Now that Memorial Day has come and gone, I feel even more like starting to think about summer reading. For me, summer reading means sitting outside, often with an adult beverage of some kind, with books where the pages turn easily and quickly. My limited patience for reading slow books all but disappears when the weather gets nice.
I was going to skip writing up a summer reading list, but then Heather (Capricious Reader) wrote a thing that is basically me exactly:
Is it just me, or is it fun making lists you know you PROBABLY won’t stick to? I do this all the time, I love doing this, and I hardly ever do what I intended. At least in the last 10 years of blogging I’ve learned to not feel guilty about it. Because who the heck has time for that? Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Substitute in “seven years” for “10 years” and you’ve got me exactly. So in the spirit of making reading lists and then completely ignoring them, here are some of the books I’m hoping to read this summer:
- Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen — My sister loves Sarah Dessen and said this book, Dessen’s newest, might be her favorite. I’m game to give it a try.
- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante — I can’t remember how I heard about this one, but I bought it as a book in translation to read and am excited about it because it has frenemies (or not, depending on what you think of that word).
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison — Some of the folks at Book Riot are doing a Toni Morrison reading group in June, so I’ve got this queued up.
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen — I’ve been planning to read this one for at least two years. I will get to it this summer! Unless I don’t… that’s ok too.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee — All the buzz about Harper Lee’s “new” novel coming out in July has me itching to revisit this one.
- The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman — Victorian lady boxers! Yep, that’s perfect for the summer.
- H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald — I’ve heard nothing but great things about this memoir about death and falconry. It might be too heavy for summer, we’ll see.
- This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett — I’ve meant to read this essay collection forever. Essays can be nice on warm, lazy afternoons.
- Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury — This is one I picked out to read ahead of my trip to London this fall, a look at World War II through the story of George V’s sons.
- How to Bake Pi by Eugenia Cheng — The subtitle of this one says it all: “An edible exploration of the mathematics of mathematics.”
So there you have it, 10 books that I’m hoping I’ll make the time to read this summer. But if I don’t, that’s ok too — I anticipate a wonderful summer anyway. What books are you hoping to read this summer?
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Victorian lady boxers!!! It’s just so much fun to say, isn’t it?
Great list! Hope you get to it! Or not. lol
It is! I think I’m going to start that one this weekend.
I love lists. I make lists more than I check things off of lists, and yet I’ve managed to not wallow in the guilt of that. 🙂
Down with guilt! Up with lists!
My Brilliant Friend is a wonderful portrait of a complex friendship and great summer reading. If you get into it you might end up devouring the sequels too. I think H Is for Hawk is also a good choice with its insights into the natural world. Happy reading!
I didn’t know there were sequels? Or maybe I did? Either way, yay — I love falling into a trilogy/series unexpectedly. H is for Hawk might be really fun up at the cabin, lots of trees and birds and that sort of thing.
I had not heard of “How to Bake Pi”. So thanks to you, it is now on my summer list. I am also looking forward to Yanagihara’s “A Little Life”. It sounds a bit weighty, but I’ve heard so many good things.
How to Bake Pi just came out earlier this month, but I haven’t heard much about it either. I’ve heard lots of good things about A Little Life as well, but can’t quite bring myself to tackle it 🙂
I am now very curious about How to Bake Pi! I’m hoping to get to H is for Hawk as well. Happy reading!
How to Bake Pi! I need to read that!
Can’t go wrong with Pride & Prejudice or To Kill a Mockingbird. I read TKAM for the first time during the summer. I distinctly remember sitting in a lawn chair in the sun, not able to put the book down during the trial scene. Such a great book!
I read it in high school and didn’t love it. I’ve been meaning to revisit it ever since — I think the class and teacher really spoiled the experience of what is generally a well-loved book. The new book is just the push I needed.
How to Bake Pi looks interesting. This is The Story of a Happy Marriage is on my to-read list, too. I love this idea of making lists and then completely ignoring them. Guiltless list-making! Now I want to make some lists too.
I used to feel bad about making lists and ignoring them. And then I decided that was dumb and I should enjoy the anticipation of making the lists and forget feeling bad about my poor execution 🙂
You’ve got an interesting mix. Start with P&P. you cant go wrong with Jane Austen!
I really loved Saint Anything! It may be my favorite Dessen book as well.
Jenny said it was definitely one of her favorites. That makes me excited to read it!
Great list! I really need to read To Kill a Mockingbird, and Sarah Dressen’s book intrigues me.
My podcasting partner adores Sarah Desson, so I expect to be ordered to read Saint Anything pretty soon. I don’t have any specific reading plans for this summer, just a lot of awesome comics and nonfiction queued up. I am planning a mighty comics read for this summer.
I would love to see all the comics and nonfiction on your summer reading list!
I don’t normally make such lists but everyone doing them makes me want to plan out my summer reading too. It helps build anticipation, right? You have a great list. I suspect To Kill a Mockingbird is going to be a very popular book this summer.
That’s mostly the fun in it, anticipating great books to read. I know I’ll go “off list” but I don’t really care 🙂
Nice list! I’m thinking about rereading TKAM because I’ll probably end up reading it with my daughter next year. The Bluest Eye is such a devastating read, yet so thoughtful. Happy reading.
ACK why didn’t I think to put My Brilliant Friend on the list of millions of books I’ll in no way finish this summer?? That would be so perfect?
Have you read The Bluest Eye before?
I read Morrison in college… but I can’t remember which one? I think Sula, not The Bluest Eye? Maybe? I guess I’ll find out when I pick it up 🙂
I also want to reread To Kill a Mockingbird before her “new” one comes out. H Is for Hawk also intrigues me. You’ll love the Patchett book. Enjoy