For readers, summer is the time for beach reads and booklists with titles thought to be perfect for the beach, pool or vacation getaway.
Or is it?
Look, if you’re sitting by the pool with a cool drink in hand, any book is going to be a fun summer read as long as you don’t nod off and drop it in the water.
But if you’re not able to get away this summer – maybe you’re doing your reading in a waiting room or on a bus or by the window to take your mind off the heat – you can still read what makes you happy or gives you an escape, whether it’s a breezy summer rom-com or a dense, dusty tome on a topic that appeals only to you.
While I actually like summer reading lists (OK, any reading lists), I suppose some of my reluctance to celebrate the beach read over all others is that I am generally terrible at matching my summer reading to my surroundings.
For instance, a few summers ago, we were fortunate enough to spend a few days at an old hotel up the coast while I was engrossed in “The Whites.” Written by Richard Price (writing as Harry Brandt), it’s a gritty New York City crime story that if I remember correctly seemed to take place almost entirely at night and often in grim, fluorescently-lit basement interrogation rooms.
I am a big fan of Price’s work and of that book, too. But sometimes I’d look up from a page about a depressed detective sipping lukewarm coffee out of a Styrofoam cup and I’d see the blue sky and the splendor of the Pacific’s crashing waves and think, Maybe, just maybe, I’m doing this beach reading thing wrong.
It wouldn’t be the first time. There’s a photograph of me from my late teens-early 20s or so, looking completely summer appropriate in a pool, but if you look closely you’ll see I’m reading Jim Carroll’s harrowing New York City memoir about his descent into heroin addiction, “The Basketball Diaries.”
Clearly, I’m just bad at this sort of thing, so maybe email me your favorites for the hot months at [email protected] and we can get a good list going.
Now that we know that, at least this week, I won’t be telling you which holiday tomes to read, I’ll share one of my absolute favorite hot month activities: Summer reading programs at our local libraries, which are kicking off around Southern California right about now.
Regardless of where you are, you should be able to find a program at a local branch. Check out the programs at Los Angeles Public Library, Orange County Library System, Riverside Public Library, and San Bernardino Public Library (not to mention city libraries, too).
I talked to Justin Pearson, a public relations specialist for the Los Angeles Public Library, who shared why you should get involved in a summer reading program.
“For us, it’s multifaceted. One, we just want people to read, especially read for fun,” says Pearson. “There are so many things that the library offers that are outside of just books: You can get free museum passes or free parks passes. We run all sorts of programs from crafting to graffiti art, there’s so much that the library offers outside of what we’re known for.”
Pearson, who was about to start reading Michael Schur’s “How to Be Perfect” since his hold had become available on the Libby app, offered some summer reading strategizing, too.
“There’s nothing limiting you to just one reading challenge. Get credit in more than one reading program,” he said. “Everyone’s summer reading program is different we want people of all ages to get out and read and have fun reading.”
Sounds good to me. So wherever – at the beach or the burger joint – and whatever – classic or comic – you decided to read, I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Reyna Grande shares a wealth of great books (and one she didn’t love)
Reyna Grande is the author of the bestselling memoir “The Distance Between Us” and its sequel “A Dream Called Home” as well as the novels “Across a Hundred Mountains” and “Dancing With Butterflies.” Among her achievements, she has been awarded the American Book Award, the International Latino Book Award and an International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award —and she’s appeared on Oprah’s Book Club. Earlier this year, Grande spoke to us about her most recent novel, “A Ballad of Love and Glory,” and she’s now answering the Book Pages questionnaire ahead of the June 7 publication of “Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings” an anthology that Grande edited with Sonia Guiñansaca.
Q. Is there a book or books that you always recommend to other readers?
For high school and college students, some of my recommendations are Julissa Arce’s “You Sound Like a White Girl,” “When I Was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago, Erika Sanchez’ “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Saenz, and “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur.
For people who want to learn more about the immigrant experience, “Tell Me How it Ends” by Valeria Luiselli, “The Undocumented Americans” by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, “The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka, “Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits” by Laila Lalami, and “The Devil’s Highway” by Luis Alberto Urrea are some of favorites.
Q. What are you reading now?
I’ve been reading “Forbidden City” by Vanessa Hua, a historical novel about the Cultural Revolution in China.
Q. How do you decide on what to read next?
It depends. I usually have a list of books I’ve been asked to blurb/endorse, so I alternate between those and books I buy and want to read. I also teach writing so I read a lot of student work. I’m currently judging an award for AWP and reading through the submissions and sample work. Also, writing friends send me their manuscripts to read and critique, which is also added to my to-be-read list. Trust me, I never not have something to read!
Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros was the book that gave me permission to dream of being a professional writer.
Q. Can you recall a book that you read and thought that it must have been written just for you?
I used to think that about “The House on Mango Street” until I started making friends in the Chicano/Latino writing community and realized most of us thought the same thing!
Q. Is there a book you’re nervous to read?
I don’t get nervous reading published books. I get nervous reading unpublished books—those that my writer friends or students give me to critique. I don’t hold anyone’s hand. I give tough love, which not everyone appreciates and feelings get hurt sometimes. My critiques are well-intentioned, though. I offer my honest opinion meant to help writers with the revision process. But like I said, I know my method doesn’t work for everyone, (although most do come around to realizing I was right!)
Q. What’s something you took away from a recent reading – a fact, a snatch of dialogue or something else?
I recently attended Ana Castillo’s poetry reading at Sacramento State, where she was recognized for her contributions to Chicano/a literature.
One thing she said that stuck with me was that no matter what, we writers need to keep doing what we believe we have to do. When it comes to success and fame, sometimes we are riding high, and other times we are riding low, but we must keep going.
