Summer Stack

Not pictured: Lisa Taddeo's new one, out next week

For the record, yes I was nervous about putting a stack of books by so much water, but, you know, summer picture opportunity and all that. 

Every year to reward myself for making it to the end of the school year alive, I buy myself a box of books, after months of limiting my purchases (not completely, since I'm not a total glutton for punishment). I don't necessarily commit to reading every single one during my eight weeks off, but I generally though most. 

A few things to note:

- six of them are nonfiction, which is quite a bit!

- ten are by women

- the one I'm most unintimidated by is Rachel Cusk's Outline, since word on the street is that it's tough (but rewarding)

- The shortest is Jhumpa Lahiri's Whereabout, a novella clocking in at just over 150 pages, and the longest is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, at almost 500

In a very small nutshell, why I chose each:

Outline by Rachel Cusk- love stories about writers, also up for the challenge

The Hour of the Land by Terry Tempest Williams- I love well-written books about nature, especially after reading Portage last summer. I am not planning on any big trips this year (next year, though! No clue where!), so this will give me some inspiration!

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott- A friend recommended this to me, plus it seems like a creative push

North by Scott Jurek- I am not always a huge fan of Jurek's voice, but he is an absolute beast when it comes to running, so I can't wait to hear about his time on the Appalachian Trail

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri- She wrote this in Italian, which she learned really as an adult, and then translated it back into English

Of Women and Salt  by Gabriela Garcia- Latin American family saga

The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken- short stories with rave reviews

Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger by Lisa Donvan- food memoir!

We Came, We Saw, We Left  by Charles Wheelan- a family takes to the road during the pandemic (what we all wished we had done) 

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee- McGhee looks at how racism is actually a poor financial choice for the nation 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley- I loved Lily and the Octopus and heard this was fun

Project Hail Mary  by Andy Weir- his first was great, his second mediocre... what will the third attempt yield?

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue- I have been meaning to read another book by the Room author and this one had good reviews

Animal by Lisa Taddeo (not pictured)- Nearly everyone read Three Women when it came out a few years ago, her nonfiction account of three women and their sexuality, and we're all standing by to see what her novel will be like