The Summer Reading List

Of all the lovely things about summer — picnics, swimming, travel — my absolute FAVE is having time to read!

With no further ado, check out my list of recommended summer reads! (And see below for what I’ll be reading….)

[**FYI: As you might expect from Left Brain Buddha, there’s only a little bit of “light reading” on this list — consider this a reading list for people who like compelling, thought-provoking, and challenging reads.]

 

Compelling Fiction

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

So this one certainly isn’t the most uplifting read, but it is beautifully and starkly written. I had put off reading this one for a long time because I had been warned that it was gruesome (some parts are) and sad (some parts are). But the utter devotion and trust between the father and son (“man” and “boy”) in this eery post-apocalyptic world is touching.

And passages like this are, … well, wow: “No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes. So, he whispered to the sleeping boy. I have you.”

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

On the surface, this book looks like your typical “chick lit,” but Moriarty tells her story of three women facing different life crises (like Cecilia, who finds a letter her husband — still alive — has written for her to open only upon his death) with insight and humor.

When Amazon selected this as their Best Book of the Month in August 2013, they wrote, “Moriarty here wittily and observantly chronicles the life of middle aged, middle class Australian women, suburbanites who grapple with prosaic issues like marital fidelity and torturous ones like moral guilt and responsibility. You can’t help but laugh along with the small observations… But it’s the big ones — Can good people do very, very bad things, and what, exactly, are we responsible for, and for how long?–that will make you think.”

Perfect summer reading combo.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

This one has been rightly compared to Gone Girl — it’s page-turning (warning: you might stay up a bit late reading it!), it’s told by multiple narrators, and you have no idea who to trust. Add in some truly interesting characters, and you have the right combinations for a juicy summer read!

Sleepless Nights: Verses for the Wakeful (translated by Thomas Cleary)

This is a translation of poems written 800 years ago by the Buddhist poet Wen-siang. It is described as one of “the greatest masterpieces of secular Buddhist poetry.” I read this earlier in the year as part of a mindfulness study group, and though I am not a frequent reader of poetry, I loved the gorgeous and stark insights, such as this line from “A Lone Traveler”:

While everyone else
is so busy striving,
the lone traveler
is at ease by himself….
If you ask him what his religion is,
when hungry it’s a bowl of rice.

Love it.

Non-Fiction That Makes You THINK (and ACT)

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris

More and more Americans today identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular” when it comes to religious affiliation (almost 23% in the most recent Pew survey — and that number is greater among young people; 35% of millennials are “unafiliated.”) At the same time, over 90% of Americans still profess belief in “God or a higher power.”

Enter “spirituality without religion.” Sam Harris writes that “separating spirituality from religion is a perfectly reasonable thing to do…. People of every faith, and of none, have had the same sorts of spiritual experiences.” Harris defines spirituality as cutting through the illusion of “self,” for all religious traditions start with the essential question, “Is there more than this?”

I have to say, part of what made me LOVE this book is Harris’ exploration of secular Buddhism. He argues that, unlike many other religious traditions, you can strip Buddhism of miracles and metaphysics and still have “Buddhism.” Therefore, Harris’ “spirituality without religion” that he explores in the book is essentially a secular, practical form of Buddhism. I probably don’t have to explain why that really resonates with the Left-Brain Buddha!

This book is an insightful discussion of spirituality, self, consciousness, meditation, and mindfulness. It explores, as Harris writes, “what contemplatives throughout history have discovered: … that there is an alternative to being continually spellbound by the conversation we are having with ourselves.”

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Whether your job involves getting others to change their behavior, or whether you are trying to change your own behavior, this book is a quick and essential read. The Heath brothers explain that if we want to transform our actions, or those of others, “you’ve got to influence not only their environment, but their hearts and minds.”

Switch is divided into three sections, tackling each of those three elements. They explain how you can appeal to the rational mind by “scripting the critical moves” for a change, and always letting people know the final destination. They tackle the topic of motivation by exploring how to get people involved emotionally (the most helpful part of this is explaining how you can “shrink the change” to ensure continual progress). Finally, they address how you can “shape the path” for transformation by tweaking the environment and creating new habits.

This book is a great combo of human psychology, self-improvement and motivation, and practical advice. If your life involves trying to convince anyone to do anything (including yourself!), this is a helpful read!

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

I debated whether I should add this to a “summer reading list,” because it a serious and troubling read, not the usual “light” summer reading. But if I had a child to send off to college in the fall, I would want to read this. In fact, I think we ALL should read this book.

Krakauer decided to write this book after learning that a family friend of theirs had been raped (years before), and suffered intensely from her traumatic experience. After having spent years writing about war, Krakauer realized how similar his friend’s experience was to the veterans he had interviewed who suffered from PTSD. He knew he needed to learn more about rape, its impact, and how it is handled by police and the courts.

He investigates Missoula, the so-called “rape capital” of the US, but discovers that the incidence of sexual assault there is actually slightly below the national average. Krakauer investigates several alleged rapes and assaults at the University of Montana (many by the revered football players), which was also investigated by the Department of Justice due to reports of not properly responding to or prosecuting rape allegations. He describes in detail the alleged events, the police and university responses, and the subsequent trials.

Krakauer describes how trial procedures in rape cases often re-traumatize the victim. The adversarial system in our courts (which is designed, above all else, to prevent convictions of innocent defendants) reduces a rape trial to a competition to ensure “winning” rather than justice. He quotes a Harvard law professor who states,

The courtroom oath — ‘to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’ — is applicable only to witnesses. Defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges don’t take this oath — they couldn’t! Indeed, it is fair to say the American justice system is built on a foundation of not telling the whole truth. It is the job of the defense attorney — especially when representing the guilty — to prevent, by all lawful means, the ‘whole truth’ from coming out.”

I found this book a fascinating and sobering look into the criminal justice system, and into the incidence of campus rape and acquaintance rape. Krakauer argues that we need to do more to teach people about “the science of trauma, in order to improve techniques for interviewing rape victims and help prosecutors debunk rape myths when they face skeptical jurors.” This book is a solid start.

Other Recommended Reads

No lengthy reviews, but these are also books I’ve enjoyed, and would recommend:

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

Station Eleven: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely

America America: A Novel by Ethan Canin

The Books on MY List

The books listed above are books I have read, and wholeheartedly endorse! Here’s what I’ll be diving into this summer:

Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution. by Brene Brown (I LOVE Brene Brown, and I’m so excited for her new release!)

The Invention of Wings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (recommended to me by my students!)

My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel

*****

You may also want to check out my list of The Best Books I Read in 2013, my favorite books about mindfulness, my 2014 summer reading list, and this list of 5 New Books to Read Now (from November 2014).

Share what YOU will be reading in the comments below!

* This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on an Amazon link and make a purchase, I will make a small commission. There’s no cost to you, and it supports my reading addiction — which allows me to bring you more cool reviews! Thanks.