R&R's Summer Reading Recommendations! (Part 1: Fiction)
30 Fantastic Books to Add to Your End-of-Summer Reading List
Summer’s not over yet! Whether you’re at the beach or the pool, on a long airline flight to an exotic getaway, or simply enjoying the pleasures of a quiet staycation from home, there’s still time to add a few titles to your summer reading list.
Which is why we’ve decided to release a list with a few of our favorite reading recommendations, both old and new, from the big batch of books we’ve discussed on our Aesthetic Arrest Podcast. Part 1 is focused on fiction, with books ranging from acclaimed masterpieces by Nobel Prize-winning authors to offbeat sci-fi/fantasy classics to some of our favorite new works of contemporary fiction published in the past year or so. Enjoy! And check back next week for Part 2 with our poetry and nonfiction recommendations!
R&R's Summer Reading Recommendations! (Part 1: Fiction)
Admiring Silence by Abdulrazak Gurnah
“A ‘corrosively funny and relentless’ (The New York Times) tale of cultural identity and displacement, Admiring Silence is the story of a man's dual lives as a refugee from his native Zanzibar in England.” [Source]
Agent Running in the Field by John Le Carré
“A thrilling tale for our times from the undisputed master of the spy genre … Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.” [Source]
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
“In the face of the misery in his homeland, the artist Masuji Ono was unwilling to devote his art solely to the celebration of physical beauty. Instead, he put his work in the service of the imperialist movement that led Japan into World War II. … Indicted by society for its defeat and reviled for his past aesthetics, he relives the passage through his personal history that makes him both a hero and a coward but, above all, a human being.” [Source]
Cantoras by Caro de Robertis
“In defiance of the brutal military government that took power in Uruguay in the 1970s, and under which homosexuality is a dangerous transgression, five women miraculously find one another--and, together, an isolated cape that they claim as their own. … A groundbreaking, genre-defining work, Cantoras is a breathtaking portrait of queer love, community, forgotten history, and the strength of the human spirit.” [Source]
Celestial Mechanics by William Least Heat-Moon
“Just as William Least Heat-Moon's nonfiction employs many fictional narrative techniques, Celestial Mechanics draws upon nonfictional devices to build a story that crosses traditional boundaries between the two. Celestial Mechanics is the clarion call of a generation that believes rationality and spirituality can--and should--coexist, a generation defined by globalization, where the only things left unknown are what is within and beyond us, those cosmic realms revealed by the telescope and the quantum world suggested by the microscope. This book is for those of us steeped in a hustle-and-bustle world we can't escape, who believe that practices like mindfulness and rational deduction and childlike wonder are the keys to the kind of fulfillment that the commercial aspects of our lives can never hope to address.” [Source]
The Centaur by Algernon Blackwood
“The Centaur is a story of a man who is uncomfortable in the modern world and seeks to find the relief from this feeling. He takes vacation to get back in touch with Nature, and heads for Caucasus, the land, which he believes is not yet polluted with the imprint of progress. On his way, he encounters several individuals who argue both for and against the reality of his discomfort and the meaning behind it. Thus, the whole story turns into an opposition and, at the same time, friendship between two sorts of man: the skeptic and the dreamer. … A deeply philosophical novel about our inner drive to discover the mysteries of the world, that remains topical for all times.” [Source]
Changing Planes: Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
“In these ‘vivid, entertaining, philosophical dispatches’ (San Francisco Chronicle), literary legend Ursula K. Le Guin weaves together influences as wide-reaching as Borges, The Little Prince, and Gulliver's Travels to examine feminism, tyranny, mortality and immortality, art, and the meaning--and mystery--of being human. … With ‘the eye of an anthropologist and the humor of a satirist’ (USA Today), Le Guin takes readers on a truly universal tour, showing through the foreign and alien indelible truths about our own human society.” [Source]
The Education of Harriet Hatfield by May Sarton
“When Harriet Hatfield opens a bookstore for women in a blue-collar neighborhood near Boston, she is bombarded by anonymous threats. And when the Boston Globe reports ‘Lesbian Bookstore Owner Threatened’, her education in the narrow-mindedness of her fellow man--and woman--begins.” [Source]
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
“‘A remarkable novel’ (The Washington Post) from New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende, introducing her most enchanting creation, Eva Luna: a lover, a writer, a revolutionary, and above all a storyteller. … As Eva tells her story, Isabel Allende conjures up a whole complex South American nation--the rich, the poor, the simple, and the sophisticated--in a novel replete with character and incident, with drama and comedy and history, with battles and passions, rebellions and reunions, a novel that celebrates the power of imagination to create a better world.” [Source]
Forbidden Colors by Yukio Mishima
