A warm summer day sitting beneath the shade of a tree or a beach umbrella with a tall cold drink at the ready and a juicy book waiting to be read — what could be better? We’ll talk to booksellers from Booksmith and Green Apple Books as well as Oakland-based novelist Jasmine Guillory about what they are reading this summer, and we’ll hear from you: When you’re not doom scrolling, what’s on your must read list for this summer? Any recommendations for a romance novel for the newly divorced? Or a beach read for someone who doesn’t like the beach? We’ll talk about new releases, old favorites and classics that have earned their place on your bookshelf.
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Here are the books mentioned by Alexis, our guests, and listeners during the show:
Fiction
- Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, Kristen Arnett
- The Hearing Trumpet, Leonora Carrington
- I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman
- Emperor of Gladness, Ocean Vuong
- The Anthropologists, Ayşegül Savaş
- At Her Service, Amy Spalding
- On the Calculation of Volume, Solvej Balle, tr. Barbara J. Haveland
- I Gave You Eyes and You Look Towards Darkness, Irene Solà, tr. Mara Faye Lethem
- You Dreamed of Empires, Álvaro Enrigue, tr. Natasha Wimmer
- Isola, Allegra Goodman
Romance for the Newly Divorced
- Along Came Amore, Alexis Daria
- All Fours, Miranda July
- All Friends are Necessary, Tomas Moniz
Books for Someone who WISHES They Loved the Outdoors
- The Last Fire Season, Manjula Martin (Non-fiction)
- Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith (Non-fiction)
- Metazoa, Peter Godfrey-Smith(Non-fiction)
- Living on Earth, Peter Godfrey-Smith(Non-fiction)
- As She Appears, Shelley Wong (Poetry)
- Garden Against Time, Olivia Laing (Non-fiction)
Non-Fiction
- I Want to Burn This Place Down, Maris Kreizman (Essays)
- The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, Niko Stratis (Essays)
- Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong (Memoir)
- Daddy Boy, Emerson Whitney (Memoir)
- Book of Delights, Ross Gay (Essays)
- Book of More Delights, Ross Gay (Essays)
Poetry
- Husbandry, Matthew Dickman
Graphic Novels (For Adults and for Kids and Adults)
- Gaysians, Michael Curato
- The Contradictions, Sophie Yanow
- Land of Mirrors, María Medem
- Tongues, Anders Nilsen
- Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations, Mira Jacob (good for kids and adults)
- The Prince and the Dressmaker, Jen Wang (good for kids and adults)
Fantasy Series/Sci Fi
- Earthsea Series, Ursula LeGuin
- Old Kingdom, Garth Nix
- Golden Compass Series, Philip Pullman
- Stages of Magic, Jeromy Henry
- Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan
- The Marveller Series, Dhonielle Clayton
- The Witchlings, Claribel Ortega
- Great Cities, N.K. Jemisin
- The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Well
Listeners Recommend
- Cycles, PM Kester
- Our Song, Anna Carey
- Understanding Octavia Butler, Kendra R. Parker
- King of Ashes, SA Cosby
- Toni at Random, Dana Williams
- Plus Size Player, Danielle Allen
- Darth Plagueis, James Luceno
- Waiting for Britney Spears, Jeff Weiss
- Seducing and Killing Nazis, Sophie Poldermans
- The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley, Marietje Schaake
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Jessica Guerrieri
- North Woods, Daniel Mason
- Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy