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.
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