Summer and reading. They go hand in hand, don’t they? I’ve pulled together an ambitious list of books to read over the next few months. If you’re looking for reading material, maybe you’ll find something here.
During the summer, I like to escape into books about living in other countries, romance novels, and detective stories. Maybe reread a Jane Austen novel.
Sometimes a summer is marked by a book or two that I read, for example, when I read Jane Austen’s Emma and Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith (IndieBound). I can still see the dappled sunlight coming through the blinds while I read in the afternoon. I wrote about these books being on my summer reading list here.
I associate another summer with The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. I’d just read the original version of Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and the two books triggered other reading about sustainability and the value of eating locally grown produce. I ordered the updated version Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Year of Food Life and I’m looking forward to reading about what happened after the family’s year-long experiment. (IndieBound)
Many years ago, Tom and I spent our beach time taking turns reading to each other from Peter Mayle’s first two books about living in Provence. It was a special summer, filled with sun, sand, and adventures in France. Those books were A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence. (IndieBound)
Here’s what I have on my TBR (to be read) list for the summer. I won’t get through all of them, but what a luxury to have too many books to read or listen to. All links are to IndieBound.
- I’ve already started Verity, by Colleen Hoover, and I’m staying up too late reading it.
- Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes and Other Forgotten Foods by Jennifer Jordan
- Becoming a Gardener: What Reading and Digging Taught Me about Living by Catie Marron
- The State We’re in: Maine Stories by Ann Beattie
- Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family and the Stew That Saved My Soul by Sylvie Bigar
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Year of Food Life by Lily Hopp Kingsolver, Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, and Steven L Hopp
- The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
- Persuasion by Jane Austen
I’m also looking forward to listening to The Handler, the first book in the new Maddie Castle series. (Audible)
Here are more book ideas and a list from the Times.
- If you like escaping into tales of magic or witches, I recommend listening to these books: Keeper of Enchanted Rooms and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. I enjoyed both of them. If you haven’t read the All Souls Series (starting with A Discovery of Witches), it will keep you entertained all summer. (Audible)
- Summer Books 2023 — Here are more summer reading recommendations that will be more recent than anything I’ve mentioned. (New York Times)
On the subject of reading, I recommend Sue Burpee’s recent post about reading as she grieves over the loss of her mother: Reading Round the Subject of Grief. All of Sue’s posts about books are well written and informative. She is a thoughtful reader and covers a lot of territory in her book reviews. This particular post is reflective and poignant. (High Heels in the Wilderness)
Related Posts
Here are some other posts that you might enjoy.
- Musings on Reading
- New Cookbooks for 2017 Summer Entertaining (not so new now, but still great options)
- Do You Have a Favorite Library?