The Summer Reading List
I would groan every summer as the Fairfield Public School System handed out their summer reading lists. I was always a good reader, but forcing me to read? On my vacation? That was some authoritarian bullshit that I wouldn't stand for. I understood the idea behind the summer reading lists in theory, but in practice, as someone who already planned on reading throughout the summer - albeit books I'd selected - it rubbed me the wrong way. Keep your Shakespeares, your Steinbecks, your Joyces. I was going to dive into my science fiction, legal thrillers, and biographies of famous comedians and no piece of paper handed out by an oppressive regime hellbent on controlling how I enjoyed my summer would stop me.
Except that I'd usually freak out just before school started and read a few of their selections just in case they tested us on them once classes resumed. I was then as I am now: a rule abider.
Considering all of that, I realize how illogical it is for me to give you a summer reading list. But take it for what it is: a suggestion offered up at the end of the season. A list of books I've read since June that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Read one. Read all. Read none. (I promise, there will be no test.) But if you have thoughts on any of them, or have a few recommendations of your own, let me know in the comments section below.
NEVERWHERE Neil Gaiman
My obsession with societies hidden in overlooked corners continues with Gaiman's classic about the underside of London. Mysterious, haunting, and filled to the brim with top-notch descriptions and splashes of pure fantasy. Gaiman's skill at creating multi-layered characters that have no right existing (in reality or the mind) is on full display throughout the novel, and their motivations will keep you reading through the end.
PIRANESI Susanna Clarke
A man trapped inside an infinite house with an ocean in the middle of it? I'm game. It was ambiguous, metaphysical, and filled with beautiful imagery. This was such a strange and wonderful book that, truly, it's just something you need to read rather than have it explained to you.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE
Kurt Vonnegut
I've been trying to check a few classics off my list, and Vonnegut's masterpiece final came up. At face value, it's a sci-fi retelling of the bombing of Dresden during World War II and the effects it had on those who witnessed it. But on deeper interpretation, it's perhaps (one of) the first novel to explore post-traumatic stress disorder and how those afflicted with it deal with the ramifications of what they've gone through.
THE BOMBER MAFIA Malcolm Gladwell
How do we approach war? And how do the ends justify the means? Gladwell explores these questions along with an in-depth exploration into the history of the development of American military aircraft bombing techniques in this thought-provoking title. I'd recommend the audiobook as it features clips from real-life people that help to color this fantastic snapshot from history.
EMPIRE OF PAIN
Patrick Radden Keefe
The opioid crisis can be traced back to one single family, and Patrick Radden Keefe does a truly exceptional job at showing their rise, their evils, and their eventual downfall. It's heartbreaking in its revelations and shows how greed can be a truly devastating quality with ramifications that go beyond imagination.
PROJECT HAIL MARY Andy Weir
One could consider this "The Martian, Part II" - a man, lost in space, facing insurmountable odds, who must rely on his scientific knowledge to work his way through it. But it's such a fun and thought-provoking novel that you can't help but be thoroughly entertained.
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL Anthony Bourdain
I'm never ordering the mussels. Bourdain's look inside the commercial kitchens across America (and the world) is hilarious, insightful, and brutal. I've always enjoyed Bourdain's television series but put off reading this book for fear that it would be filled with recipes and knife techniques. It's not. Not even close.
BLOOD MERIDIAN
Cormac McCarthy
This novel isn't for everyone. In fact, one could argue it's not for most people. But if you can get past the raw brutality, you'll find some of the most beautiful prose ever committed to paper. The novel is both stark and colorful, direct and meandering. Some call it a contender for the Great American Novel. It may be that. It may be less. But it's a languid snapshot of a by-gone era filled with the evils of man that only McCarthy can capture.
THE GUEST LIST
Lucy Foley
This was my palate cleanser from Blood Meridian. A summer beach read in every sense of the word. Part character study, part whodunnit. A fun and quick murder mystery filled with characters both beautiful and despicable.
