By Heidi Simmons
Something about summer reading makes me feel relaxed. It’s as if I’m on holiday even if I never leave home.
The idea of choosing a book with an immersive story that can take you far, far away to a distant world with new and fascinating characters, is for me, like being on an exotic vacation and making interesting and provocative friends. What a delightful feeling.
Below are the books on my summer stack. Whether I get through them all now or not, is another question. But for me the joy is the expectation of discovering the treasures hidden inside.
I encourage you to put a summer reading list together. You have permission to indulge yourself this summer in the unlimited world of words, experiences and meaning.
Fiction
If you find an author you really love, spend time with him or her and maybe read his or her entire body of work this summer. Or as with the prolific Stephen King, maybe just read his Mr. Mercedes trilogy, which concludes with the newly released End of Watch.
Books I look forward to reading:
Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo (Knopf, 496 pages)
Monsters: A Love Story by Liz Kay (Penguin, 368 pages)
Medusa’s Web by Tim Powers (HarperCollins, 368 pages)
Purity by Jonathan Frazen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 576 pages)
End of Watch by Stephen King (Scribner, 448 page)
Historical Fiction
This genre merges the best of two literary worlds. Readers get to know some real history through fact-based but fictionalized storytelling.
Books I look forward to reading:
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 416 pages)
War of the Roses: Bloodline by Conn Iggulden (Penguin, 432 pages)
Third in Iggulden’s series of returning real-life characters were an inspiration for the fictional “Game of Thrones” series both television and novels. Set during tumultuous fifteenth century British history this book can stand alone or you may want to begin with Stormbird and spend the summer reading the whole series.
Short Stories
If a long novel is not your cup of tea, try a collection of short stories. This is my favorite way to get to know an author’s style and voice. Whether you read one story a day or read them all in a week, the short story is a heightened narrative form that can be immensely satisfying.
Books I look forward to reading:
Some Possible Solutions by Helen Phillips (Henry Holt, 224 pages)
The Fat Artist and Other Stories by Benjamin Hale (Simon and Schuster, 288 pages)
Nonfiction
Some people feel that reading must be about actual information. The notion is that if one spends any time with a book, it should improve one’s knowledge and understanding of a certain subject. True as that may be, non-fiction can also be exciting and a pleasure read.
Books I look forward to reading:
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (Grove/Atlantic, 320 pages)
Tribe by Sebastian Junger (Grand Central Publishing, 192 pages)
Reading is one of the world’s greatest escapes. Enjoy your summer and if you like, feel free to share with me what’s on your reading list. Heidi@coachellavalleyweekly.com
