Summer Reading Week P. 2

Growing up, one of my least favorite things about summer was our required reading list for school. I will never forget slowly plodding through Huckleberry Finn or putting off reading The Grapes of Wrath until the end of the summer and thinking I would never finish in time. It always felt like an awful joke to have homework when there was no school. But looking back I don’t think it was the reading that was the problem. Instead, I think it was that I didn’t like being told what to read—which makes summer reading as an adult that much better. We get to pick our books!

As promised, today I am finishing up our Summer Reading Week with a few of my favorite memoirs, as well as what is on my list to read this summer. May this post inspire your own “to read” list, and please feel free to share any book recommendations you have for me in the comments section below!

Meaningful Memoirs:

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist: If you are familiar with Shauna’s work, it may seem strange that I am recommending her first book—when all of her books are summer worthy reads, and her fifth book, Present Over Perfect, just released last year. But Cold Tangerines is all about seeing and celebrating the incredible good that God has infused into our everyday life. If you find yourself on a beach, trying to unplug from all of the hard that is life, this will rejuvenate you and help you see the good again.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi: In this book, Kalinithi seeks to answer the question “What makes life worth living?”—a question that became urgent for him to answer, when as a young neurosurgeon, at the age of thirty-six, Kalinithi was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Chronicling his journey from becoming a doctor to then becoming a patient, Kalinithi helps us see that there is still much good in life, even in the midst of suffering. Though it seems like an unlikely summer read, it will leave you inspired and grateful for his perspective on life.

What’s on my “to read” list this summer:

At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider: Traveling to new countries is one of my favorite things. So, a book in which Oxenreider (who beautifully wrote Notes From A Blue Bike), takes us along on a nine month trip around the world with her husband (and kids in tow), I am in! Though we may not be able to visit some of the countries they did this summer—or even in our life time—I am looking forward to reading about them.

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell: After receiving an opportunity to live in Denmark, Russell came across the statistic that found that the happiest people live in Denmark. Curious, she decided to move there for a year to find out why. Loving books about people who not only visit, but also move to new countries, I am in. (I know there is a theme here, I have the travel bug rather badly right now!)

Deep Work by Cal Newport: In a world full of distractions, it is becoming harder and harder to focus on meaningful tasks and projects. In this book, Newport celebrates the importance of “deep work,” and offers a training regimen to strengthen one’s ability to focus without giving into distraction. As a writer who works at home, it is easy to get distracted, so this seems like a needed read for me.

Never Unfriended by Lisa Jo Baker: Friendships are a big part of people’s lives (whether it is the presence or absence of them). And living in a culture where so many of our relationships happen online, makes our friendships that much more fragile. For this reason, Baker wanted to seek out what are the ways we can become better friends and how can we build stronger friendships. Being a very relational person, it feels like an important read.