A literary summer reading guide
It's time to read great books over the summer again.
It’s time to take back summer reading.
If you grew up in America, odds are you’re familiar with the concept. As students, many of us were required to read classic works of literature over the summer to prepare for an upcoming English class.
Maybe you despised it, eschewing the forced literary phenomena for the simple pleasures of summer. That wasn’t my experience (although I had my fair share of pool outings). As a kid I fell in love with reading through the Redwall series, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Where the Red Fern Grows, Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot, and many others. But when it came to the great works of literature—the kind assigned for summer reading—it was more complicated. I actually read the books and enjoyed the classroom discussions, but I can’t say I loved them like I did those other titles I mentioned.
But as I’ve aged in my reading life, two things have happened. First, I’ve grown in my love and appreciation for the great works. For nearly a decade, I’ve made it a practice to read a handful of the classics each year. I actually began by re-reading many of those books I was assigned in grade school: Jane Eyre, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, and others. Of course, reading them as an adult was a completely different experience. In most cases, I was delighted by the books and profoundly moved by them.
Second, I’ve become wildly particular about how a book pairs with a given season. We do this plenty with other cultural artifacts. Some things just go together. Light beer and summer. Soup and fall. Fleet Foxes and winter. I could go on. In the same way, some books are best suited to certain seasons.
Side note: If you don’t believe me, consider this. When my wife and I were dating in college, she once asked me what my favorite book was so she could read it on her family beach trip. I told her it was The Road by Cormac McCarthy. As you can imagine, it cast a bit of a dark cloud on the trip for her. In fact, I’d say reading The Road on a family beach trip is a sure-fire way to end up looking like the sad Ben Affleck at the beach meme.
But I digress. The point is, friends, I think it’s time we take back summer reading. For me, there’s a kind of purity about reading books in the summer. I don’t remember exactly when I fell in love with reading, but I have an inkling it was during the summer.
On a practical level, this season tends to be more spacious and offer more free time for reading. But it goes deeper than that for me. There’s a greater desire for reading, a want to. Which is perhaps why so many of us didn’t enjoy summer reading—it was always a have to. This seems to be the catch-22 of summer reading: most folks didn’t like it because they were being told what to read. And yet, the books they were exposed to were a) some of the greats and b) ones they wouldn't have gravitated to otherwise.
So even though I can’t say I enjoyed reading A Tale of Two Cities as an 8th grader, I’m glad I had to read it. Reading the classics opened up strange, new worlds and ideas to me. It gave me a small taste of the beauties, horrors, and complexities of life. And it laid a foundation for reading (or in some cases, re-reading) older, more challenging books.
At the risk of sounding elitist, it kinda kills me to see folks today reading the latest “bestseller” that’s as vapid as its title suggests. Summer (and life) is too short to waste on bad books.
As the writer Willa Cather humorously oberved in 1896:
“The problem of summer reading is being discussed again among people and by periodicals. That phrase ‘summer reading’ is always just a little bit irritating, as if books, like butter, were affected by the temperature. But often if the books are not, their readers are, and it is not every book that you care to take with you on your summer vacation. Even a robust intellect must flinch from Herbert Spencer or Locke when the thermometer is a hundred in the shade and the mosquitos are buzzing outside the windows. Philosophy is a burden at any season, and in the summer it is not to be thought of.
But why people select this exhausting time of the year when palm leaf fans and soda fountains alone make life worth living, to devour trashy fiction, is the open question. Is there anything on earth more tiresome than a poorly written novel? Plato on the Soul is thrilling and sensational compared to one. When will people learn that it is not their solemn duty to endure the stupidity of inferior yellow-backs? While you are picking out good trout lines and good tents and good rifles, for your outing, pick a few good novels. Poor ones are just like cheap goods of any kind. It is not every book that can keep up with the world in the summer time, or that is good enough to take into the woods. There are only two kinds of literature, good and bad, and if you are not equal to the good, you had better let it alone altogether.”1
To that end, I have set out to help you “pick a few good novels…good enough to take into the woods.”
The Summer Reading Criteria
So what was my criteria for choosing these ideal reads for summer? Make no mistake—the whole process is wildly subjective, but I’ve actually given this topic a lot of thought.
Season: If a book’s story took place during the summer, or includes pivotal scenes that take place in summer, odds are it’s a good call.
Setting: Maybe it’s just me, but certain settings feel more summer-y than others. The Kentucky farmlands. The high seas. The English countryside. The desert planet of Arrakis.
Style: Probably the most flexible of the criteria. Some are quite plot-driven, while others are written more as meditations from a character’s perspective. But all of them are what I would consider literary.
Tone/Feeling: This one’s all about the vibes. What’s the tone? Does it feel right for summer? Would you enjoy reading it on a hot Sunday afternoon with the sound of cicadas thrumming in the air? These are the things I think about.
