Summer(ween) Syllabus
summer reads for those of us who don't love "summer reads"
There is nothing I love more than sitting in the sun with a good book, and yet summer is not my ideal reading season. As someone who gravitates towards more summerween reading, but also wants to feel like they’re reading summery, atmospheric reads with everyone else, building a summer tbr is by far the hardest. Never fear, I have constructed the perfect summer tbr formula for the not summer reader!! As always, this syllabus post comes with book recs, along with tv and movie recs!
how to build your summer tbr
‘nothing happens, but so much happens’ kind of lit fic: the blinding heat, hazy summer feeling means you have to have some books on hand that reflect that meandering fuzzy time sort of storytelling.
A meandering novel about a con-artist named Alex who is killing time after being temporarily (?) kicked out of her older boyfriend’s home during the summer. Sweltering with tension and heat, literally and figuratively, the novel is intense and suspenseful and brings you all the way to the edge, before simply fizzling out. Alex is messy, manipulative, morally questionable, and truly delusional. The perfect hazy, interior, blazing sun summer read.
I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman
The kind of book that you can read over and over again and gain something new from every time. We follow a nameless protagonist, one of forty women who escaped from a mysterious bunker in which they were imprisoned, as she navigates the strange post-apocalyptic landscape she finds herself in. Simply put, a novel about what it means to be human. A read that will have you staring into the sun, lost in thought.
One Hundred Years of Solitude - García Márquez, Gabriel
The grandfather of magical realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude, regales the lives of the Buendia family and the fictional town of Macondo through violence, strife, death, and discovery. A novel where time slips through your fingers, where the border between the real and the surreal blurs, and magic is real. The muggy air, babbling river, and sun soaked houses of this fictionalised Colombian town make this a quintessential fuzzy time summer read. The kind of book that feels like waking up bleary eyed and slightly disconcerted after an unexpected nap in the sun.
short story collections: for sitting languidly in the sun and reading a perfect 20-50 page short story before you fall asleep or get into a body of water.
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth - Kevin Wilson
”short stories, for me, are like stealing a car, driving it as fast as you can, and crashing it into a tree, knowing you were always going to do that very thing. And then you crawl out of the car, which is now mangled and smoking, and you realize that you aren’t dead, that you’re still alive. And you look at the car, and it’s beautiful. And you walk away.”
This is the collection of short stories that got me into short stories. From the stand-in-grandma to the museum of whatnot, Wilson’s vignettes are perfect, dark absurdity. Contending primarily with themes of grief and loss, every page of this collection will have you mesmerised with its wit and pathos. The perfect strange, spellbinding, blazing heat read.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove - Karen Russell
Worth it for the title short story alone, where vampires contend with their immortality to the backdrop of a picturesque italian lemon grove. Every sentence feels bright and lively, a collection that is truly un-put-down-able. These short stories are full of gothic horror, humour, and humanity, perfect for the reader who is more invested in concept and character than the plot arc ending in a neatly tied bow.
a book with emotional tension as oppressive as the heat: even if you’re not a romance reader, summer is absolutely the time for novels about emotional and sexual tension. for me, this means classics or throwback Y/A novels.
A Pair of Blue Eyes - Thomas Hardy
A somewhat deep cuts Thomas Hardy novel, but one of my favourites. Set in a coastal Cornwall town, the naive and vain Elfride Swancourt finds herself the object of affection of two potential lovers. So faced paced and full of suspense that it literally birthed the term cliff-hanger, this novel is bursting at the seams with emotional intensity and action. It’s extravagant and theatrical, and fate and nature play principal roles. The kind of story that you can get swept up in on a summer afternoon.
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
A less popular John Green, but my personal favourite from when I was a teenager. Filled with young adult sexual tension and angst in a way that will make you feel deeply nostalgic, whether you’ve already read it or not. The novel follows child prodigy Colin Singleton (dater of many a woman named Katherine) and his best friend on an existential summer road trip— a quest to perfect a formula for predicting the lifespan of a relationship. The novel is sun soaked and overly earnest, but the primary theme of finding and re-inventing yourself is one that still strikes as an adult.
summerween reads: for when you’re ready for the autumn leaves to fall, summer-ish, gothic, campus novels.
The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
I just finished reading this series for the very first time and cannot stop raving about it! If you’ve never read it, now is the perfect time to start since the graphic novel adaptation comes out next month!!! The first book in this series in particular is perfect summerween reading. Set in Virginia right before the school year begins, its pure southern gothic, supernatural perfection. And if you start now, you can read the rest of the series throughout the fall!
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
Blue Sargent has always known two things: that she, unlike her family, is not psychic and that her kiss will kill her true love. Everything changes when she sees the spirit of a rich private school boy on St. Mark’s Eve.
