SUMMER READING LIST
“Wherever I am, If I’ve got a good book with me, I have a place I can go and be happy.”
- J.K. Rowling
Like a lot of you, my new work from home schedule has afforded me so many small luxuries. It’s been so refreshing to circle back to a lot of my at home hobbies that I’ve always enjoyed. Naturally, I’ve been devoting a lot more of my time to reading and I have truly been finding so much pleasure in it.
I decided to share my summer reading list with you since I figure we can all use a nice change in our new routines at this point. I’m so excited about every single book on this list because I’ve heard nothing but good things!
The House of Deep Water - Jeni McFarland
Three women reluctantly return to their small Michigan hometown. Linda Williams never wanted to return to River Bend, but when she leaves her husband, she has no choice but to go back to her grandmother’s house. Also coming back to town is her estranged mother, Paula, who might finally ask her long-abandoned husband for a divorce. And then there’s Elizabeth DeWitt, who grew up as one of the only black girls in town. She’s lost her job and marriage, and the recent arrest of the man who abused her as a child is dredging up traumatic memories. A pretty good read, but I found it sometimes confusing to keep up with the many characters McFarland introduces throughout the story.
Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid
I am ready to pour up a nice full-bodied red wine and really indulge in this read because I’ve heard it’s a page-turner! Such a Fun Age is a story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
This story seems to be pretty fitting given our current social climate. I’m so excited to crack this one open!
The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson
Winner of The Pulitzer Prize, The Warmth of Other Suns has been on my ‘Must-Read’ list for quite some time now. I’m currently reading this profound book and I’m really hoping I can finish all 622 pages by the end of the summer! This book is the story of the mass migration of over 6 million African Americans relocating from the rural South to cities in the North & West of the U.S. So far it’s been eye-opening and very well written! I can’t wait to finish it!
The Source of Self-Regard - Toni Morrison
Written by one of the most celebrated authors in the world and the first Black American woman to win the Noble Peace Prize in literature, The Source of Self-Regard is another ‘Must-Read’ for me. This read is a rich gathering of Toni Morrison’s most important essays and speeches, spanning four decades. These pages give us her prayer for the dead of 9/11, her Nobel lecture on the power of language, her searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., her heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. She looks deeply into the fault lines of culture and freedom: the foreigner, female empowerment, the press, money, “black matter(s),” human rights, the artist in society, the Afro-American presence in American literature.
Let me know if you’ve read any of the books mentioned and feel free to add them to your list if you haven’t already!
