BOOKS
Your Socially Distant Summer Reading List
12 great books to read this summer
If you’re anything like me, you’ve had some downtime on your hands over the past few months.
But unlike millions of people doomscrolling their feeds or baking sourdough to fill the emptiness inside, I made a conscious effort to put down my phone, and dive into the books that I’ve always wanted to read, but never had the time for.
And it’s been incredible.
I’ve read more than 25 books over the past few weeks, and while I’d love to share each and every single one, I’ve culled that list down to my top 12 favorites for a little perspective, wisdom, and hope in troubling times.
If you need a break from the non-stop barrage of bad news and negative thought spirals, here are 12 of the best books I’ve read since April and why you should read them too.
FYI this article has some Amazon affiliate links. If you click and buy a book we both win.
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Roald Dahl
I can’t say enough good things about Roald Dahl’s “not an autobiography” Boy: Tales of Childhood.
Dahl weaves his simple, sweet narrative about his growing up in Wales, attending strict boarding schools, visits to his grandmother in Norway, and of course, adventures in his local sweet shop.
They say “write what you know,” and it’s easy to see that even Dahl’s most fanciful tales came directly from his young life experience. If you like Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or The Witches, you’ll love this book.
If you’re a writer and you should read more Roald Dahl. And if you’ve never read any Roald Dahl, I still can’t recommend this book enough.
Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York
Edited by Sari Botton
I don’t normally read essay collections (except for David Sedaris), because they never appealed to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But after my girlfriend recommended Sari Botton’s bittersweet collection of stories about loving and leaving New York City, I’m hooked on first-person memoirs.
As a former New Yorker (I lived in Brooklyn for twelve years), I identify with the vivid details and vulnerable narratives from each of the female writers in the collection. But I’d encourage non-New Yorkers to take a look at the stories in Goodbye to All That.
Heck, I got so inspired that I had to write my own account of why I left New York. Spoiler alert: It was because I missed watermelons.
I kept this essay collection by my bedside instead of my phone (I leave that in the kitchen at night), and it made me start looking forward to bedtime.
Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
The quickest way to ruin a good book is to force kids to read it in school.
Lord of the Flies. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I know that we’re supposed to study great literature in high school—and we absolutely should—but there has to be a better way to get kids to read classics.
Because Catcher in the Rye is way better than I remember.
Lockdown is the perfect time to read (or re-read) the classics that you’ve always wanted to read (or pretended to read). I recommend starting with this pre-emo page-turner so you can earn some street cred for deep cut hipster jokes on your next Zoom call.
Love in the Time of Cholera
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Wowzers is this a good book. Just oof.
I obviously started reading Love in the Time of Cholera because of the pandemic—it felt timely—but I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this challenging read as much as I did.
I’ve read One Hundred Years of Solitude (twice) and loved it both times, so I had high expectations for Love in the Time of Cholera. But I was still floored by the way Marquez weaves this addicting and challenging love story through another lengthy timeline with his three captivating protagonists.
This book will take a while to read—even if you’re a fast reader. Accept that. But you will enjoy the process.
Not every book should be a race to the finish line. Read Love in the Time of Cholera with your morning coffee, preferably outside if you have a yard or a balcony.
There are some hauntingly beautiful passages and lovingly crafted scenes in this novel. Take your time with them. It was written to be savored. Skim a few pages before bed and let the poetry of the prose send you off to sleep, because before you know it the love story will be over and you’ll be back in 2020.
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Ok, hear me out on this one. I know you think you know the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, but you don’t. Not unless you’ve read this book cover to cover.
The dozens of movies, tv shows, and adaptations do not do this literary masterpiece justice. Not by a long shot. In fact, I couldn’t believe how different (and great) the book is from all of the other versions I’ve seen.
And the craziest part about Frankenstein is how relevant it still is today—208 years after it was written. By a teenager.
That’s right. Mary Shelley started writing Frankenstein at the age of 18 (she finished it at 20) as part of a friendly competition with literary legends Byron and Percy to see who could write the best ghost story.
Guess who won.
Shelley’s macabre tale of the razor-thin line between life and death, science and spirit, reason and madness, and man and God, would serve as the sourdough starter for the horror and science fiction genres centuries before those terms even existed.
Do yourself a favor and read this timeless classic.
