Summer Reading List
Need a good book? Here are some of my favorite novels and one nonfiction must-read.
Though I wrote a nonfiction book and am often writing about books of psychology and politics, I find myself reading fiction more often than not lately. I thought it was time to create a proper summer reading list for you, most of which are novels. I snuck in one nonfiction book and one book of poetry at the end that I just couldn’t help but recommend.
Do you need a good story to soothe the ailing soul or just enjoy while silencing the unrelenting news? One or two of these might do just the trick.
1) The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
This is the book I’m currently reading before bed. It’s the only book on this list that I haven’t finished yet, but I’ve been immediately drawn in by the story. I didn’t know much about what to expect when I grabbed a copy, except for the huge buzz around this novel and Vuong in general, but I absolutely did not anticipate how much the first few pages would remind me of the poetry of Richard Hugo, whom I grew up reading in Montana. (More on that on #11.) The book begins with a strong sense of place, grounding the reader’s feet deeply on the earth, in the town of East Gladness, before moving forward with the characters and plot. This is a story about Hai, a nineteen-year-old Vietnamese American, becoming an unexpected caregiver for an aging Lithuanian refugee named Grazina. The characters are beautifully rendered, and the dialogue has already made me laugh out loud several times. I’m looking forward to returning to it tonight.
2) While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Think Knives Out meets The Pelican Brief: the swing vote on the Supreme Court has fallen into a coma, and a young law clerk has to figure out what happened while the clock is ticking. Did he leave her clues to follow? Yes. Does she have a messy backstory? Yes. I devoured this poolside a few summers ago and still recommend it as a good read for political junkies who also just want to get lost in a thriller for a while. The incomparable queen of democracy,
, is promoting her new book in this now-trilogy, which is due out next week. What a great time to read the first book if you haven’t already.
3) Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker
I have a physical memory of being curled up in the chair in my living room as I devoured the last fifty pages of this book. What was happening?? How would it end?? I was not prepared for the unexpected twists in this story, and was wide-eyed when I finished the last page. The fabulous
is a Portland writer, a fierce feminist, and an advocate for survivors of domestic violence, which certainly comes through in this novel. She knows how to write a page-turner rich with empathy and psychological intrigue.
4) The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman
The third book of this trilogy is scheduled for publication in October, which I am eagerly awaiting. The first two of these books were on my to-read list for a long time, and they got me through the post-inauguration weeks when I finally dove in earlier this year. I will say that I listened to these books, which I recommend. They’re narrated by the wonderful actor Michael Sheen, and the way he reads makes it feel like a movie. I’d go on walks, cook, fold laundry, and throw the ball for my dog, listening to this book, and it was medicine for the soul. This book is a prequel to His Dark Materials, which may make the story more riveting? I’m not sure how important it is to have read the His Dark Materials trilogy first, but if you need a show to binge, the series adaptation is incredible. Philip Pullman is a treasure, and the world he created is magical, mythic, and deeply Jungian. The I Ching plays a significant role in this story, too. Everything is very similar to our own world, with battles against religious extremism, fascism, patriarchy, and a search for the lost feminine, except that everyone in this world has a daemon, an animal soul that wanders around with them. Can the person and daemon ever be separated? That’s a very important question…
5) Orbital by Samantha Harvey
This was the first book I read this year, and it was transporting, truly unlike anything else I’ve read. The whole story takes place in the International Space Station orbiting Earth, but it’s more a meditation on existence than anything approaching science fiction. Like, if ambient music were a novel. It’s beautiful, simple, quiet, and affecting. I’m not sure that it’s a page-turner like the last few books, but it feels like a warm bath while you’re reading it and stays with you long afterwards. Also, it won the Booker Prize last year, so you don’t need to take my word for it.
6) Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll
This is the only nonfiction book on the list, but it must be included.
is an absolute legend. A national treasure. She has proven over and over that the man who seems like he can get away with everything can, in fact, be beaten. She writes about the defamation trials in a way that feels like a very serious and very not-serious thing all at once, like All the President’s Men and Cosmopolitan were cooked together. The result is delicious. It’s also weirdly hopeful, despite the subject matter. She persevered, and she won. Twice. This book came out just last month, and I read it over a couple of days. Of course, I knew how it ended, and I still couldn’t put it down!
7) The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
This had also been on my to-read list for a long time, and I finally read it recently, drawn as I’ve been to science fiction that reflects bad, bad times. It’s a comfort, somehow, to read about other worlds worse off than ours. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into this book, in the way I’ve found happens with some sci-fi that requires all sorts of world-building up front. But once I got really immersed in the story, I absolutely had to know what was going to happen to Essun and Damaya, and just why Hoa is the way he is. By the time I got to the end, I felt pretty certain I’d continue with the trilogy (so many trilogies!). Now that I know all about this world and how it works, I’m need to know what happens.
