Hello dear readers! I know it’s been a few months as I dealt with some person and work situations, but I was also working on another project this Summer with this little corner of the internet in mind. It came to me in June when all of the local bookstores put out their table of summer reading assignments.

What if I tried to revive summer reading without school?

I always loved summer reading lists when I was a student. It was like a little introduction to what the next year might bring but I got to read it in a totally different environment compared to the reading of term time. I wasn’t in the library or at my desk, I could sit outside or read late into the night because I wanted to, not because something was due first thing the next morning.

So out of a strong sense of nostalgia I decided to set myself a reading list. Some goals of things I’ve wanted to read, but put to the side for too long along with a few books I had some interest in but were highly recommended by friends.

Here’s how it went.

The Initial List

The first mistake I made was when I put together the list – it was way too long. I remembered how much reading I used to do in high school and university, but I forgot I was able to tackle those lists fairly easily because I didn’t have a high responsibility, full-time job as well. I would reprint the extent of what I thought I could tackle, but it’s probably better for you all to just know it was *too long* and leave it at that.

The initial focus was three-fold:

1. History and non-fiction books that have been on my shelf too long.
2. Books that I have really high expectations for, so I’ve been “saving” (why?!)
3. Recommendations from friends and family.

To me, these were all the core of what used to make summer reader projects so enjoyable – they were chosen by someone else, often a bit more challenging than what I usually pick on a sleepy Sunday afternoon, or books I’ve heard of but not picked up.

The Final List

So as much as I was a good student who always finished my assigned reading, this project also reminded, I was also the student who spent most of June and July thinking about how much time I had until August actually rolled around. I’d love to say I’ve grown into a more responsible adult, but even after all of those years learning the same lesson, I fell into pretty much the same pattern.

June was a stressful period of my life covering some family, health, and job challenges, so part of the delay was because I turned to comfort reads. (The Bullet That Missed: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by Richard Osman and Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce were the best Sunday companions that month. Miss Benson’s Bettle by Rachel Joyce was advertised as an uplifting piece of historical fiction but was far more complicated.) As much as I was excited to tackle a behemoth book about the cultural side of the Cold War after a day of stress and worry a cozy British mystery novel was a way better choice.

Then July came! A number of these worries lifted and as much as that was a relief, it didn’t return my focus to the project. I was tempted by a new novel at the bookstore (Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley), a spontaneous trip to the library (which led to The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, Weyward by Emilia Hart and The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett), and I joined a new book club (which led to Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer and Gaywyck by Vincent Virga) After all, I wasn’t being graded so what’s the point strictly sticking to my book list?

By the time August rolled around I realized I had two choices, try and make the list something actually possible and dive in or admit defeat. I chose the former.

The final list:

The Free World by Louis Menand seems like a huge, meticulously researched cultural history book that I would have happily spent all day reading in my university library. Once people leave school, I hear so many of them say they just don’t have time for these texts anymore. I don’t want to be someone who will never have enough time again to tackle something this big.

Defying Hitler: The White Rose Pamphlets by Alexandra Lloyd is a slim volume that has been staring at me for months because I know all of the students who wrote the pamphlets were executed but I want to read what they wrote and how they pushed back against the Nazi regime.

The Women in White Coats by Olivia Campbell is one I’ve had this book for ages and although it’s also history its different in about every way from my other choices (non-academic history writing, biography, earlier era) to read about the lives and careers of Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Blake.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell was purchased as soon as it was released over a year ago, but because of just how remarkable Hamnet was I kept it on the shelf. I wanted to read it so much, I hyped it up so much, I was then afraid to pick it up.  

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov came to me via reviews after it won the international Booker and thought it sounded truly remarkable, I put it on a longer list because I almost got intimidated by a novel that would poke at my life philosophies around history and memory. Then my friend, who I hadn’t discussed it with, gave it to me for my birthday and said he loved it so I decided it was time.

My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar was a gift on my birthday and because of my other recent World War II reads it went a bit lower on the list, but my relative the kept asking if I had started so it was probably better for both of us if I can tell her about it by the end of the Summer.

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver has been on my radar for years both because of its setting and Kingsolver herself. I know this is the year of Demon Copperhead but a few people whose reading opinions I really trust keep mentioning it so… I’ll go back a few years in the literary sensation list and pick it up.

The Final Score

In the end I finished most of the list and really enjoyed it. There was definitely a few moments at the end of the month where I stayed up a bit or squeezed in chapters to finish everything by the first weekend of September (which was always my childhood last weekend of summer) but I didn’t mind the pressure once the list become possible.

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver and My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar I tore through in the same weekend and were a great reminder to take recommendations from friends a bit more seriously. Yes, you can trust your taste, but someone else’s perspective is valuable too.

The Women in White Coats by Olivia Campbell and Defying Hitler: The White Rose Pamphlets by Alexandra Lloyd were both ends of the history spectrum. Campbell is a journalist writing her first popular history book which was engaging but had some issues (lack of timeline tracking for readers and by the end her personal preference and affection for one of her three subjects was all too clear) while Lloyd is an excellent example of academic writing pulling from limited sources but making the most of every page.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell is proof that you should read the book you have high expectations for. It will be fine, even if it’s not. Or it may be perfect. Read the book.

So what about the ones I didn’t finish?

The Free World by Louis Menand is too long. When it was my full-time job to read history books (what a beautiful time in life!) I would have devoured this because Menand’s writing is much brighter and more engaging than other books I’ve read with similar index and endnote sections. But that’s not my job anymore so trying to tackle this in a month was wildly optimistic. Instead hopefully Menand is going to be happy sitting on my bedside table for the foreseeable future as I tackle it one chapter at a time.

And Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov taught me the power I have in setting my own reading schedule these days. This is an amazing book. I am halfway through, and I love it… and I want to savor it. And now, I can. So, I’ll finish it in the next few weeks but I’m grateful I get all the time I want to have with it.

So dear readers, in conclusion, I will probably try a slightly different summer reading list project next year. But I also learned, as much as we can miss different points of our lives, there’s always something to be appreciated about where we are now. I really needed my June and July of comfort reading which wouldn’t have been possible with a school year starting in September and I realized the power of setting my own pace with some books that I just want more time with.

And I can still read a 700-page history book… it will just take a little bit longer than it used to.

I hope you all had a fantastic Summer of reading. This blog is now back in session.