The cold of winter gives way to sunlight and the brightness of summer brings energy back into our lives, making it a great time to pick up a new book or two. Whether you’re looking for a short and sweet read between classes or something adventurous for the travel season, we hope one of these reads will spark something inside you. Here are eight book recommendations for the summer, spanning a wide spectrum of genres and celebrating the diversity of human experiences highlighted across the summer months.
Never Say You Can’t Survive
Written by Charlie Jane Anders, 240 pages.
With the rise of AI and world events that make the future seem more uncertain than ever, creative pursuits can feel daunting and even irrelevant while you’re trying to survive. This book says otherwise. Part pep talk and part general writing guide, Never Say You Can’t Survive encourages readers to write as an act of resilience and resistance when the world feels like it’s crashing down. Readers will find tips on how to shape a narrative, work through writer’s block, and make storytelling an act of catharsis. All of that is interlaced with the author’s personal anecdotes of writing during the COVID-19 lockdowns to make an accessible, and hopefully, inspiring non-fiction read.
The Girl From the Sea
Written and illustrated by Lee (formerly Molly) Knox Ostertag, 255 pages.
June is Pride Month, and this graphic novel features a cute queer story perfect for reading at the beach. Morgan Kwon has been dealing with a lot — her parents’ divorce, feeling out of place among her friends, and the realization that she’s gay. She’s biding her time until she can leave for university, where she hopes she can be her true self. The sudden appearance of a selkie near her home in Nova Scotia sparks a summer romance that throws her plans into disarray. With beautiful art and story by a transgender author, this book is great for those starting to dip their toes into queer comics and stories.
Lavender Clouds
Written and illustrated by Bex Ollerton, 140 pages
In honour of Disability Pride Month this July, here’s a graphic novel for the members of UW’s neurodivergent community. UK artist Bex Ollerton writes about living with autism and ADHD (AuDHD) while trying, and struggling sometimes, to balance her mental health. Her story chronicles common AuDHD struggles like executive dysfunction and social anxiety, but also the joys of self-acceptance as she learns to walk her own path at her own pace. This book provides a relatable glimpse into the life of someone with AuDHD and is a great starting point for anyone curious about what it’s like to be neurodivergent, regardless of whether you’re officially diagnosed.
The Book of Beijing
Edited by Bingbing Shi, 196 pages
August is Women in Translation (WIT) Month, created to showcase works by authors of marginalized genders who write in a language other than English. And what better time to dip into translated literature than during travel season? The Book of Beijing is an anthology that features 10 short stories, each by a different writer with ties to the city. Every story sheds light on Beijing and its people as the city changes over time. You’ll meet characters like the fake ID seller known as “Mountain Goat” who watches his former comrades leave the black market for honest lives, the woman who mourns the Beijing of the past, and two college friends whose paths drifted apart before bumping into each other on the subway. This book is part of Comma Press’s Reading the City series, a translated collection of works each focusing on a different city around the world through the eyes of those living in it.
Girl: A Novel
Written by Camille Laurens and translated by Adriana Hunter, 256 pages
TW: sexual abuse and domestic violence
Growing up in 1960s northern France, Laurence Barraqué learns early on that being a girl means being less than. When her father answers a census question about children with, “no, I have two daughters,” the tone is set for a lifetime of quiet dismissals. The second half of the book shifts to Laurence as a mother, as she grapples with what it means to raise a daughter in the same world that diminished her — what to pass down and what to leave behind. If you are interested in feminism and a deep-seated look into the experience of being a girl, this might be the book for you!
The Vanishing Half
Written by Brit Bennett, 343 pages
TW: domestic violence, sexual assault, lynching, racism
Black twin sisters Desiree and Estella VignesThe identical Vignes twin sisters grow up in Mallard, Louisiana, and run away together at sixteen, but that’s where their shared story ends. Spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s, the novel follows their wildly diverging lives: one sister returns to their tight-knit hometown, while the other passes for white and builds an entirely new identity. When both of their daughters eventually cross paths, long-buried secrets and the weight of their mothers’ choices begin to surface. If you are interested in the Jim Crow era and black identity with a sisterly twist, this magical book might be your next pick!
Born at the End of the World
Written by Donica Merhazion, 384 pages
TW: torture, child marriage, child abuse
Set in 1970s Ethiopia, 13-year-old Elen flees to Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, to find her aunt and escape an arranged marriage. Girmai, the male protagonist, flees to Asmara to escape his abusive stepmother after his father dies. The two protagonists separately build their prosperous lives until the Derg regime overthrows the Eritrean government and soldiers are deployed to torture and kill civilians. The novel follows them in alternating sections, eventually converging during their shared fight for justice. If you like historical fiction with a bittersweet love story, you will want to sink your teeth into this based-on-a-true-story novel.
Nothing Is Lost
Written by Cloé Mehdi and translated by Howard Curtis, 288 pages
TW: Suicide, police brutality
On the outskirts of Paris, 11-year-old Mattia is suspicious after 15-year-old Saïd is killed during a police check. He wants to uncover the truth behind all the death he has experienced, including his father who coincidentally killed himself after the protests for Saïd’s death. After his sister ran away and his mother “gave” him away, Mattia is determined to uncover Saïd’s case of political injustice and all of the mental health crises that keep occurring in the town. This thriller is sure to give you a new perspective on a murder mystery through the young eyes of Mattia. If you are looking for an urban noir or murder mystery to read by the lake this summer, this may be the one for you.
