Summer Reading Is A Myth
I’m here to offer you relief from any reader’s guilt you may be carrying. I know as Americans we really get off on productivity, but this is not the season for productive reading, my friends, despite what we’ve been sold to believe.
Save those reading lists for Winter— Summer reading is a myth.
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It’s tourist season here in the Catskills and many of us local folk work on the weekends, which historically has been a sacred time for my writing. Alas, here I am writing to you from behind the desk of my local bookshop, One Grand. And I must admit: being the face of books in my community feels, well, pretty grand.
Spotify’s Summer Jazz playlist echoes off the concrete floor from above white Ikea bookcases while I reorganize stacks on the shelves after every shuffle of folks files out. I pre-fold the branded tissue paper that I wrap each purchase in, and while customers tap their cards against the small screen of my iPhone, I gift wrap their new reads as I have the pleasure of asking, “Are you reading anything good this summer?”
And the answer of late is, unsurprisingly, “No, not really.”
I do get good book recs from customers, don’t get me wrong, but none of them have been read recently. Nearly every person I interact with is visiting from out of town, usually from the city. That’s because people like to spend their summers traveling, exploring, socializing. Not so much reading.
My four year old, on the other hand, has an incentive to read this time of year while he’s home from school — his library summer reading log. Every time he reads for 15 minutes, he gets to scribble inside a square that wraps around the pink printer paper like the hybrid of a race track and a Candy Land board game. Once its filled out, he gets to pick out a cheap, plastic pinata-style prize from the librarian’s treasure chest. The only limit to how many times he can do this is the date. He has until summer is up, at the end of August.
This is the origin of our summer reading myth, ladies and gents. In the late 1890s the push for summer reading was targeted at children to keep them academically engaged and learning while they were out of school. Many children worked on the family farm in those days, but the kids who lived in more urban areas were given lists and logs to fill out, and by the early 1940s, most libraries in America had a themed reading program for children every summer.
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Summer is a season of constant activity and with it comes a unique air of spontaneity.
June was the last month of school and when child care assistance isn’t in place, it can feel like the weight of the world falls on this mom’s shoulders (though I know full well that I’m not alone in feeling this way). There’s camp documents, nanny interviews, birthday party planning, responding to others’ invitations, setting up the home to accommodate family members visiting from out of town, booking all the logistics of our own family trips all while the demands of work hum in the background asking for solid ground. There’s also so many more opportunities to jump into our swimsuits and meet friends for a morning swim in the river, or attend a neighbor’s dinner party when we pass one another in the street that same afternoon.
As someone who despises busyness, summer usually ends up being my least favorite season. I know, it’s a bold statement to make. And it’s tricky too. Because while I love the spontaneous nature and ample time spent outside that I can’t get enough of in other seasons of the year, admiring the fireflies around the fire pit, grilling every meal, watching the sun set from the pool and falling in love with our town all over again at every bike ride, every dip in the river… the combination of heat and child exhaustion has me falling asleep any time I sit down and get two pages into reading anything.
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So what makes a good myth? Some are rooted in fact, some entirely fiction. All of them take a stab at some moral learning, or a tradition to be upheld. At times, there’s an otherworldliness to the story. Something in its plot, setting, or characters that is a bit fantastical. Other times, its aspirational while equally unattainable. And of course, there’s a heavy dose of over-glorification.
As it is in most facets of American culture, our impulse is to consume. And when we can’t keep up with the expectations held over us, stress and anxiety can easily creep in. Personally, the summer reading marketing in my corner of the internet is heavier than any other time of year. Obama has a list. Oprah has a list. NYT. Fashion magazines. Even the folks who don’t read more than a book or two a year have a summer reading list.
Instead of pinata-style plastic toys, the only prize we adults get for keeping up with the book stir is a relevant talking point. Our reward is the ability to participate in something that the media has deemed culturally worthy of conversing about. Sort of like a good Blockbuster movie — the so-so films that come out during the height of summer. But as adults, we all know that the films worthy of seeing are going to come out at the end of this year/early next, before Oscar season, right?
When it comes to the summer reading myth, what we’re being sold to uphold— a lengthy reading list for adults— is a flame long burnt out. The tradition was never intended for us. The idea of it has merely been overexploited (surprise, surprise). If you aren’t working within the school system, you likely aren’t getting extra time off at this time of year. Thereby, I can’t help but see our attempts to replicate such aspirational reading goals as anything more than, well, childish. And hey, maybe it’s childish of me to refuse seeing Barbie until it’s available to rent or stream. But truth be told, I’d rather be reading!
The moral of the story: slow down, my friends. Pick up a spontaneous read, try something you haven’t dabbled in before. Read while lying on your stomach — do something new, press into the spontaneity. Let’s not over-glorify the season of Summer, but still bask in it, while it’s still here. And whatever books you don’t get around to reading, know that they will be there, waiting for you, when winter comes.
x
Recently Read:
The Guest by Emma Cline — the amalgamation of the protagonist’s aimless wandering around the Hamptons, her reckless behavior, all the build-up to this questionable ending plus the whole lifestyles of the rich and famous vibe made for a very satisfying entry into “summer reading”. As for said questionable ending… let’s just say, you’ll be left with something to talk about.