Richard Gansey lives for two things: finding an undead Welsh king, Glendower, and his eccentric, troubled group of friends, Adam, Ronan, and Noah.
When fate brings them all together, things begin to get all the more magical and dangerous.
A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik
The first book of an incredibly unique and magical campus series, filled with genuine danger and suspense. A Deadly Education makes interesting and salient critiques of classism, academia, and fate. Set at the Scholomance, a sentient school for magically gifted children, where graduation is less throwing your cap into the air, and more lets see who survived the deadly monster fight that is the graduation ceremony, this novel will have your heart pounding with suspense. Our protagonist El, fated to be evil, is hoping to defy her prophecy by being a magical loner, when she makes a discovery that changes everything— a discovery that fills her with hope and despair, and forces her to work with her classmates.
This novel very much turns dark academia on its head, and while danger lurks under the surface, the characters are incredibly charming and the novel somehow has a sort of middle grade aura about it (mainly in the dialogue). Dark and twisty, but also funny and full of heart, the perfect not quite light summerween read!
finally, actual beach reads: you have to keep some actual traditionally summery easy beach reads on hand for when the feeling suddenly strikes! the key to enjoying a traditional beach read is picking up a new release so that you can feel like you’re in on the vibe with everyone else
One Golden Summer - Carley Fortune1
Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer there at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life.
Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay. But as soon as they settle in, their peace is disrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow boat, and the man driving it.
Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he’s all grown up—a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted days and warm nights out on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice’s soul, but when she looks up and sees his piercing green gaze directly on her, she begins to worry for her heart.
Because Alice sees people—that’s why she is so good at what she does—but she’s never met someone who looks and sees her right back.
This is the brand new companion novel to Every Summer After, focusing on a different brother, Charlie. Every Summer After’s biggest strength was its summery lake house atmosphere, general sense of childhood summery nostalgia, and sort of knock off The Summer I Turned Pretty vibe. The idea of a character who has been watching these charismatic brothers from afar seems like a unique and compelling premise for a companion novel. This book also comes highly recommended from my romance reader sister!
Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid
TJR is very much a summery author to me, her novels are well written and well executed, but often fairly simple summery California stories. I digress, I would love to recommend her new release, Atmosphere, but something about space travel doesn’t strike me as summery— instead I’m recommending this gem from her backlist.
Malibu Rising follows four siblings leading tumultuous, secretive lives, on one night where everything comes to light. The novel is set in 1950’s California, lots of surfing, driving on the PCH, and an iconic annual summer beach party. Reads almost like a soap opera, its cheesy, but the emotional beats and plot twists will keep you turning the pages. Also Mick Riva origin story.
movies and tv shows!
Austenland
Jane Austen is such a quintessentially summery author that I didn’t bother including something so obvious on my list of book recs, however, Austenland is a MUST. A silly, nerdy rom com that follows a woman obsessed with Austen novels who spends her savings on the cheapest package at a Jane Austen themed summer resort. Filled with references and direct plot parallels to various Austen novels, this is the perfect summer rom-com for an Austen fan.
Also Jennifer Coolidge, that alone should sell you on this movie if you somehow haven’t seen it yet.
Challengers
Very literally a sweaty summery film. Challengers is about a messy love triangle between aspiring tennis players: best friends Patrick and Art, and the elusive and alluring Tashi. If you somehow haven’t seen this, I’m jealous that you get to experience it for the first time. The cinematography and score are bewitching, and the tension between the characters is perfection.
Everything is sex, except sex, which is tennis.
Gravity Falls
Summerween origin story! Essential viewing for the summertime. Dipper and Mabel are dropped off in Gravity Falls to spend the summer with their uncle. With the help of a mysterious journal found in the woods, Dipper and Mabel begin to uncover strange and supernatural mysteries in the town. Very much American Gothic Horror, in an absurdly charming and whimsical show technically for children. Re-watching Gravity Falls is a summer must do for fans of the gothic and supernatural.
Psych
Santa Barbara summer! It’s summertime, you need a funny, nostalgic, CW rewatch to throw on in the background, and Psych is it. Shawn Spencer, psychic detective, and his begrudging parter Gus, solve murders worthy of M. Night Shyamalan— sometimes working with the police, but mostly working against them. Psych is funny, and suspenseful, and has aged better than you’d think!
and leave a comment if you’re adding any of these books to your summer tbr!
my summer tbr!
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - V. E. Schwab
The God of the Woods - Liz Moore
Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers
The Waves - Virginia Woolf
Katabasis - R.F. Kuang
The Listeners - Maggie Stiefvater
East of Eden- John Steinbeck
Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid
New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
One Golden Summer - Carley Fortune
disclaimer that this is the only book on this list that i haven’t read! new release and all
Yes to Psych!
shoutout malibu rising!