round: Big

(Sorry.)

—Sex and the City and And Just Like That are streaming now on Binge.

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About the Contributor

Olivia Fricot

Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.

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