Fully Booked | Best Books I Read This Summer

Now that the semester has officially begun, we students don’t have as much time for hobbies as we did over the summer — but that doesn’t mean we have to abandon those hobbies entirely. I love to read in my spare time, and I had much more free time to read over the past four months. I didn’t finish every single book I started, but of the seven that I did complete, there were four that stuck out to me. If you want to de-stress between classes with a good book, give one of these a try! 

“Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner

Not only is Michelle Zauner a talented musician, but she is also a stunning writer, and “Crying in H Mart” is a stunning and vulnerable showcase of her talent. In this memoir, Zauner details her experience growing up Korean American in Oregon. Zauner details how she found connections to her culture through food and discovered her passion for music and describes her often difficult relationship with her late mother. Zauner is honest about her relationship with her mom and the overwhelming time she spent living with her parents as an adult after learning her mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The vulnerability of this book is striking from beginning to end, and it helped me as a reader to feel more connected to Zauner.

“Dream Work” by Mary Oliver

This poetry collection is the first book I’ve ever read by Oliver, and I can honestly say it lived up to my expectations. Her poems in this collection explore themes including relationships, loneliness and searching for purpose, all through the lens of nature. In one of my favorite poems in this book, “Wild Geese,” Oliver speaks to a person in despair and tries to remind them that the world “calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting.” This poetry collection is perfect for when you need to be reminded of the beauty of nature and how it can benefit us all.

“Go Tell It on the Mountain” by James Baldwin

“Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a semi-autobiographical story about a character named John, a Black teenage boy growing up in Harlem with a strict religious father. This is the first published novel by James Baldwin, and he used his personal experience of being raised in Harlem with a pastor as a father to write this modern classic. Baldwin eloquently guides readers through the lives of John, his aunt, his father and his mother, allowing readers to see how John’s family’s past eventually affected him and his siblings. Baldwin provides a voice to a group of people who are often silenced — even more so in the 1930s period in which the book is set. 

“Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff

To end this list, I want to recommend what I consider the best book out of all seven I read this summer. “Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff is a memoir that follows a father’s experience trying to navigate life with his methamphetamine-addicted son, Nicolas Sheff. I watched the film adaptation of this book a couple of years before I decided to read it, and the book kept me thoroughly engaged because of how much more there is to the Sheffs’ story. This memoir touches even more on Nic Sheff’s experiences with drugs, the issues with countless drug rehab facilities, his two younger kids and how he helped his son eventually achieve long-term sobriety. While I was aware of a small number of issues in the drug rehabilitation industry, “Beautiful Boy” opened my eyes to why the problems in the industry need to be more widely addressed, and just how harmful the stigma against drug addiction is.