what I read this summer

summer reading recap, 2024

1. There There, Tommy Orange — 9/10, so beautiful. I read it while traveling around the Pacific Northwest which, while not the same as the book’s setting in Oakland CA, added to the reading experience
2. The Secret History, Donna Tartt — 8/10, I am drawn to anything in the dark-academia world and I thought this was a delight, I finally get the Yellowjackets/Secret History references now
3. East of Eden, John Steinbeck — 9/10, loved this, especially the storyline following Cathy, who I pictured as a Pearl-MaXXXine-esque character, fun in a very dark way
4. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson — 7/10, wanted to like this more but I found the characters less relatable, really lovely writing though
5. Songs for the Open Road, the American Poetry and Literacy Project — 10/10, and by that I mean the experience of reading this slowly on a long road trip is 10/10!
6. Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward — 9/10, loved this. especially in audiobook form
7. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee — 8/10, better than I expected, I loved learning about a perspective I didn’t know anything about previously (the experience of Koreans in Japan)
8. Erasure, Percival Everett — 7/10, I think seeing the movie first lessened the experience of this for me. but I loved the weird vignettes of writers and artists within the book, and the book-within-the-book
9. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, David Brooks — ?/10, not finished yet, but I already feel like a better person for having read part of it, so would recommend!
10. The Years, Annie Ernaux — ?/10, also still in progress, but loving it so far

What did you read this summer?