7) James by Percival Everett
Chances are high that you’ve already read this book yourself. If not, you probably don’t need me to remind you to put it on your summer reading list. Once a book has won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, you know it’s a must-read. I wasn’t sure if I should read James at first because I had never been assigned nor gotten around to reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on my own (I know, I know). I wondered how much I might miss about the story if I started with James. I suppose I’ll find out someday, but this novel is certainly just fine all on its own. It’s a masterwork, a story I’m unlikely to ever forget, with plenty of surprises and—from what I’ve gleaned—entirely new plot twists from its Twain predecessor. It’s a book that moves with all the highs and lows that Everett is known for delivering, and it offers a deeply felt, very personal reminder of all the ways fascism was alive and well at the founding of America. James brings that to life in flesh-and-blood renderings that offer a necessary perspective on where we are and where we might go next.
9) The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
I’ve recommended this book many times to many people and say things like “Maria Dahvana Headley is a genius,” and “I’ve never read anything like it.” I stand by both statements. For those who love books like Madeline Miller’s Circe, this is a darker and distinctly modern take on Beowulf (of which Dhavana Headley also published a new translation). The story focuses on Grendel’s mother, an ignored and maligned character in the original Beowulf. Except it all takes place in suburban America with hauntings of recent wars abroad. I read most of this book with my mouth open in awe. It’s mythic, political, and a literary masterpiece.
10) Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
I conclude with one of my all-time favorite books. This is a murder mystery that features an older woman who studies astrology, loves animals, and is surviving winter in a remote Polish village largely on her own. The beginning is a little grisly, but the tone quickly shifts into a lighter character study of the very charming Janina as all sorts of mystery begins to unfold around her. Is it actually magical realism? Every page keeps you guessing. Tokarczuk is another fiction writer I’m very happy to call a genius, and she has also won just about every literary award there is to win. Her books are highly psychological, with Jungian overtones throughout, and I think this one is her best. It’s delightful, intriguing, and wildly smart. As for the wintery setting, I read it in the height of summer and think you should too.
11) Making Certain it Goes On by Richard Hugo
Why am I adding a poetry book at number 11 when I could have stopped at 10 books? I couldn’t help it. After mentioning Hugo in my first recommendation, I kept coming back to his collected works. This is a book of poetry that I’ve carried around with me for decades. There are lines that come back to me regularly, and poems that can bring me to tears even though I’ve read them a hundred times. I mean, have you ever read the short poem “On Hearing a New Escalation”? Whew. Anyway, I’m recommending this now because I’ve also been reading Hugo’s excellent collection on writing and craft, The Triggering Town, and had it right next to Ocean Vuong’s novel when I made the stylistic connection to scene, setting, and place. I thought, in case you need a new poetry collection to read from time to time, you just can’t go wrong with Richard Hugo. Read “Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg,” if you haven’t. It’s a classic that just never gets old.
The full list of books is on Bookshop here.
Now, what are you reading?! What’s already on your summer reading list? Tell us everything.
The Monthly Men’s Group is next weekend:
Sunday, July 20th, 10-11:30am PDT / 1-2:30pm EDT — Register here. Speaking of books, they’re starting to explore The Hidden Spirituality of Men by Matthew Fox. Register early to receive the first set of pages by pdf!
See upcoming events here.
I’m Satya Doyle Byock, psychotherapist, author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood, director of The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies, and co-host of a podcast on Jung’s Red Book. My work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Oprah Daily, NPR, The BBC, Literary Hub, The Tamron Hall Show, and on podcasts such as Apple News in Conversation and The Joseph Campbell Foundation Podcast.
All this will be older books (because I'm old?), some of my own favorites: *Marcelo in the Real World*, by Francisco X. Stork, about a young man on the high-functioning end of the Asperger's spectrum who hears inner music, and what happens when he goes to work at his father's corporate law office in downtown Boston. (Stork worked as a lawyer in Boston, and lived at a halfway house for autistic people.)
*The Fifth Sacred Thing* (fantasy, utopia/dystopia) by Starhawk (pub 1993, available thru used online bookstores and at bookshop.org) and *Dreaming the Dark*, essays about how to take back the night.
*The Dispossessed* by Ursula Le Guin, s.f. about a utopia going dark from rigidity; set against a world like our own (only not quite as bad), and the temporal physicist who sparks revolution.
*Lost Connections: why you're depressed and how to find hope* by Johann Hari, journalist and researcher, who was on anti-depressants for decades; traveled around the world to get answers to question posed in the title. Interesting research and excellent stories (nonfiction).
*Nation* by Terry Pratchett, one of his few not-Discworld novels, about an alternate South Seas island, and two survivors of a tsunami, Mau (who lives on the island), Ermintrude aka Daphne, an English girl on a boat that got stuck there, and the people who wash ashore, and how they come to make ... a nation.
*The Deptford Trilogy* by Robertson Davies; about Dunstan Ramsey, scholar and hagiographer, his frenemy Boy Staunton, wealthy business man/philanderer, Magnus Eisengrim, the greatest magician in the world, and his mentor/patron, Liesl 'Vitzliputzli' -- all told in Jungian terms.
This is a great list- thank you so much for compiling this!