summer reading list.

summer reading at the beach. / sfgirlbybay

we’ve got another month or so of summer, so no time like the present to fit in some quality summer reading — probably my very favorite way to wind down and escape. i thought i’d share with you some of the great books i’ve read lately, as well as a couple of old favorites. if you’ve never signed up for good reads and you’re a book lover, i think you might like it. i joined their reading challenge this year and told myself i’d read a minimum of 25 books this year, and thus far i’ve exceeded my expectations and read 21 books to date! here’s a look at a few of my favorites and if you’re looking for more recommendations, i always check the new york times suggested readings, and check out emma roberts’ book community @belletrist. happy reading!

poolside reading. / sfgirlbybay

my 2019 summer reading list. / sfgirlbybay

recommendations, l to r: the clasp by Sloane Crosley — a story of obsession and the pitfalls of modern relationships, of a group of friends struggling to fit together now that their lives haven’t gone as planned, of how to separate the real from the fake.; Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid — a really fun read about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup; normal people by sally rooney — one of my very favorites, sally rooney’s perfectly spare prose tells a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship; Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by dani shapiro — through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, the author received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father, waking up one day to find her entire history has crumbled beneath her; tangerine by Christine Mangan — The last person Alice Shipley expects to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband is Lucy Mason. After a tragic accident at college, the two friends—once inseparable roommates haven’t spoken in over a year. it’s kind of a talented mister ripley mystery i loved; My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki — an all-time favorite of mine in which documentarian Jane Takagi-Little lands a job producing a Japanese television show that just happens to be sponsored by an American meat-exporting business, where she uncovers some unsavory truths about love and fertility.

2019 summer reads. / sfgirlbybay

recommendations, l to r: the nix by nathan hill — Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn’t seen his mother in decades—not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s reappeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news and inflames a politically divided country, leaving him to save the day; beautiful ruins by jess walter — the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962, and is rekindled in Hollywood fifty years later; Conversations with Friends another by sally rooney — at a local poetry performance one night, two friends meet a well-known photographer, and as they’re then gradually drawn into her world, they become reluctantly impressed by the older woman’s sophisticated home and handsome husband. emotional mayhem ensues; The Rocks by Peter Nichols — the story opens with a confrontation and a secret: What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years?; Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover — the true story of a woman born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she was allowed to set foot in a classroom and yet remarkably manages to ultimately put herself through Harvard and onto Cambridge University; less by Andrew Sean Greer — another favorite, the story of a struggling novelist traveling the world to avoid an awkward wedding of an ex-lover; swimming lessons by Claire Fuller — Disenchanted by the life in which she’s found herself, Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband about the truth of their passionate and troubled marriage and hides them, unread, in the thousands of books he’s collected over the years. Then she disappears, leaving behind her dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two young daughters; the white album by joan didion — enlightened essays recording indelibly the upheavals and aftermaths of the 1960s, Examining key events, figures, and trends of the era―including Charles Manson, the doors, and the Black Panthers. a classic!