Booked All Summer: What I Read and Loved This Summer

Summer break is my ideal time to catch up on all the non-school-related books I’ve been wanting to read. Here is a list of my favorite summer reads!

“Intermezzo” – Sally Rooney
“Intermezzo” is the story of two brothers, Peter and Ivan, who recently lost their father to cancer. Both brothers are at different stages of life. Peter, a successful lawyer in his thirties, is dealing with his relationships with two women: his high school ex-girlfriend and his current 21-year-old girlfriend. Ivan, the younger 22-year-old brother, is a competitive chess player who is seeing a 36-year-old woman he met at a tournament.

Rooney’s unique storytelling abilities show readers how these two brothers grapple with their grief from losing their father, navigate brotherhood, and their differing love lives. Rooney finds a way to dig deeper into not only the protagonists’ lives but also the lives of those living in Ireland in our current political and economic climate.

“Intermezzo” is a fictional work that captures raw and intuitive experiences readers commonly share. My enjoyment of this book stems from the slice-of-life aspect that Rooney capitalizes on, where the book focuses on characters, relationships, and everyday conversations.

“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” – Gabrielle Zevin
Set across thirty years, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” follows the friendship of Sam Masur and Sadie Green. Two childhood friends who reconnected in college to create a video game together, Ichigo. This novel is ideal for video game and coding enthusiasts, as the process Sam and Sadie go through to get their game up and running is explained in substantial detail. Although there are numerous technological elements, that is not the primary focus. Zevin examines the issues of friendship, identity, disability, failure, love, and loss. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” can be classified as a love story, but a love story like none other.

“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent” – Isabel Wilkerson
As a reader, I don’t normally gravitate towards non-fiction books, so I was sceptical about whether this one would capture my attention. To my surprise, I ended up reading the first 100 pages in one sitting.

“Caste” is a timeless and extremely well-researched book that links the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany together. Wilkerson examines the pillars of caste systems and how they correlate to stories of famous people and everyday citizens across time. The main outcome of “Caste” is to understand that the caste system has been ever-present in America, and every day, there are ripple effects from the Nazi regime and the Antebellum period.

This book was difficult to read because of the historical horrors it reveals. “Caste” is an extremely important book, especially because of the current political and social climate, and is worth the discomfort that comes from reading.

“Funny Story” – Emily Henry
Daphne is a few months away from marrying her fiancé, Peter, but Peter soon reveals that he has been in love with his childhood best friend, Petra, since day one. This leaves Daphne stranded in a city she moved to because of Peter, apartmentless because of Peter, friendless because of Peter, and heartbroken because of Peter.

Her last resort is to reach out to Miles, Petra’s ex, for a place to stay. Given Daphne and Miles’ similar situation, their partner abruptly leaves for the other, and the move works easily. Now Daphne is forced to navigate her new roommate and decide if she wants to fight to make a life in the town her ex-fiance brought her to, or run for the hills.

Listening to this book as an audiobook made this book far more enjoyable, as the banter between Daphne and Miles was brought to life and had me actually laughing out loud. I was drawn to this book for two reasons: one, I’ve read everything Emily Henry has published except “Funny Story”, and two, the main character is a children’s librarian. As a children’s librarian myself, I enjoyed seeing Daphne’s passion, one that I equally share, portrayed in the novel. Daphne’s stories and interactions with library patrons were relatable and highly realistic. This book was enjoyable, clever, and an excellent summertime read.