I was born with a reading list I will never finish.”
At any given time my “to read” list is a mile long. As soon as I read one book, I discover five others that become must reads. While my overall reading list is quite lengthy, I’ve narrowed it down to the top ten books I’m excited to read this summer.
1. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Modern Romance looks at the ups and downs of dating in today’s world where we have so much technology at our fingertips. Aziz Ansari and sociologist Eric Klinenberg designed a research project that consisted of interviews and focus groups with people from a number of different cities and countries. I’m a big fan of Aziz Ansari’s comedy and his take on modern dating, so I’m very curious what insights and humour he will provide with this project.
2. Our Souls at Night: A Novel by Kent Haruf
This is the last novel from the late Kent Haruf and tells the story of two neighbours, Addie and Louis and the companionship they find in each other after the death of their spouses. “We sometimes need to be reminded that a little hope is a seed that can grow in unexpected, powerful ways, that shared stories are what makes us human, and that it’s never too late to start a new chapter – a new adventure – no matter where we are in our lives.” What a great reminder that is.
3. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This novel focuses on a young woman named Hannah Martin and the direction her life takes based on a decision she makes one night, when choosing between two options. The story splits into two different scenarios and shows us the outcome of each choice. As someone who sometimes tends to over-think decisions in life, I love the idea of seeing where a choice you make takes you and how it compares to the road not travelled.
4. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
This had me at “Paris” and “Bookshop.” Monsieur Perdu runs a floating bookshop on the Seine and prescribes books like medicine, believing that the right book can heal whatever troubles you. He takes a trip to the south of France to heal his own heartbreak and along the way dispenses books and wisdom to those who need it. “There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.” Have you ever fallen in love with a book before even reading it?
5. Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own by Kate Bolick
In Spinster, journalist Kate Bolick looks at both past and present in examining the growing demographic of women who remain unmarried. It is described as an “unreservedly inquisitive memoir and a broader cultural exploration that asks us to acknowledge the opportunities within ourselves to live authentically.”
Happy reading!
~Ida
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