Five Summer Reads I Loved
Shortly after the chaos surrounding launching Momfluenced into the world subsided, I declared this summer both My Summer of Minimal Effort, which I’ll write more about in a future post, and also My Summer of Pleasurable Reading.
After spending years in serious research mode for Momfluenced, and after months spent using the analytical, business-y side of my brain to promote Momfluenced, I wanted and needed book joy.
Book joy will look and feel different to everyone, but if a book recommendation starts and ends with “challenging, though-provoking, and rigorously researched,” that book will not be invited to My Summer of Pleasurable Reading. And here’s the thing, some of the books on this list were thought-provoking, but in a curious, non-torturous way. Some of them were rigorously researched, but reading them wasn’t like slogging through an academic’s annotated bibliography, and some of them certainly challenged me, but, like, gently? Not violently. The main thing to understand about these books is that they were all FUN. Fun is underrated! Fun is my favorite! These books all provided reading experiences that made me want to stay up late (read: past 9:00PM) or read instead of watch TV (I LOVE TV), and reading experiences that made me sad when I closed the final page. These books are all a good time.
Onto the books!
I kicked off My Summer of Pleasurable Reading with a recommendation from Stef Kiper Schmidt, the brilliant manager at Water Street Books in Exeter, NH.
“I want to read about rich people behaving badly in beautiful, evocative interiors. Preferably eating delicious food,” I told Stef.
Without a second’s consideration, she handed me this book.
Not only does it fit the bill exactly (so many rich people, so many incidents of bad behavior, so many events taking place in plush surroundings), it’s also a family saga, and I fucking LOVE family sagas. Oh! And there’s smart critiques of class, legacy, and inherited wealth baked into what is mostly a delicious romp of a book.
SIDE NOTE before we continue. I’m part of a book club which meets occasionally to view 1PM showings of Don’t Worry Darling, meets occasionally in one of our hot tubs to talk about life, and meets occasionally to take coastal walks in Maine prior to devouring fried seafood and IPAs. The only thing our book club hasn’t done is meet specifically to talk about a book. However! We all text about books and trade them back and forth. So I reached out to the club and inquired as to the whereabouts of Pineapple Street because I needed a photo to accompany this piece. Please peep the resultant conversation which is proof positive that I’m part of the best book club ever.
I mean, the flower shadow is on point. Ok, back to my list!
This slim book surprised me - it was nestled in one of many TBR piles, and it’s the type of book I was sort of forced into reading when nothing newer or shiny presented itself. I had zero expectations and knew absolutely nothing going into it, which is what I sort of want for you but I guess I should give you something. If you read Sylvia Plath’s diaries as a Smith girl and loved those diaries, this will scratch a very specific itch. If you’re interested in the concept of the male auteur or [male] Great American Novelist, this will scratch that itch too. If you want to lose yourself in midcentury New York City artist circles, you can do that here! If you want to think about gender roles within marriage, you 100% will while reading this book. I’m being obnoxiously vague on purpose I promise. Please report back if you read this book. I need to discuss it.
After being internet friends for years, I finally got to meet
IRL when we did an event together in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. We ate delicious food and gossiped and it was glorious. I told her about My Summer of Pleasurable Reading, and she handed me this book from the shelves at Head House Books. Do you feel like going to Italy and eating briny olives, soft cheeses, and obviously as much pasta as possible over endless bottles of wine? Of course you do! This is that in book form. There’s a little love, a lot of mom stuff, and some fun Nancy Meyers-esque interior descriptions too.
Clever photo, right?! Regular readers of this newsletter will know that my admiration for Jamie Loftus and her work is not at all chill. I have loved every single one of her podcasts (My Year in Mensa, Lolita podcast, Aack Cast, Ghost Church, and the Bechdel Cast, an intersectional feminist movie podcast she does weekly with cohost Caitlin Durante), and me loving Raw Dog was never in question. It was more just a matter of how much I’d love it. And I loved it a lot! In the book, Jamie travels the US in search of hot dogs, yes, but also in search of the American myth. Themes covered include but aren’t limited to: roadtripping, roadtripping with one’s boyfriend as the relationship is dying, workers’ rights, America’s love affair with origin stories, the human craving for simple narratives, Major League Eating, factory farming (I’ll admit I skimmed this chapter because yeah, it’s bad!), class, gentrification, and family. It’s very good, very thoughtful, and very funny. I want a hot dog.
Thank you for these read recs--and I'm totally onboard with nothing serious this summer, being in the middle of what you just survived, Sara, with a new novel launching in October. In between the efforts each day, my tired brain needs reads like this! To ease it even more, a lot of my summer reads will be favorite rereads!
So you're the second person to recommend Pineapple Street and I guess I have to read it now too. I loved The Nest which I have heard it favorably compared to. And your book club sounds amazing!!