Childhood’s End
Arthur C. Clarke
I’m a big sci-fi and fantasy reader, but for some (stupid) reason I’d never read anything by one of the founding fathers of science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke.
Luckily, I started with Childhood’s End LINK and it completely blew me away. Written in 1953, the story of benevolent but mysterious aliens “gifting” mankind with peace and advanced technology while they hide their identity behind the scenes feels at once timeless and steampunk.
Once you start reading it you’ll realize where some of your favorite science fiction tropes came from and why they’re still around today.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Roald Dahl
Man, oh man, is this a wonderful story. Heck, it’s right there in the title, and boy does it deliver.
Unlike many of Dahl’s short fiction and children’s books, he takes his time painting the world and history of the man, Henry Sugar, from his early beginnings as a rich playboy with no purpose to his…lifelong obsession.
No spoilers, but it’s awesome.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar reads more like a novella than a short story, but you’ll tear through this in no time thanks to the character arcs, narration, and some of the most quotable lines I’ve read in a while.
Henry Sugar even has a story within a story (a writing technique that I’ve always loved) and a conclusion dripping with hope, magical realism, and just about the best message of hope I’ve read in a while.
You need to read this story in 2020.
Danny the Champion of the World
Roald Dahl
You’re gonna see a lot of Roald Dahl on this list for two reasons:
- I’m smack in the middle of reading every book he ever wrote
- He’s amazing
Sorry, not sorry. But Danny the Champion of the World holds a special place in my heart.
This book is unlike most of Dahl’s other more famous works. Instead of fantasy and wordplay, the simple grounded story of a widower and his son living behind the gas station they own and bonding over pheasant poaching (of all things) is deceptively powerful.
My father passed away five years ago, and I just happened to read this book around Father’s Day, so I was primed for some feels. But I wasn’t ready for this story to be so touching, so honest, and so funny. It made me really miss my dad and cherish all the things we did together, just him and me.
Dahl is truly a once in a generation storyteller, and this tale is one of his lesser-known, but still the best. If you’re a great dad, know a great dad, or want to be a great dad, read Danny the Champion of the World.
James and the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl
You gotta read this weird ass book. I know you read James and the Giant Peach as a kid. I don’t care. Pick it up again and revel in the absolute insanity that is Dahl’s first book (published in 1961).
I think about the caterpillar in this book every time I untie my shoes.
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Last Dahl book, I swear. I read Matilda for the first time a few weeks ago. I know, I know, but somehow this book missed me as a kid. And I’m almost glad it did.
It was empowering to read the story of a smart, kind, and creative kid overcoming bullies and fools as she navigates a world packed with willfully stupid people. It feels strangely relevant these days, but I can’t quite figure out why…
The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway
While The Sun Also Rises book has some glaring problems when it comes to race and sexual orientation in 2020—it’s from 1926—it’s still an influential novel and well worth reading.
Hemingway’s first true novel, The Sun Also Rises accelerated the shift to terse, straightforward storytelling instead of flowery prose that we find in most modern writing today. Like him or hate him, Hemingway really is unlike any other author of his day (or since).
Young writers can learn a lot about craft, pacing, tone, dialogue, character development (or lack of) and overall style from The Sun Also Rises. And while it might not have aged well in some aspects, there are far worse novels for young writers to learn from than this first attempt from a modern master.
Ishmael
Daniel Quinn
If you haven’t read anything by Daniel Quinn, prepared to be challenged, upset, and amazed by Ishmael. The simplicity and clarity of the narrator’s arguments in this philosophical masterpiece explore—and answer—fundamental questions about our society and “how things came to be this way.”
I separate books along one line—those I read before Ishmael and those I read after. It’s that impactful.
If the antidote to fear is understanding, then this book is a courage factory. It’s absolutely brimming with context, wisdom, and surprisingly, concrete answers about how you can make a difference in the world.
Read more books
It’s important to stay informed in the world, now more than ever. But that doesn’t just mean that you stay glued to the evening news and your chosen social media echo chamber. Take a step back.
Reading fiction and philosophy might not feel like “taking action” but there is power in understanding the world around you and the people in it—including yourself. And reading is still one of the best ways to do that.
Shawn Forno is a freelance copywriter, content manager, travel writer, poet, and blogger. He loves to talk about himself in the third-person.
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