Quality: Above all, the books had to be remarkable. Most are in the literary cannon for a reason, and I consider all of them to be truly great.
Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
If you know anything about me, you know I stan for Wendell Berry. The first Berry book I ever read—Hannah Coulter—I read during the summer. It paired so well with the season that since then I’ve read a Berry book every summer since. To me, Berry’s gorgeous, poetic prose about life in a rural Kentucky town makes his Port William series probably the greatest summer reads of all time.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald’s great American novel pairs so well with summer I think it should only be allowed to be read from May-August. Why? You can’t read a book about extravagant summer parties in the Hamptons in the winter. It’s criminal.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
You can almost feel the jungle heat of Columbian summers coming off the pages of this classic novel by Gabriel García Márquez. A strange, sumptuous love story, at turns moving, bizarre, depraved, and profound. Márquez’s signature style of magical realism combined with the vibrant South American setting make it an ideal summer read.
Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
Sure. You could say there are other Steinbeck works better suited for summer. The Grapes of Wrath for those looking for an epic American classic. The Pearl for those looking for a quick read with island vibes. You wouldn’t be wrong. But to me, Steinbeck’s nonfiction account of his travels in a converted camper with his poodle Charley is an underrated pick for summer.
Moved by a desire to become reacquainted with the country he had written so much about, in 1960 Steinbeck set off on a cross-country road trip to answer one primary question: “What are Americans like today?” What follows is a series of interesting and insightful vignettes featuring ordinary Americans across the country.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Since we’re on the topic of Steinbeck, we may as well choose his best novel for summer, which for me is East of Eden. Set primarily in Salinas, California, Steinbeck’s magnum opus about the Trask family is an ideal pairing for summer. Steinbeck himself said of the novel, “It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years…I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this.” If you haven’t given this book a whirl, you owe it to yourself to go for it this summer.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Typically I reserve 19th-century English literature for cold, winter months, but Austen’s classic novel is an exception to the rule. Filled with indelible characters, vivacious dialogue, and razor-sharp wit, Pride and Prejudice is a lovely summer read.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Sure, there are plenty of Hemingway books that go well with summer: The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, Death in the Afternoon, True at First Light. But Hemingway’s memoir about his years in Paris as a struggling writer is a lovely European twist on summer. I read this book as part of a summer book club, and it will forever be imprinted on my mind as a fantastic summer read.
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Even the cover design pulses with the blazing heat of a West Texas sun. McCarthy’s riveting tale of a man who stumbles upon a satchel of cash after a drug deal gone wrong—and the ensuing chase by one of the best villains in all of literature—is a slam dunk for those looking for a heart-pounding summer thriller (that still packs a metaphysical punch).
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
A profound, beautiful novel told from the perspective of a rural pastor in Gilead, Iowa. This book has a warmth to it—a slow, meditative quality—that fits nicely with the slow, steady heat of summer.
Dune by Frank Herbert
For those feeling particularly oppressed by the August heat, there could no better pairing than Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic set on the desert planet of Arrakis.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
If summer in the English countryside sounds appealing, Adams’ beloved classic is for you. But take heed: More than a few people (myself included) have assumed that since this is a book about rabbits, it’s a cute little children’s story. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a beautiful, harrowing story about a warren of rabbits trying to survive in the downs, fields, and woodlands of southern England.
Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville
For those looking for a summer adenture on the high seas, look no further than Melville’s 1851 epic novel. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written this book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it “one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world” and “the greatest book of the sea ever written.”
Do not be intimidated by the length of this book! (A whopping 600 pages.) The chapters are super short, and you’ll be surprised by how arresting the story is. As Melville himself wrote of it: “It is the horrible texture of fabric that should be woven of ships’ cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it.”
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
I read this book for the first time a few years ago and absolutely adored it. It’s now one of my all-time favorites. The language in The Wind in the Willows is a feast in itself. To me, this book is, as Lewis would say, a kind of “echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we’ve never visited.” It is utterly sublime. And though its storyline transpires over several seasons, some of the most indelible scenes take place in summer. Here’s a taste:
“[The mole] thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before—this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spellbound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.”
Post Script: A Summer Reading Challenge
For those who need more than a nudge, I hereby give you your first summer reading assignment in years. I challenge you to read at least one book from this list this summer. Even better if you can do it with a friend or two. And no, there will not be a quiz on the first day of class.
If you found this dispatch encouraging, delightful, or helpful in any way, please like and share it! It helps more people discover this publication.
What was your experience with summer reading growing up? Which books do you think pair best with summer? And, most importantly, what are you reading this summer? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Shout out to Ruth Gaskovki for sharing this quote on Notes recently!
East of Eden was already on my packing list for Ireland, but you've confirmed for me that I was definitely right to choose it! So many great books on this list. Based on your criteria, I'd also add Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. Thanks for this reading guide, very enjoyable!
Great picks for the list!