I’ve read all the chances I probably get. Multiple books at once, often just a few pages when I have a few minutes to spare. This is not a support for fragmented consumption. That’s how I sneak into some kind of nourishment at this point in my life. I’m glad that my kids love to read too. So we all sit together at home and read together. It became one of those rituals based on us. Not without effort, but we all settled on ourselves more after we did.
Like my sister, I find a lot of inspiration I read from people I follow on Instagram @AllieArends, @ElementStyleand @brittanychaffee. Other recs come from material by great writers ( Pull the thread Authors who teach writing by Elise Lornen (highly recommended) Books (ish) by the gorgeous Josh Cook). I’m looking for books that can help make something different. It’s particularly quiet, a bit strange, or very beautifully written, and I’d like to reread the sentence three times.
Today I share some meaningful readings (less than about 200 pages) that leave you feeling quiet. Ah, this is life. They are a great book to read this summer or anytime.
There are seven short books worth reading this summer.
summary: Lyrical meditation on blue, sadness, desire, and the colour of memory.
Why I love it: It’s a book you haven’t read enough to absorb. Her fragments feel like fragments of mosaics that together make something bigger than their portions total. I feel too much or go back to it when it’s not enough. She says things that are too scary for me to admit to myself sometimes.
summary: Thirty-nine women have been imprisoned underground. One girl, the youngest of them, begins to question what else is possible.
Why I love it: It’s eerie, unforgettable, profound. It questioned everything I thought I knew about the meaning of identity, freedom, and being human. I read it twice in a week.
summary: Set in Ireland in the 1980s, coal merchants must discover unsettling truths about the local monastery and decide who they want to be.
Why I love it: It’s short, sparse, and deeply moving. A book that leaves a lump in your throat and leaves a new understanding of quiet courage.
summary: A raw, intimate diary documenting the author’s obsession with a young man.
Why I love it: Ernaux doesn’t stop flinching. The diary is not edited and is beautifully written. Her late 40s portrait, released to self-donate without an apology, itching. She shows you hungry, mad, waiting, and somehow makes it all feel universal.
summary: The woman refuses to escape from the swimming pool, and in the process all the secrets hidden under her marriage come out.
Why I love it: It’s surreal and sharp, with threads of humor passing through the tension. It reads like a short film. It’s totally unexpected and totally amazing.
summary: A shepherd boy sets out on a journey to find treasure and discovers his personal legend along the way.
Why I love it: It’s simple but powerful. The answer is often within us, and remind us that detours are part of the road.
summary: The collection of dreamy stories, set in the mythical version of the author’s hometown, is filled with surreal images and poetic prose.
Why I love it: Schultz doesn’t write with anyone else. His story feels like another life memory that is strunge, rich and a bit seductive.
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Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and will forever be Test her creative muscle boundaries. Follow her on Instagram @witanddelight_.
Source: – witanddelight.com
