I talk a lot about how I LOVE to read, but I have a confession to make…I am horribly inconsistent in my reading habits and often don’t finish a single book for months. When I am at school, I am so caught up with schoolwork and job applications that I am left with little motivation to pick up a book to read for fun. Doomscrolling after a long day of classes has ruined me.
However, the summer months are where I can finally catch up on most of my reading. Vacation time usually equates to a week solely dedicated to reading as many books as I can. My beach days are spent with my nose in a book on the sand more than floating out in the waves. And a quick trip to a cafe turns into hours spent spacing out on a park bench lost in a story while birds attack my abandoned sandwich.
Last summer, most of my books were small novellas and short story collections (highly recommend Eliza Clark’s “She Is Always Hungry.”). However, towards the end of the summer I became interested in a genre I was surprised I enjoyed…horror.
If anyone knows me, they know I HATE horror movies. I don’t like being scared, and I can’t deal with gore, but apparently, I can deal with it when it is written on the page and not displayed on the big screen. Now I’m not talking about classic horror like Stephen King, or Bram Stoker (though I would like to give “Dracula” a stab at some point), when I was reading short story collections, they often had some psychological horror story’s included that I found incredibly well written. Who knew that some of the best social commentary I would read last summer would come from a tale about an authoritarian vampire who oversaw the end of the world? I also read Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” last year and fell in love with her writing. The story left me genuinely disturbed, but the ending was fantastic.
1.) His Black Tongue – Mitchell Luthi
Because of this newfound interest in horror, at the top of my list to read is “His Black Tongue” by Mitchell Luthi. This is another short story collection, but this one is focused on Medieval Horror, something I’ve never experimented in. I know the first short story follows a friar and his ward interacting with supernatural events in an eerie small town…sounds very intriguing to me.
2.) The Unworthy – Augustina Bazterrica
Next on my list is “The Unworthy” by Augustina Bazterrica, who also wrote the popular novel “Tender is the Flesh.” I have not read her work before, but the premise of this novel appeals to me more than “Tender is the Flesh.” It follows a woman shut up in a convent in a post-apocalyptic world where she has to fight for the approval of the “mother superior” character of the convent to better her living conditions…while also confronting the fact that things in the convent are not all that they seem.
3.) Thirst – Marina Yeszczuk
I want to attempt to finish a book I started reading a while ago called “Thirst,” by Marina Yeszczuk. I think I struggled to get through this book because I was reading it on my phone, not in a physical book format, so I just couldn’t focus on it. The story itself is still very interesting to me. Vampire fiction seems to be getting more popular in media again, with movies like Dracula and Nosferatu being hits. Last summer I read “Carmilla,” a small gothic novella from 1872 that followed a female vampire who targets a vulnerable young aristocratic woman. I found it very accessible for a classic so highly recommend as an intro to gothic literature. After I read “Carmilla” I decided to take on “Thirst” as it followed an ancient female vampire’s life up to modern day where she meets a modern day woman struggling with the death of her mother. Hopefully this summer is the one I can finish it.
4.) Bibliophobia – Sarah Chihaya
Moving away from the horror genre, for months I have been dreaming about reading a memoir called “Bibliophobia,” by Sarah Chihaya. I was originally drawn to this book when I shelved it last summer at my library job back home. The book follows Sarah and her relationship with literature, especially Toni Morrison’s “Bluest Eye,” and how it affects her life underscored by a nervous breakdown that lands her in the hospital. As someone who sometimes lets their recent interests consume their thoughts, this book seemed right up my alley, and as a memoir the premise seemed very unique compared to other “life stories” I’ve read.
5.) The White Book – Han Kang
I want to prioritize reading books I already own this summer, and these last two books have been collecting dust in my brain for even longer than they’ve been on my shelf. When I was studying abroad, almost every place I visited, I stopped in a bookshop. In Paris, one of my number one destinations was the Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore, so when I got there, I couldn’t not but a book (I ended up buying two). I am a firm believer that you shouldn’t buy a book unless you are already familiar with the author and like their writing, so of course I bought Han Kang’s “The White Book” since “The Vegetarian” was STILL on my mind (that’s how you know it was good). In this novel, an author is meditating on her grief after a death in her family and focuses on the color white to portray her feelings. I already know the prose are going to be phenomenal, even for a translation.
6.) Conversations With Friends – Sally Rooney
Finally, the past two summers I have read one book by Sally Rooney, and this summer will be no exception. When in Madrid, I picked up a copy of “Conversations With Friends” so it’s finally my time to read this book. Ironically, this book sounds like the most aligned to my interests out of all of Rooney’s discography, but it’s consistently checked out of my library, so I never have been able to get around to it. Two friends with an intimate past and self-destructive tendencies? Yeah, sign me up. I want to say this will be my “lighter” book for the summer, but Rooney is known for being particularly devastating in her portrayal of modern relationships, so this will probably be just as emotionally taxing as the rest of the books on this list.
Looking back on this list you may be wondering, “is she okay?” I appreciate the concern, but there’s no need to be worried. I actually think the summer is the perfect time to tackle stories that may be more heavy and dense. Because the sunny weather will have me in good spirits, an emotionally devastating novel won’t be too much of a hit to me as opposed to when I’m already feeling grey during the long winter months. There will also likely be many cheesy little romance books scattered in between these books to serve as pallet cleansers. I never really have specific romances in mind. I usually just pick up a random one I see and fly through it, so I felt they were not important to include in this list (though I feel I may have to give Emily Henry another try with “Book Lovers” coming out in theaters soon).
Happy Reading <3