Whenever summer comes around, I always like to make a list of books I want to read during the time I have free. I think it's a good thing to read during the summer or whenever I have free time because I like to keep my imagination active and learn something new. Here are some books I recommend you reading during your free time too:
1. California by Edan Lepucki
I know this one has been out for a while, but if you haven't gotten the chance to read it or you have been debating whether or not to read it, now is your chance. This book is a dystopian novel set in California (obviously) where the two protagonists, a married couple with the names of Cal and Frida, move out of their shack in the wild to a sheltered community in hopes to find help in raising a child. Cal and Frida believed moving into this community after a time of being isolated in the woods would have been a fun one; however, if that was the case, then we wouldn't have a story.
2. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Have you read The Lovely Bones? This book seems to go in the same direction of Bones. A Chinese-American family in the 70s is coping with the idea that the eldest sister, Lydia, is dead. Well, they don't know it at first. Lydia was the favorite child of the family and when her body is found, the family doesn't know what to do. Instead of following a ghost throughout the story, readers follow the family in their different ways of coping with the death of one of their own and regaining the balance through the chaos.
3. Last Ride to Graceland by Kim Wright
Are you a big music fan like me? Or do you listen to some oldies? Well, these two books are for you. The Last Ride to Graceland is a novel about a girl, Cory, trying to find out if her dad is Elvis or not. Cory's mother had died and Cory had found a lot of Elvis's memorabilia in the backyard. Turns out, Cory's mother was a back up singer for the King and was at Graceland the day Elvis had passed. When Cory does the math of the dates of her birth and her mother's marriage to her high school sweetheart, Cory doesn't feel at ease with the true identity of her biological father.
4. You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein
How about a piece of nonfiction for your time in the sun? This novel is written by Inside Amy Schumer's executive producer Jessi Klein, who decided to put her life stories into a book. Told in a never ending funny way, Klein explains what it was like transforming from a "Pippi Longstocking-esque tomboy to a are-you-a-lesbian-or-what tom man" and others. If you are looking for a good laugh while sitting poolside, then grab yourself a copy of You'll Grow Out of It to stuff in your bag.
5. The Girls by Emma Cline
How about we change the scene of where to read; how about you read this one by a campfire? The Girls is a coming of age novel set in Northern California in the beginning of the 70s. Evie, a "lonely and thoughtful teenager", meets a group of girls in the park and instantly wants to be accepted into their group... which turns out to be a cult, a pretty well known one. Evie spends more and more time away from home with the cult which will lead her into a timeline closer to a "unthinkable violence".
6. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
Like the idea of reading a bit of a horror story? How about The Black Dahlia? Based off of the true crime in the 40s, The Black Dahlia explores the corruptness in the L.A. police department surrounding the case. Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert is the protagonist of this tale and readers watch as Bucky goes through his life before and after seeing the disfigured body of a once Elizabeth Short.
7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
If you are a lover of superhero comics and movies, I recommend you read this book. Michael Chabon based the idea of this book off of the actual story of how Superman was created. Superman's creators, two Jewish schoolboys who were bullied in school, used Superman as a way to let their imagination win their battles. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay does the same. Set in the era of World War II, when Joe Kavalier is a Jewish refugee living with his American cousin Sam Clay, the story shows the ups and downs of the characters struggling to be the hero needed for reality.
If you didn't like any of these books, maybe you have your own books laying around the house that you got too busy to read or maybe you could just reread them. Go ahead and make a list of books you want to read this summer, whether it is by the pool, ocean or lake. If you don't get to them this summer, there are always other times. It's good to read on your off time because it keeps your brain working and you can learn some new and cool things, like how superheroes were created or (wrong) ways to solve a murder in the 1940s.
