Welcome to the annual Circle Back Summer Reading List. Think melty ice cream cones and warped paperbacks, kindles in chaise loungers, and sticky pages read poolside.
We cast a wide net, reaching out to group chats, friendlies, mentors, subscribers, strangers and more to source another reading list. We’ve noticed our circles are swirling between genres this summer, with several readers enthusiastically recommending Lena Dunham’s Famesick and others sharing steamy beach reads and classics in the same breath.
This week’s Treasure Trove is curated to support your reading experience, whether you’re reading in front of a blasting AC or a lapping coastline.
Happy summer and happy reading!
Clara N: “Ok what I read recently and loved: Transcription by Ben Lerner, Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill. Currently reading The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro...and then may read Anna Karenina next….which I know is crazy hahah”
•
Daniel R: “My last two reads were The Keeper by Tana French (the latest from the queen of Irish crime) and Keith McNally’s memoir I Regret Almost Everything (in preparation for bistro summer, I do not condone his Woody Allen opinions, etc). Just started The Stranger by Albert Camus, which I want to read before seeing the new film adaptation (which looks sexy and depressing.)”
•
Dee W: “The Left Hand of Darkness rn and wish I had a book club to talk about it with!”
•
Diana H: “London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, one of our greatest living journalists who makes turning a massive amount of research into a compelling narrative look like easy work, I am in awe of him and will read anything he writes. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley which I’m told will expand my framework for thinking about pharma and capitalism. Norteña by Mexican pop/folk singer Julieta Venegas, with whom I share an ex, for gossip reasons. But also she’s extremely active on goodreads and an incisive critic so I know it will be good. On Eating by Alicia Kennedy, I’m obsessed with her moral clarity and insistence that all food is political. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, which a friend recommended and which is also apparently going to blow my mind about Pharma and illness. I’m probably also going to read Emma by Jane Austen who I continue to say is the master of writing about being surrounded by annoying people, a situation with which I’m familiar.”
Gillian G: “Currently reading and recommend: Empire of AI. Brilliantly narrated by the author in the audiobook and a perfect example of timely journalism that will be relevant for years. Some of the best AI writing I’ve read. Just finished Everyman by Roth and unfortunately it is a small work of genius about what it means that we all die. On my bedside table: Paradise Logic, interesting semi-experimental fiction. Not perfect, but deeply felt and interesting. Vineland, I love Pynchon but just have never finished this one. Was reading One Battle After Another and the book was so good I could not in fact enjoy the movie. To read list includes: Some Southern Gothic hits, thinking Faulkner Absalom Absalom!
Reading and enjoying Famesick, duh. Also about to finish the Bee Sting, which I thought for a second might be a work of genius, but now I think it’s just a very good and devastating novel.” My saves were:
•
Ian Z: “I’m currently reading The Wonderful World That Almost Was (new Peter Hujar/Paul Thiel book) which feels like a fun gay summer read; and then Maggie Nelson’s The Art of Cruelty is on my radar along with Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red.
Libby D: “I’ve been eyeing Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It for a beach read and Buckeye by Patrick Ryan for more serious. My book club just read the Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See and I would recommend.”
•
Lila E: “My book club is reading Wellness by Nathan Hill next month 👀 can’t vouch for it yet but I’m excited.”
•
Miranda H: “Just finished Strangers by Belle Burden. White Women Bibile. Picking up Heart the Lover by Emily King tomorrow.”
Rachel L: “Oooh well I’m currently reading Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence and the dystopian book We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, that we both picked up at a literary festival in Wales–so extremely random. Also on my to-read list: Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima, The Poetics of Space by Bachelard, System of Object by Baudrillard, Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp, and Confessions of an Art Addict by Peggy Guggenheim.
•
Tara C: “Ooooo I just finished Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash and gave it 5 stars. I also just finished Lena Dunham’s memoir Famesick and loved it. My next reads are: Kin by Tayari Jones, Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard, A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder.”
•
Juliana R: not necessarily new, but… Famesick, The Tell, and Good People.
DMY Sunnies, offered in universally flattering shapes and colorways (many of which are on sale!), for reading–or stealth people watching–at your local coffee shop.
We’d show off our summer reading with Shopu’s MIKAN bag, sliding a paperback between the netting by artisans in Shizuoka
Read in a field, tick-free with Zapwear’s bug protection pant.
A cheeky supersized towel from cool girl label, Emily Dawn Long, to justify reading while nude.
This linen striped sweater from Nothing Written screams slow summer evening reading on the porch.
On our recent stay at Argyll House, we were reminded just how good Helen Levy Mugs are. The Daily Mug in “Beach” is summer reading-friendly.
Circle Back-approved gentle sunscreen and UPF 50+ headscarf for reading during Peak UV index hours.
Cake from Lucie: For a different kind of reading experience, with a beautiful and delicious outcome guaranteed.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.