The Leaving Season by Kelly McMasters— one of my writing teachers recommended this to me and though I could have eaten up so quickly, I found myself really wanting to take it slow, almost forcefully so. A favorite sentiment McMasters brings up in this reflective memoir about her divorce and rebuilding her life as a mother of two: Why do we use the term “single mother”? As if by being on one’s own, they are somehow less than. I wanted to put the book down and give a standing ovation when I read this, as I have similar feelings about the “stay at home” parent. Both my husband and I work from home and juggle caring for our kids, but most people still view him as the one with a job and me as something entirely less than. It’s pretty fucked up, no? The language we use to describe some of the most important and intensive, transformative, sacrificial, all-consuming jobs out there?
The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma — our protagonist is an overly optimistic migrant who comes to the Bay Area to live with his uncle and become an American success story. This witty narrator reeled me in on the first page and kept me delightfully hooked. This book astutely displays how our own dreams are often formed in the shadows of our family’s grievances, and how when we go after our “achievables”— such as family, love, fortune— we usually have to surrender our definitions of these pursuits in order to grasp them.
All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky— so much press on this book, sheesh. Incredible voice. A warped sisterhood dynamic, a co-dependent and confused nameless narrator with a humorous tone and too many drugs in her system, all add up to this mysteriously dark and suspenseful sibling fallout. The last section was… a talking point.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid —Narratively neat. Predictable in some places, not all. The pacing is wonderful. This is what I believe they call a “beach read”. Fittingly, that’s where I read the first few pages, but mostly I got through it on the plane ride home. I could easily see this book becoming a TV series. Wish it had a little more suspense, but the efforts to be exactly that are definitely there. I know this isn’t a rave review, but I still enjoyed getting through it.
Currently reading:
Having And Being Had by Eula Biss. Because motherhood has radicalized me and I can’t stop thinking about themes like consumerism, capitalism, and other dauntingly fun topics around how we as a culture invest in our values. Picked this book up at the Spruceton Inn barn library! Bookmark your calendars and plan a trip upstate: their next Sunday Service story hour is August 13th from 11am - 12pm.
Abandon Me by Melissa Febos. The first essay in this memoir, “The Book of Hours,” is one of the best goddamn things I’ve ever read. I was very thankful to coincidentally read it right before I needed to draft an essay about my reading life.
+ a few advanced readers copies I can’t quite talk about yet!
Recently purchased:
This is the Place: Women Writing About Home edited by Margot Kahn and Kelly McMasters
Now, for the beauty pep talk:
Swimmer’s hair. It’s a real thing. I wrote an article about it for Byrdie that unfortunately hasn’t published yet. But after a trip to Tulum, whose sea and pool water left my hair brittle then and in the two weeks to follow, I must recommend that all of us — men and women — turn to a leave-in conditioning mist. You can use it before and/or after your hair gets wet to offer a protective barrier and help restrengthen from any water exposure. The OUAI travel size (linked above) that my baby sis brought with us to Tulum was a real lifesaver.
Ilia makes travel size lengthening mascara and as someone who doesn’t wear makeup every single day, I really appreciate the mini option strictly because a normal tube size is just too much product for me. The smaller qty helps me remember to renew the eye makeup must-have in my kit every couple months, as one should for sanitary reasons.
I also really love their multi-sticks for cheeks, eyes, lips. An all-in-one is my fave kind of beauty bargain.
Merit’s minimalist perfecting stick is my choice for blemish coverage. Especially during warm, humid months, I hate the feeling of spreading something all over my skin. I use this brush to blend things in. The concealer only approach is quick and lightweight and very important as of late, when my goopy-handed children are usually climbing all over me and grabbing my face while making farm animal noises.
Clinique’s chubby stick moisturizing lip balms are great year-round but they’re especially perfect for summer IMO with its dewy, balmy, casual color. It feels like applying chapstick but getting a subtle tint that gently disappears after eating, no visible traces left behind.
Currently testing:
The rebranded Awapuhi Wild Ginger collection from Paul Mitchell. Super hydrating products that smell delish, like vacation in a bottle. They’re now making an at-home glossing treatment which is pretty major in my opinion because there aren’t a lot of quality brands offering glosses outside of the salon. If this product had existed back when I wrote the “10 Do’s and Don’ts of Caring for Colored Hair”, I would have included it as an easy “do” that will extend the health and vibrancy of your color job.
Olaplex just came out with a new volumizing spray. I’ve been using this on my top strands— already air-dried hair— with a low-set heat on my drybrush. Keeps heat to a minimum while protecting and refreshing the hair that gets the most exposure to external elements. So far, no complaints.