5 Best Books To Read This Summer That Aren’t Beach Reads
… First installment of my weekly series Sunshine with A Slant: Inspiration and Introspection ….
Feeling slightly drowsy from a long day at the pool playing mermaids, I clutch my Lisa Frank tote bag full of books as my mom drives me to the library. It’s the very modern year of 1997. I enter the library and the rush of the AC plus the excitement of being around books gives me the chills. I make my way to the information desk to show the librarian my summer reading accomplishments. She stamps my summer reading program booklet as I beam with pride. I have earned the honor of spinning the prize wheel. I take a deep breath and pray in my head for a good one. I spin and land on a free In-N-Out Burger. Jackpot. I return my books and head to the children’s section to find more. This is the good life.
While I cannot completely replicate the joys of the library’s summer reading program, I can recommend some thought provoking and fun summer reads to add to your to be read lists. Consider this list a smorgasbord, with a little something for everyone. These books will also help you make office small talk which is the adult equivalent of the inevitable essay your 4th grade teacher assigned you. “What I Did On My Summer Vacation.”
Feel Good Book
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
This coming of age novel tells the story of Sam Hill, a child born with ocular albinism. Because of his red eyes, he is an outsider from birth. Most of the other children call him “devil boy” and keep their distance. With the help of his mother’s catholic faith and pharmacist father’s pragmatic worldview, he learns to navigate the world. His friends Ernie and Mickie, fellow misfits, also help his spirits. When a personal tragedy causes him to run away and question everything Sam discovers what truly matters. This book was moving, simple yet compelling, and made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Meaningful Book on Grief
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
I do not know how I missed reading anything by Joan Didion but I did. The Year of Magical Thinking cured this wrong. This book is a deeply personal memoir about the year following Joan’s husband John’s death and her journey with grief. This year was also complicated by her daughter’s health issues. Joan, like any good author and journalists, copes by learning all she can about the subjects. Anyone who has lost someone will know exactly how she feels. This is truly a hard but magical novel.
Quirky Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Book
The Seep by Chana Porter
This weird little book may not be for everyone but I found it delightful. The plot centers around a Trina, a transgender woman, on earth as an alien species non-violently takes over the world. With the Seep’s technology, almost anything is possible. Capitalism falls and categories and societal boxes are meaningless. Trina’s partner Deeba decides to be re-born as a baby, in order to have the childhood they always wanted. This break up causes Trina to go on a journey of self discovery in this brave new world. This novel is uniquely dystopian and utopian at the same time. I found it original and compelling.
Young Adult Book
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Pet tells the story of the city of Lucille where no monsters live or so we are told. Jam, a transgender non verbal by choice girl, accidentally makes Pet come out of one of her mother’s paintings. Pet, a horned scary creature, tells Jam that they are in Lucille to hunt a monster hiding in plain sight in their best friend Redemption’s house. But how can you find monsters if no one believes they exist? This young adult novel asks hard, timely questions about the current state of our world.
2018 Satirical Science Fiction
Severance by Ling Ma
If only more people had read this novel perhaps we could have avoided the whole covid situation. I kid but this novel written in 2018 follows Candace Chen, a bible product coordinator, as a virus called Shen Fever from China spreads around the world. A little too bizarrely close to home right? This novel takes on office culture and routines. It also explores first generation American pressures and immigrant stories. Did I mention how weirdly timely it is?
Let me know what books you’ve read this summer to get your stamps on your library summer reading booklet. Sorry I don’t have a prize wheel.
