Summer Reading List: Going Places Again

Oh the joys of a summer trip to the library… my kids piling up more books than they can carry, me grabbing a few new release novels that will inevitably rack up late fees, and a few things I’ll never actually read (cause you’ve gotta have a backup)-- and then going home for an afternoon of family reading time and maybe getting ice cream drips on a few pages. Bliss. 

This was one of the things I missed most during the pandemic. Our library was entirely closed for the longest time, and then they did “curbside pickup only” which was fine but all things considered, hard to plan for and utterly unsatisfying. I missed the roaming and browsing, and the flexibility to just go when we had a few minutes and were in the neighborhood. I missed finding and picking up things I’d never heard of. I missed watching my kids go to their favorite sections and totally nerd out over things I know nothing about. 
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Add these tiny joys to the long list of things I will never take for granted again. 

Now the library is back! And it’s summer! Let the people rejoice. Also… what are we reading?? 

While I had a hard time focusing on ANYthing early in the pandemic, I got my reading mojo back about 6 months ago. I’ve also discovered the gift of audiobooks in recent times, so between the actual paper reading and the listening, I’ve covered some pretty good territory this year. The past year-plus has been a good reminder that a book can take you places, even when you can't go anywhere. As we (hopefully) start to go ACTUAL places again, here are some titles that I highly recommend for your summer roadtrip/hammock-lounging/beach-bumming/mountain climbing/porch-sitting adventures. 

• The Vanishing Half,  by Brit Bennett. Shew. SO many layers. And so timely. I read it several months ago and am still processing. The outstanding writing alone makes it worth the read, but it is also a compelling story, with great characters and a strong sense of place. All my favorite things. 
• The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes. Everyone is on the Kentucky Packhorse library train these days, and I’m here for it. I liked this one a lot better than the ‘other’ book along the same topic lines that I read recently. Geographically speaking, it takes place in the vicinity of my hometown. While I was late to the party on this one, I could not put it down, and now I get what all the rage is about. Visit another place and time that will make you appreciate not only the ability to read, but the relatively easy access that we have to reading materials (even in quarantine). 
• News of the World, by Paulette Giles. Y’all gotta know I’m a sucker for a good western-- especially one with a young female heroin. I mentioned this book in a recent post, and I stand by it as one of the best things I’ve read in years. This would be a great one to take along if you are planning a trip out west! Or just to the west-facing side of your patio. I loved this read, but  have STILL not gotten around to watching the movie, starring Tom Hanks-- even though that trailer is what made me pick up the book in the first place!
• Anxious People,  by Fredrik Backman. First let me say I am not finished with this one yet- so no spoilers in the comments please! I am listening to the audio of this one, and I think it is a book that was meant to be listened to. I’m totally hooked. I was a HUGE fan of A Man Called Ove, but have been less enthusiastic about most of Backman’s other books. This one is back on top for me. I have NO IDEA what is happening half the time, but I don’t even care. It is genius storytelling, stunningly human, and the kind of book I wish I could write. It’s the kind of book that makes you WANT to write, which for me is the best kind. Take a listen. ​
• A Bridge in Babylon, by Owen Chandler. You know I rarely include nonfiction on my summer reading list... But I've got a few great narrative memoirs to recommend this year, and this is one of them. My good friend Owen has written a very real, raw, and courageous reflection about U.S. military service and presence in the Middle East. When I say ‘courageous,’ I don’t just mean that he was courageous to leave his family and his congregation behind for a year and go into active deployment as chaplain in a tenuous place--it is also courageous storytelling, delving into parts of spirituality, war, and humanness with an authenticity that few are brave enough to examine (maybe, especially, in the U.S.) He takes off the veneer and asks some hard questions about what it is we are truly asking our military men and women to sacrifice. The official release date is not until June, but he’s already gotten a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly; you can pre-order here. (Speaking of spoiler alerts, Owen is going to be a guest on our podcast next week! Stay tuned.) 
• Broken Horses, by Brandi Carlile. I adore her. I just do. It feels almost too good to be true when one of your favorite musicians puts out a book that is all about her life and her music-- but here it is. I am reading the actual physical book (the first hardback I’ve actually purchased in a LONG time) but I hear the audiobook comes with some music that she recorded for just this occasion, so I am probably going to listen to it as well. Did I mention I’m a fan?  
• Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline.  Admittedly not as good as the original Ready Player One. But if you were a fan of the first, you need to read this one (or listen to it, as my family did). Re-entering the world of the Oasis with Wade and his friends, it will occur to you how weirdly prophetic the concept was when it first came out 10 years ago. If you haven’t read the original, get on that first-- and prepare to be weirded out by the fictional, virtual world that Cline dreamed up a full decade before the pandemic. 
• This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger. Is there a better summer story than a sweeping, epic saga of four kids on the lam, making their way across the country during the Great Depression? I think not. This book had my whole heart, the whole way through. I adore the cast of kids-- not to mention Sister Eve, the traveling evangelist and miracle healer that the kids take up with for a spell. You will find yourself questioning many times whether she is the real deal or a total fraud--but the whole story has that fable/tall tale vibe about it, so I think that is rather the point. Another one you should really listen to, if that’s your thing. 
• Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson. This book about the hierarchy that has shaped our cultural understandings should be required reading at every school-- and really, every workplace-- in America. Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for The Warmth of Other Suns, and that same insightful excellence is clearly in play here. Sadly, this is America so nobody will require you to read it. But the good news is-- this is America, so you can read it (or listen, as I am doing) anyway. Please do. 
• Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah.  I’m late to the party on this one too, but glad I eventually got here. Geez, this is outstanding. TN’s usual brilliance really shines through in his reflective storytelling about his own life and childhood in apartheid South Africa. By the end of it, I really wanted to meet his mama-- and you will too. 

Every one of these books, in its own way, has the ‘sense of place’ factor--which is to say, the power to take you places-- that makes a book magical. So whether you need a book to take on the road this summer, or you need a book to actually be the road that takes you--we’ve got you covered. Happy trails!