A Hot Summer Reading List

Here’s the truth: I’m a bad reader. I like to move my hands and doodle and dance, so sitting still and reading a book is not something that comes naturally to me. Even on long train rides or car trips, I’m the kind of person who will happily listen to music and stare out the window at the beautiful scenery, daydreaming. It just takes me awhile to get into books.

Still, I read a lot as a kid (and I credit my parents, particularly my mother, for nurturing that love, ty!), and I love the feeling of being totally immersed in a story. Some of my favorite memories of summer as a kid were going to the library, getting the latest Redwall book, and not being able to put it down until I finished it that same day. 🤓

Lately I’ve been inspired by a number of women on Instagram who are smart and witty and guess what? They’re always reading! It’s admirable, and something I’d like to get better at — particularly because there’s a lot of topics (like feminism or art) that I’m not very good at talking about because I don’t read enough about them.

For the summer, I’ve chosen a mix of fun, classic, and educational books I’ve been wanting to read all year but couldn’t get in Austria. I will be pleased if I make it through half of them (low expectations = happier me). The more you read, the more you know! 😉

1. Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer

You know how much I loved the hilarious and heartwarming Netflix show Grace and Frankie (starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda), which is all about female friendship. I’ve only heard good things about this book and can’t wait to check it out. A short excerpt from the intro:

“For the most part, I saw other women as either enemies or superfluous. My vision of female friendship was fueled by popular girl-fight television shows and movies like Ally McBeal and Mean Girls. I also worked in a male-dominated office, where, as in high school, I saw the men as the stars. Women went to step classes, or worse, book clubs. The idea of leaning on them was as alien to me as hiring someone to do my laundry…. I wish I’d understood sooner what women can give each other. I look to my friends for the kind of support that comes from wanting only to be good to each other. The women I love are like a life raft I didn’t know I was looking for before I got on it” (5).

Female friendship. ❤ Enough said.

2. Your Art Will Save Your Life by Beth Pickens

Um yes, just yes, I’ve been dying to read this book. I have a ton of respect for Beth Pickens for the work she does supporting artists (and she actually answered a question of mine on Instagram – I freaked out). Can’t wait to read this book, which I have the feeling will be inspiring, nurturing, and build on things I learned in The Artists’s Way.

3. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This is my more “serious” read, and we’ll see if I actually slog through this Russian classic, cuz I found The Brothers Karamazov fairly difficult (and boring for 75% of it, I’m sorry). Of course, that could have been because I was reading the version translated by Constance Garnett. I found The Idiot on Librivox, so maybe I’ll knock out some of the 30-some hour recording on my flight home.

4. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

I keep hearing this novel mentioned and am drawn to the vibrant purple-blue cover. It’s a fictional story about two refugees, and I don’t know much more about it, so of course I’m curious to see if it will live up to the hype.

5. Die Eismacher by Ernest Van Der Kwast

This is a story about gelato, my one true love. Originally in Dutch (and I am reading it in German), I found this at the local bookstore and thought it sounded interesting. (BTW it’s very hard to browse books in a foreign language, so I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. With gelato on the cover, I figured it was a safe bet.) So far I’ve learned a lot about the history of ice cream. Yum.

6. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown

I have yet to read anything by Brene Brown, but I’ve watched her TED talks and so admire what she says about courage and vulnerability and community. All things that are super important to me.

7. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body by Susan Bordo

Okay this is more like a college textbook, so just to level with you: I will probably skim it. But since body image / body / women and food are topics that are personally interesting to me, I want to learn more about feminist thought on these topics. I’m also really curious about Fat Shame by Amy Erdman Farrell but realistically, I don’t think I’ll make it through both books.

8. Am I There Yet?: The Loop-de-loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood by Mari Andrew

Do you follow Mari Andrew’s illustrations on instagram? If not, you should. They’re delightfully vulnerable, quirky, witty, and insightful. I can’t wait to read her book, which is not just full of illustrations but also essays on becoming an adult, dating, and life in your 20s. I identify a lot.

9. Wild by Cheryl Strayed 

How have I not read this book yet? I loved Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert and you know I’ve been into hiking, so I’m sure I’ll love Wild. Basically give me any book about a woman embarking on a solo, self-discovery trip, and I will devour it.

 

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading this summer?

xo,

Sarah