“From one of Japan's greatest modern writers comes an exquisitely disturbing novel of sexual combat and concealed passion, a work that distills beauty, longing, and loathing into an intoxicating tale. - ‘One of the outstanding writers of the world.’ --The New York Times” [Source]
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
“‘A must-read about modern Britain and womanhood . . . An impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves . . . Her style is passionate, razor-sharp, brimming with energy and humor. There is never a single moment of dullness in this book and the pace does not allow you to turn away from its momentum.’ --Booker Prize Judges … Sparklingly witty and filled with emotion, centering voices we often see othered, and written in an innovative fast-moving form that borrows technique from poetry, Girl, Woman, Other is a polyphonic and richly textured social novel that shows a side of Britain we rarely see, one that reminds us of all that connects us to our neighbors, even in times when we are encouraged to be split apart.” [Source]
The Good-Hearted Gardeners by Suniti Namjoshi
“Sybil is a member of The Good-Hearted Gardeners, a Society for Well-Meaning Efforts for the Betterment of Language and the Salvation of the Planet … The Good-Hearted Gardeners set about trying to talk to anyone - crows, magpies, robins, goldfish, cows, horses, rats, mice - who will talk to them. With climate change and technology gone mad, what's in store is a frightening scenario that threatens everyone - humans, animals, plants. Can the headlong rush to extinction be halted? When the birds, and the cows and the horses and the mice and all the rest come together, much is made possible. But at what cost? Will the planet and its inhabitants be saved? A comedic allegory for our future.” [Source]
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
“A modern classic, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, who grow up haphazardly, first under the care of their competent grandmother, then of two comically bumbling great-aunts, and finally of Sylvie, the eccentric and remote sister of their dead mother. … Ruth and Lucille's struggle toward adulthood beautifully illuminates the price of loss and survival, and the dangerous and deep undertow of transcience.” [Source]
The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin
“Assassin priests, mad kings, and the goddess of death collide in the first book of the Dreamblood Duology by NYT bestselling and three time Hugo-Award winning author N. K. Jemisin. … In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers -- the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt.” [Source]
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
“‘Remarkable...mesmerizing...compelling.... An entire world unfolds in Tolstoyan tide of event and detail....Give yourself over to the world Ms. Tan creates for you.’ --The New York Times Book Review … Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past--including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949.” [Source]
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
“The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world. … Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in language as alluring as it is original, Land of Milk and Honey lays provocatively bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is a daringly imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we play to survive. Most of all, it is a love letter to food, to wild delight, and to the transformative power of a woman embracing her own appetite.” [Source]
The Last Gift of the Master Artists by Ben Okri
“A boy and a girl meet by chance on a riverbank in Africa. One is the son of a king, struggling to find his place in the world, the other the daughter of a craftsman from the secretive tribe of master artists. … But this is no fairy tale, no conventional love story. Their world--though they don't know it yet--is ending. A strange wind has begun to blow, and in its wake, things are disappearing: songs, stories, artworks, and finally, people. Beautiful ships with white sails are glimpsed on the horizon...” [Source]
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
“In a masterwork that both deepens and enlarges the world of her previous novels, acclaimed author Louise Erdrich captures the essence of a time and the spirit of a woman who felt compelled by her beliefs to serve her people as a priest. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse deals with miracles, crises of faith, struggles with good and evil, temptation, and the corrosive and redemptive power of secrecy. … The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse is a work of an avid heart, a writer's writer, and a storytelling genius.” [Source]
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
“In ‘one of Morrison's most haunting works’ (New York Times) the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner reveals what lies beneath the surface of slavery. But at its heart, like Beloved, it is the story of a mother and a daughter--a mother who casts off her daughter in order to save her, and a daughter who may never exorcise that abandonment.” [Source]
Nights Too Short to Dance by Marie-Claire Blais
“René suddenly feels like an old man. Recovering at home after an illness, his mind will not leave the past. He is both comforted and annoyed by the officious care provided by his Russian nurse, who keeps referring to him as a woman. It is a lifetime struggle. … The Stonewall riots. The AIDS epidemic where they lost so much. The Women's March on Washington. … An icon of queer literature, Marie-Claire Blais's characters bring to life pivotal moments in the fight for queer rights.” [Source]
