Some Books I've Liked & You Might Too: A Summer Reading List
With long spreads of time this summer to curl up under a tree (pro-tip: do not lean against sap covered trees, your shirts will thank me) or on the beach or stowed away in air-conditioned rooms, I've been crossing many, many books off my reading list. Mainly spurned by my inability to find a binge-worthy show (rip Suits marathon), I've branched off into the wireless pleasure of a paperback book and the sweet crinkle of turning pages. Here are some things I've read and highly recommend (as well as the remainder of my current list, to soon be followed up with some thoughts in the near future).
the bell jar -
sylvia plath
A classic tale of protagonist Esther's struggle with depression, her trips to psychiatric wards, and an all around good view of the past's treatment of the mentally ill. I breezed through this in a couple of days, encapsulated by the connection to much of Esther's struggles - trapped under the suffocating glass hood of a bell jar, as if a specimen on display.
the handmaid's tale -
margaret atwood
Despite it's debut as a Hulu series (definitely worth watching for the cinematic beauty), the paper version fills you with a lot of the mental processes and thoughts of Offred. The series deviates slightly, with much more drama and exaggerations, though that seems necessarily due to the shortness of time in the written version. The book provides a dystopian extension of many of the current debates surrounding womanhood and femininity, chronicling the consequences of decreased fertility and objectification of women as reproductive vessels. It is beautifully written and will keep you turning the pages long into the night.
dress your family in corduroy and denim -
david sedaris
This collection of essays by David Sedaris details his life and his family and struggles to find himself in our judgmental and criticizing world. Sedaris's sarcastic and cynical humor is utterly relatable and left me laughing with each essay. Filled with humor and loaded with reality, it is a quick and all around enjoyable read.
the female thing: dirt, envy, sex, vulnerability -
laura kipnis
This work of non-fiction details much of the feminist crusades and fights for equality in a very humorous lens. Kipnis's own comments are witty and cynical and explains much of the statistics surrounding this area of the fight for rights and divides between genders. It's easy to stop and pick up here and there and has filled me with a lot of perspective.
island -
aldous huxley
Despite being currently in the midst of this one, it has quickly become one of my favorite books. I recommend reading it not for the plot (as there is not much on that front, it is written as long dialogues from the village people as experienced through the eyes of our protagonist, Will) but more for the philosophy that Huxley presents. As his final book, his famed utopian/dystopian past novels are transformed into what can be argued as his vision of a true utopian society. Mixing Eastern philosophy and Western technology, the island of Pala is described as one of true happiness and spiritual and mental wellness.
The Remainder of the List:
Featuring classics I found laying around my house and promptly placed in my suitcase to be reread, $5 Barnes and Noble Classics, and random odds and ends that landed on my shelf from used bookstores. Hopefully to inspire your reading lists as well, but mainly to hold myself accountable to this reading binge.
- 1984 - George Orwell
- Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip Dick
- A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
- Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
- Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
- Candide - Voltaire
- The Beautiful and Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
- The Big Girls - Susanna Moore
- The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto - Mario Vargas Llosa
Let us know of any of your ~summer reading favorites~ (or binge-worthy shows, because sometimes I just want to eat veggie straws and lay down with Netflix)!
Featured image via.
