Looking for Additions to Your Summer Reading List? Here Are Some Ideas

The Land and Its People: Essays
By David Sedaris

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail 
By Bill Bryson

During the summer, I look for books with a light-hearted, witty tone. When I learned that David Sedaris published a new book, The Land and Its People: Essays, I had to get a copy. This current collection investigates what it means to be a traveler, a brother, and a lifelong friend. The essays in this collection are quirky, snarky, funny, and touching with a hint of melancholy. There are many relatable, laugh-out-loud moments that may seem outlandish, but are worth reading multiple times.

For fans of Sedaris, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is a perfect match, especially if you’re planning to travel over the summer. Bryson captures the same self-deprecating, cynical humor as he chronicles his ill-prepared attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail. Alongside his chaotic, eccentric companion, Bryson uncovers hysterical absurdity in everyday struggles and bizarre human encounters, mirroring Sedaris’s observations. While Bryson weaves in snippets of history and natural science, the heart of the book lies in its laugh-out-loud, grumpy narrative. It is an ideal read if you love witty travelogues driven by flawed characters and brilliant comedic timing.

—Tony Nguyen, associate university librarian, Rutgers Health Libraries

Yesteryear
By Caro Claire Burke

Quicksand
By Nella Larsen

If Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear has caught your eye, or if, in general, you find the cultural phenomenon of the “tradwife” fascinating for what it reveals (or obscures) about gender and self-determination, consider adding Nella Larsen’s Quicksand to your list this summer. Published in 1928, Quicksand is a brief but illuminating novel about the performance of womanhood and the search for authenticity and belonging. You may already know Larsen from her more famous novel Passing (1929), which was adapted into a film a few years ago. Like Passing, Quicksand is about the performance of identity in the context of race and gender, which adds dimension to the “tradwife” conversation. It centers women’s attempts to make their lives meaningful while navigating cultural scripts that we ourselves participate in and give power to.

— Lily Todorinova, undergraduate experience librarian/open educational research, Mabel Smith Douglass Library, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Villa Coco
By Andrew Sean Greer

The Lady in the Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story
By Marlena de Blasi

The unnamed protagonist of Andrew Sean Greer's Villa Coco is a recent college graduate with a degree in archives and records management and an underwhelming academic record that leaves him "...in no way prepared for the crucial final exam of Real Life.” When his college adviser suggests that he reply to a job notice from an elderly Italian baroness seeking someone to catalogue her collections of books, antiques, and artworks, he makes up his mind to buckle down and get serious about his life.  He manages to accomplish this while navigating countesses, con men, and a quirky cadre of the baroness's household staff. The fictionalized plot of Villa Coco was inspired by Greer's own experiences at a Tuscan-based writing residency founded and overseen by Baronessa Beatrice Monti della Corte. As such, and because he is a skillful writer, Greer effectively captures the Italy's intoxicating beauty. Villa Coco is also a coming-of-age story, and a poignant depiction of an intergenerational friendship. 

 If Villa Coco leaves you wanting to prolong your Italian reading sojourn, you'll be happy to discover The Lady in the Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story. This is a memoir written by journalist, chef, and restaurant critic Marlena de Blasi. It describes a prolonged renovation project that she and her Italian-born husband undertake to restore the crumbling ballroom of a 16th-century palazzo. As in Villa Coco, Orvieto is populated by a memorable cast of characters. De Blasi and her husband are not ex-pats navigating a move to a new country and culture; the American-born de Blasi had already been living in Italy for years.  But they are still subject to the messy unpredictability of life impinging on their plans, and to a small-town social circle that resists easy entry. As a professional chef, de Blasi accomplishes this last task in the way she knows best—through cooking.  DeBlasi's previous books include A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany. 

—Naomi Gold, reference and instruction librarian, John Cotton Dana Library, Rutgers University–Newark

This Story Might Save Your Life: A Novel
By Tiffany Crum

I'll Be Gone in the Dark 
By Michelle McNamara 

In Cold Blood 
By Truman Capote 

If Tiffany Crum’s This Story Might Save Your Life: A Novel has you looking for your next read, but you're in the mood for something darker, consider turning to true crime non-fiction. For readers fascinated by the complexities of human behavior and the ways ordinary lives can be upended by extraordinary events, I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2019) by Michelle McNamara is an engrossing investigation into the hunt for the Golden State Killer. For a classic of the genre, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (1966) remains a compelling exploration of crime, violence, and the stories we construct to make sense of both. Each of these books pairs a gripping narrative with a deeper examination of the people and forces behind real-life tragedies.

—John Powell, reference and instruction librarian, Paul Robeson Library, Rutgers University–Camden

The Midnight Library
The Midnight Train
The Humans 
How to Stop Time Quickly
By Matt Haig 

A Tale for the Time Being
By Ruth Ozeki

Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library is about a woman on the brink of death who visits a library where each book reveals an alternate version of her life. Haig has a gift for drawing out the messy beauty of life and the interconnectedness of people, leaving readers finding comfort in the imperfect and awe in the unbelievable.

Like other fans, I’ve eagerly anticipated his second novel set in the same universe: The Midnight Train. With a new set of characters, The Midnight Train brings its main character onto a train where each stop is a different story from his life. While waiting for its release this spring, I made my way through Haig’s other works. The Humans and How to Stop Time quickly became my favorites, books that explore our place within space and time, respectively.

If you’re also waiting for a copy of Midnight Train and have already made your way through Haig’s library, consider another old favorite of mine: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Ruth, a middle-aged woman on a remote island in British Columbia, finds a diary washed ashore, belonging to Nao, a teenage girl in Tokyo. The book moves between their lives, exploring loneliness, connection, time, and the strange ways people reach each other across distance and circumstance. It’s philosophical, quietly magical, and the characters will live in your thoughts for years, much like Haig’s.

—Melissa De Fino, cataloging and metadata librarian, Rutgers University Libraries