Summer book list 2021
“Keep going, keep going, keep going.”
James Patterson gave this response to Lauren Graham’s question “How do you do it"?” at a casting dinner. She was referencing his accolades as an author & relays the interaction in her book, Talking As Fast As I Can.
My head is in the weeds. The minutiae of motherhood. In my defense, I wasn’t seeking motherhood in the middle of a global pandemic but it’s what I was given so in the weeds I’ve been as a result.
I prefer Austin Kleon’s take — I’m dormant. Waiting for the next cycle of bloom. Waiting is not my specialty. It requires faith. People craving control aren’t comfortable trusting what they can’t see, or what they don’t know, because it requires the exact opposite of what they do to feel safe. Anyways, this waiting for what I don’t even know what I’m waiting for has paused my writing until I know more. This is a mind game, of course, but I’m working through it; a summer sabbatical full of beach mornings, The Real Housewives franchise, & midnight panic attacks every so often.
This pause, however, has been wonderful for reading books. A social media hiatus freed up pockets of time formerly invested in aimless scrolling. Time scrolling was replaced with turning tangible pages of beach reads, historical fiction, local history, & that damn self-help category that keeps finding its way to my shelves. My summer book list, in chronological order kind of:
Summer Book List
The Genius of Birds – Jennifer Ackerman (part of WMEAC Book Club)
The Paris Library – Janet Skeslien Charles
Gift From the Sea – Anne Morrow Lindburgh (on repeat each summer)
The Stepford Wives – Ira Levin (part of Marcie Davis Walkers Black-Eyed Bible Study)
Women of the Grand: Their Legacy – Wallace K. Ewing
Summer on the Bluffs – Sunny Hostin
For the Love – Jen Hatmaker (gifted)
The Summer Wives – Beatriz Williams
The Montessori Toddler – Simone Davies
Workparent – Daisy Dowling
Cribsheet – Emily Oster
Talking As Fast As I Can – Lauren Graham
Mama + Mini Book list (12-15mths infant)
River enjoys racing to the end of a book to make the noise of slamming it shut, lest you think we have a 1-year old scholar. But honestly, why do we put these weird pressures on infants? To calm any unnecessary comparisons, please note this book list is compiled of titles me & family members have picked out for her:
Where the Buffaloes Begin (free from daycare) – Olaf Baker
We Are Water Protectors – Carole Lindstrom
Into the Forest (gifted), board book – Laura Baker
Besos for Baby: A Little Book of Kisses, board book – Jen Arena
World of Eric Carle, My First Library: 12 board books set (gifted) – Eric Carle