North Woods by Daniel Mason
“This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we're connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we're gone?” [Source]
The Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare
“The mysterious palace of dreams stands at the heart of a vast empire. Inside, workers sift, sort, and interpret the dreams of the empire's citizens. … Mark-Alem, scion of a noble family that has provided viziers to the Sultan from time immemorial, and whose power the Sultan distrusts, is recruited into the Palace of Dreams at the humblest level. … But he rapidly rises through the hierarchy--only barely finding his bearings in one section of the Palace's labyrinthine passages that represent the entire empire's consciousness laid bare before he is promoted to another. And the pressure only increases as he becomes familiar with the fates of subversive dreamers and personally responsible for the sort of dreams that might ruin an entire family. A family like his own.” [Source]
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
“When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. … Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.” [Source]
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
“Celebrated author Sofia Samatar presents a mystical, revolutionary space adventure for the exhausted dreamer in this brilliant science fiction novella tackling the carceral state and violence embedded in the ivory tower while embodying the legacy of Ursula K. Le Guin.” [Source]
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
“How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures? … In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance--a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home. Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?” [Source]
The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara
“A community of Black faith healers witness an event that will change their lives forever in this ‘hard-nosed, wise, funny’ novel (Los Angeles Times). … Though they all united in their search for the healing properties of salt, some of them are centered, some are off-balance; some are frightened, and some are daring. From the men who live off welfare women to the mud mothers who carry their children in their hides, the novel brilliantly explores the narcissistic aspect of despair and the tremendous responsibility that comes with physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.” [Source]
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
“Here is the story of the Iliad as we've never heard it before: in the words of Briseis, Trojan queen and captive of Achilles. Given only a few words in Homer's epic and largely erased by history, she is nonetheless a pivotal figure in the Trojan War. … Her story pulls back the veil on the thousands of women who lived behind the scenes of the Greek army camp--concubines, nurses, prostitutes, the women who lay out the dead--as gods and mortals spar, and as a legendary war hurtles toward its inevitable conclusion. Brilliantly written, filled with moments of terror and beauty, The Silence of the Girls gives voice to an extraordinary woman--and makes an ancient story new again.” [Source]
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
“Star Maker is the science fiction classic about a human who is transported out of his body and finds himself able to explore space and other planets. The story describes a history of life in the universe and tackles themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator. A pervading theme is the progressive unity between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written.” [Source]
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Collins
“Humorous, poignant, perceptive, and full of grace, Kathleen Collins's stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issues--race, gender, family, and sexuality--that shape the ordinary moments in our lives. … Both contemporary and timeless, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? is a major addition to the literary canon, and is sure to earn Kathleen Collins the widespread recognition she is long overdue.” [Source]
The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
“By National Book Award and the National Book Critics' Circle Award finalist for An Unnecessary Woman, Rabih Alameddine, comes a transporting new novel about an Arab American trans woman's journey among Syrian refugees on Lesbos island. … Mina Simpson, a Lebanese doctor, arrives at the infamous Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece, after being urgently summoned for help by her friend who runs an NGO there. … Cunningly weaving in stories of other refugees into Mina's singular own, The Wrong End of the Telescope is a bedazzling tapestry of both tragic and amusing portraits of indomitable spirits facing a humanitarian crisis.” [Source]
Click here to see the full list (all available for purchase) at our Epicurean Vagabonds storefront at Bookshop.org! Check back next week for Part 2, which will include our recommendations for poetry and nonfiction books.
And tell us in the comments — what’s on your summer reading list?
As an avid reader, I have read several of the books on this list and of those, every one was excellent and worth a re-read. That said, I know I will enjoy the other books on this list that I haven't read based on your recommendation. Thank you--I am always on the lookout for a good read.