All Booked Up

Summer Bucket List #15 Read a good book. Or two. Or three. Or four. 

No matter how busy I am each Summer, I find the time to read. Usually I'm lying on a beach squinting at my Kindle, turning pages curled up in bed with a cup of tea, or resting a sunburnt forehead against the cool window of whatever plane/train/automobile is taking me to my next destination. I love the feeling of putting down a book after a particularly good chapter, refocusing my attention on the physical world around me, like tucking the hazy corners of a daydream into the back of my mind for another day... The best books linger in your mind long after you've put them down. 

We may be soaking up the final stretch of Summer, but there's still time to lose yourself in a good book or two (or three or four). 

These were my picks: 

The Girls by Emma Cline

This debut novel takes place in the 1969 San Francisco area. Young, impressionable Evie Boyd is easily drawn to the girls she sees in the park with long hair and careless ease. She finds herself drawn into a Manson-like cult, mesmerized by a world so strange and accepting compared to her own. But when free love and harmony turns to unthinkable violence, you won't be able to put the book down. LOVED this. 

Room by Emma Donoghue

There was a recent movie adaptation to this novel, which is narrated from the voice of five year old Jack. His mother was kidnapped as a young student and later gave birth to him during her years in captivity. The single, windowless room they occupy is the only world Jack has known, and the author describes their daily routine, escape, and adjustment to a new normalcy with compelling perspective. 

Brooklyn by Colm Toíbín

I borrowed this from my mom's book club and was #unimpressed. In summary: Girl leaves Ireland for (you guessed it) Brooklyn. Girl meets Italian boy. Italian boy loves her and wants to marry her. She does not love him. Girl travels back to Ireland and meets Irish boy (who was a jerk in the beginning, obviously). Are we all destined for unhappiness? Probably.

 

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

I'm only on part one of this classic novel (and deliciously horrendous 1967 adaptation), in which Anne Welles, Neely O'Hara, and Jennifer North rise and fall from New York City stardom. It's easy, indulgent reading best done poolside in an expensive bikini and large-brimmed hat. The gossip, drama, and clichéd gender roles are on-par with an episode of Real Housewives. And I love Real Housewives.