Some July Reads

I love cold weather. I am not a person who embraces summer for all its sweaty, sun-soaked, sunburnt glory. If you can call it that. I don’t find sweat or sunburns glorious. You probably don’t either. I digress. It’s July now, and soon it will be August, and right now is about the time when I start to count down to Halloween. Honestly, it just makes August harder to get through, but I love autumn.

How do I make it through July and August every year? Every day, I tell myself that I like summer. I lie to myself until I believe the lie. Some days, it works, but most days, I just hide inside all day. For weird people like me, books are great this time of year because all we want to do is hide from the sun. Good news, though! For normal people like you, books are also great because have you ever heard of a beach read?! Well, of course you have. That’s why we have the wonderfully predictable but still lovely Elin Hilderbrand.

I must start this list with an Elin Hilderbrand book. Because I just mentioned her but also because if you don’t know who she is then I get to enlighten you. In all transparency, her books are not much in terms of literature or depth. But they’re incredibly fun, full of juicy drama, and easy to fly through. They’re the essential beach read.

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand (2019)

This beach read follows the lives of several people, all of whom are connected to one another in some way. Madeline King and Grace Pancik are best friends, and the story follows their families’ lives for a summer. Madeline is a writer, Grace is a passionate gardener (and passionate about her handsome landscape architect), Grace’s husband is in financial trouble, Madeline’s son and Grace’s daughter are dating, and a wild rumor is circulating throughout the island. The story takes place on Nantucket and each chapter captures the luxuriously lazy feeling of a summer vacation (while also keeping you on the edge of your seat for all the drama) (!!!). Warning: this book is cheesy, like every Hilderbrand book, but the writing is worth it for the story.

No One Asked for This: Essays by Cazzie David (2020)

I knew I loved Larry David, and I had feeling I loved his daughter Cazzie David, but now I know for sure. Cazzie is hilarious, and her writing shows that (surely a difficult feat as so much of comedy is delivery and inflection – I would know, such a comedian myself) (if you know me, you know I’m joking, I am not funny) (hard to demonstrate this in writing, I rest my case!!!!). Her self-deprecating humor and wild, strange, and/or embarrassing stories kept me entertained the entire book.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

Two half-sisters – Effia and Esi – are born into different villages in eighteenth century Ghana, and their lives take two dramatically different turns. Due to the growing slave trade, Esi is imprisoned and shipped to America where she endures enslavement. Her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. Effia, on the other hand, is married off to an Englishman and lives in a castle in Ghana. One thread follows Effia’s story as well as the stories of her descendants. The other thread follows Esi’s story as well as the stories of her descendants. Gyasi’s beautiful storytelling allowed me to gain a deeper understanding into the intergenerational pain that was wrought by colonialism and slavery. This is a heartbreaking but important book.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (1987)

Haruki Murakami is a captivating writer, and this book is my favorite of the few of his I’ve read. The story follows Toru as he navigates college in Tokyo and his devotion to Naoko, his ambiguous more-than-friends-but-not-really-committed friend. As Naoko descends into devastation following the loss of their mutual friend, Toru finds himself able to experience independence outside of their hometown. We follow Toru through his experience of college, and that experience is filled with description of food, cityscapes, and the people he encounters. Warning: there is a rape scene that I found to be quite disturbing in this book. This book may not be for you if that is especially difficult for you to tolerate.

Light Years by James Salter (1975)

I am not normally the person who can read a book that’s known for its beautiful prose. Sure, I love beautiful prose, but I get bored if the story alone can’t hold me. As Elin Hilderbrand has shown me, I will always choose interesting story over nice writing. WELL that was until James Salter! I just read this book about a month ago, and it is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read – and I was never bored. The scenes captured in Light Years are so richly written that I could picture myself there – in their cozy upstate New York home, in the streets of Italy, in the car, down by the river.

Have you read any of these books? I’d love to hear your thoughts if so. Any book recommendations for me, please??

Happy reading,

Hunter :-)