Having just recently published “A Ballad of Love and Glory,” I’ve been suffering from anxiety because I don’t know if this book is going to live up to expectations. The pressure is intense, so I needed to hear what Ana Castillo had to say that night.
Also she’s been doing this much longer than me, so it helped me to see that what I am doing is building my body of work, and I am proud of each of my books, no matter if the sales are good or bad. My books mostly sell by word of mouth, which is hard because that means I have to wait a while, years even, before I realize the impact my book has had on readers. So I just have to keep going.
Q. Which are some of your favorite book covers?
I love the cover for “We, The Animals,” “The Crying Book,” “Mexican Gothic,” “Braiding Sweetgrass,” “The Illness Lesson,” “Sweetbitter,” “The Four Winds,” “The People of Paper,” “LA Weather,” “The Snow Child,” and” The Mists of Avalon,” among many more! And out of my own covers, my favorite is that of “Across a Hundred Mountains” and “Corrido de Amor y Gloria.” Also, “The Distance Between Us” is getting a new cover for its 10th anniversary edition, and I love that one, too.
Q. Is there a genre or type of book you read the most – and what would you like to read more of?
I try to read different genres, especially if the writing is lyrical. I like books that surprise me—the language, the structure, the twists and turns, the imagery—books that make me say, “I wish I’d written that!” I would like to read more historical fiction. Now that I’ve written in that genre I’ve gotten hooked!
Q. Do you have a favorite book or books?
Some of the books that inspired me when I was a young writer and that continue to be books I re-read are “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran, “The Mists of Avalon” by Marion Zimmer Bradley, “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand, and “The Burning Plains/El llano en llamas” by Juan Rulfo.
Q. What books do you plan, or hope, to read next?
There are so many great Latinx books that have come out or are about to come out this year. These are on my TBR pile—”Olga Dies Dreaming” by Xochitl González, “The Hacienda” by Isabel Cañas, “Neruda on the Park” by Cleyvis Natera, “Illegally Yours” by Rafael Agustín, “The Neapolitan Sisters” by Margo Candela, “Crying in the Bathroom” by Erika Sánchez, “Solito” by Javier Zamora, “I Am Not Broken” by Jesse de León, and “Woman of Light” by Kali Fajardo-Anstine.
Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
I have been very fortunate to have had some amazing teachers in my life. In my memoir, “The Distance Between Us,” I write about my Pasadena City College English professor, Diana Savas. She was the first teacher to tell me I had writing talent. The first to encourage me to pursue a career as a professional writer. She also allowed me to come to live with her when life at home was unbearable. When I transferred to UC Santa Cruz, I met another teacher who mentored me and whom I write about in “A Dream Called Home.” Marta Navarro, my Spanish and Chicano Studies teacher, helped me understand that my immigrant experience wasn’t something to be ashamed of, and how even though there was much I had lost by immigrating, I had gained a lot too: I was now bicultural, binational, and bilingual. I wasn’t less, I was more.
Q. What do you find the most appealing in a book: the plot, the language, the cover, a recommendation? Do you have any examples?
There are different things that make me fall in love with a book, but especially from a writer’s perspective, I am always looking for books that help me be a better writer.
Here are books I recommend to my writing students: Justin Torres’ “We, the Animals,” who writes amazing scenes. “The Enchanted” by Rene Densfeld and “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey are great for studying setting, and for those who like a non-traditional structure I recommend Salvador Plascencia’s “The People of Paper” and Alistair McCartney’s “The End of the World Book.” For personal essays/memoir, check out Jaquira Diaz’ “Ordinary Girls” and Daisy Hernández’s “A Cup of Water Under My Bed.” And for those wanting to combine both prose, poetry, and visual images, Maceo Montoya’s “Letters to the Poet From His Brother” is a great example. For an interesting study on point of view, I like “The Death of Artemio Cruz” by Carlos Fuentes, who writes in the first, second, third person point of view but all from the same character’s perspective—Artemio Cruz.
Q. What’s a memorable book experience – good or bad – you’re willing to share?
Jennifer Clement’s, “Prayers for the Stolen” was a novel I wanted to like. I love the cover, and I met the author at an event. Her novel is about a young girl living in a remote village in Southern Mexico where girls are forcibly taken by narcos. It is an important story to be told, and I really wanted to like it, especially since it is set in my home state of Guerrero. But maybe because it is set in my home state that I was hyper-sensitive to what Clement wrote about my state. “This was the state of Guerrero. A hot land of rubber plants, snakes, iguanas, and scorpions.” Or “Estefani had the darkest skin. In the state of Guerrero, we were all very dark, but she was like a…rare black iguana.” Or “In fact, all over Mexico it is known that the people who come from the state of Guerrero are full of anger and as dangerous as a white, transparent scorpion.” Or “In Guerrero, the heat, iguanas, spiders, and scorpions ruled. Life was not worth anything.”
I’ve never been opposed to writers writing outside of their culture—I myself just did that in “A Ballad of Love and Glory” by writing about Irish immigrants—but I think it is crucial that one does it with respect, compassion, and of course, we must avoid offensive language and generalizations.
This is why books like “Somewhere We are Human” are so important, to give people from underrepresented communities a chance to tell their stories themselves and for readers to support uplifting #OwnVoices.
Big ‘Time’
Emma Straub talks “This Time Tomorrow,” time travel and father Peter Straub. READ MORE
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Onward, ‘Upward’
Melissa Chadburn describes mixing Filipino folklore, murder and more in new novel. READ MORE
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The week’s bestsellers
The top-selling books at your local independent bookstores. READ MORE
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What’s next on ‘Bookish’
On the next free Bookish event June 17 at 5 p.m., host Sandra Tsing Loh talks with Delia Ephron, Caroline Aaron and Kristin Marguerite Doidge.
