An attempt at giving a comprehensive survey of what to read on beaches and bungalows.
by Evan Randle
So you’re done with finals, the apocalyptic canvas outage behind you. Maybe you’ve even graduated — congratulations! — and are looking forward to your next steps in life. Either way, you may be facing a fairly open summer, a land of whimsy and fun, and the burning, aching desire to be productive that has by now been drilled into your head. Why not make a reading list? I find it helpful to plan my reads in advance so I can enjoy a varied diet of writing, balancing genres and types in my palate. It might also be good to keep track of how many pages a text is, since a shorter piece could help refresh you between two longer reads. To that end, I’ve made a few suggestions of varying lengths, using the categories I typically look at. Some of these books are even in my backlog!
Classic Fiction: There can be great value in reading up on the literary canon. Some great texts to do so are:
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Come in to cleanse your palate after the awful butchery that was the recent movie. Stay to see love that is tumultuous, toxic, tormenting, and yet so, so tragic.
- All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren. Outside of reading like a political thriller, this novel explores populism — perhaps the dominant political force across the world — in a stunningly prescient way. On a more intimate level, it explores how we move through our free will and the consequences of our actions.
- The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The racial commentary at the heart of this book has not lost any of its luster. But it has also taken on another, similarly fascinating meaning as social media and political turmoil have made it simultaneously easier and harder to find and express one’s identity than ever before.
Modern Fiction: Literature is by no means dead, and these brilliant voices demonstrate otherwise:
- Brawler by Lauren Groff. The new short story collection from the esteemed author (and UW-Madison MFA alum) discusses womanhood and the struggles of agency over nine wonderful stories. A heavy read, but a worthwhile one regardless!
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Full disclosure: recency bias. And does this count as more classic or modern literature? Maybe I’m dating this article by calling it the latter. Regardless, this book is thrilling and quite popular on social media, but it is also a meaningful critique of the pretentiousness, insecurities, and groundlessness of so many college students past and present.
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Inspired by real abuse in my home state of Florida, this is another text discussing an issue we wish were simply one of the past. There’s an ingenious and heartbreaking twist at the end of the story, one that is initially shocking and then leaves you empty with its thematic implications.
Speculative Fiction: This genre uses what is presently impossible to demonstrate similarities to the possible. Some great stand-alone books include:
- Kindred by Octavia Butler. One of the most ingenious uses of time travel I’ve seen, showing how our surroundings can morph us into facsimiles of ourselves.
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have English 242 to thank for reading this. Such a heartbreaking, powerful story that only feels more and more real by the day.
- Katabasis by R.F. Kuang. Outside of being a fun story, this novel is set on a magical college campus. I’m of the firm belief that you should read at least one campus novel before graduating.
Starting Some Series With Time: Summertime is also a great time to binge read a longer series you’ve been meaning to get into. Full disclosure: my selections are limited to speculative fiction, since I have the most experience with those kinds of series.
- Dune by Frank Herbert. Even without the successful film adaptations, this series feels remarkably relevant for our time. Herbert also passed on UW-Madison’s campus, which can be either cool or disturbing to think about.
- The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. This is admittedly more of a personal pick since I love Grimdark Fantasy, but this series recently turned 20 and has not lost any of its dynamic character work since.
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin. One of the strongest blends of climate change and science fantasy out there. Jemisin is able to draw meaningful parallels to our world while still maintaining a sense of wonder in hers.
Non-Fiction: This is perhaps an over-ambitious category to confine three books to. Let’s try nonetheless:
- King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson. It isn’t hard to see why this is relevant in so, so many ways. Scott Anderson’s research and writing abilities are also on full display here.
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Thank you to English 245 for highlighting this great text. The title speaks for itself, and yet the contents are so much more painful and powerful than you could imagine.
- They Marched into Sunlight by David Maraniss. Written by a UW alum (and famous author besides), this Pulitzer-finalist explores UW-Madison’s history of campus activism. Important for anyone hoping to learn more about our campus lineage.
Poetry: These poetry books are for those more (or equally) interested in stanzas compared to paragraphs:
- Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith. Another wonderful alum of UW-Madison, Smith’s poetry collection was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. Their writing is full of love and resistance, the poems’ tools of pushback against corrupt systems.
- The Butterfly’s Burden by Mahmoud Darwish. Darwish was an accomplished activist and great poet, but it feels only recently that we’ve seen him receive the recognition he deserves. Any of his writings is worthwhile to start with.
- The Crown Ain’t Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib. Abdurraqib has graced Madison quite a few times since my attending here, and it’s hard to separate his poems from his powerful voice. Even so, just reading them is enough to imagine the complex, often-painful nature of American city life.
Graphic Novels: These works have (rightfully) received more attention in recent years. Some examples include:
- Watchmen by Alan Moore. It’s hard to avoid the discussion of ‘comics as literature’ without running into this formative, highly-engaging piece that permanently shaped the medium thereafter.
- Invincible by Robert Kirkman. If you’ve been online … well, at all over the last few years, you’ve heard of this series. There are some meaningful distinctions between the comics and the series, and I always encourage learning more about how books are adapted in the first place.
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Well-acclaimed for a reason, this graphic novel uses the fragmented nature of its form to tell three seemingly disjointed stories. All touch on identity and mythology, and how closely the two may be related.
Alright, you might be thinking, I’ve got a pretty extensive list here. How in the world do I decide? There’s no real good answer here, and there shouldn’t be. You might be inspired by how these books relate to contemporary events, whether politically or in your own life, or even about your next steps for the future (perhaps it would be fun to read a book about lawyers if you’re going to law school, for example).
There’s an added element for creative writers. It can be inspiring to read some famous works discussing themes that you’d like to pursue through your craft. It can be just as interesting to broaden your perspective on what is even possible to write. It’s good to keep a balance between a varied diet and experiencing more of what you’d like to write!
Ultimately, a reading backlog or a reading order really only fulfills two roles: to remind you of what to read and to help guide you through those unexplored books. A list that you feel forced to follow is not a list. It is a doctrine. Instead, if you feel yourself straying from what you’ve prepared in advance, do so! Follow what books interest you most and what suits your life most at a given point. The summer should be fun. Reading should be fun. Both should be an exploration of your hobbies, feelings, and soul.
