Sunday Stack: Best Books I Read This Summer

Some thoughts on eight great summer reads.

Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA ~ July 12, 2024 Photo taken by me during a much-needed day trip.

Well, that was an interesting summer.

Anyone else feel like we’ve lived several lifetimes since Memorial Day? I mean, in the past three months we saw:

• a former occupant of the Oval Office convicted on 34 felony counts;

• a debate that changed the entire course of a presidential election (and, God willing, the trajectory of the country);

• an assassination attempt—a mere 30 minutes from our house!—on the aforementioned Convicted Felon;

• the utmost of patriotic and selfless decisions from President Biden, a lifelong public servant and campaign incumbent who passed the torch to Kamala Harris and a new generation of leadership;

• and this week, an electrifying Democratic National Convention that reintroduced many of us, after far too long and still visceral despair, to the feeling of hope.

This summer has been a lot. There’s been a lot on the personal front, too. Major house repairs. A bank account hacked. Kids trying to navigate their path and the realities of the post-graduation world. (A few days ago, The Husband commented on this being the first August in 20 years that we don’t have children going back to school. It feels odd, not needing to shop for school supplies or load up the car for college drop offs.) And, when we could grab them, the good moments—a weekend playing tourist in our hometown, visits with longtime friends, a family day trip to Presque Isle, some laughs while watching TV.

To no one’s surprise, books have been my constant, my means of escape. When it comes to fiction, I prefer mine literary and laden with heavy topics but with all the aforementioned crap swirling about, I needed something lighter. I needed to know that somewhere, even in some fictitious world, a happily-ever-after was possible. So, I picked up Nicolas DiDomizo’s newly released Nearlywed at the library and LOVED IT.

I’m finding myself gravitating to contemporary romance and I’m noticing a preference in tropes: gimme a fake dating, friends to lovers, forced proximity, or second chance and I’m good. Not like I’ve never read any contemporary romance before — I’ll forever be grateful to Priscilla Oliveras for getting me through a kidney stone with Island Affair — but it is fun discovering and doing a deep dive into a whole new genre! As I told my therapist, not all of my reading needs to be so serious. I still expect to read my fair share of literary fiction, memoir, essays, short stories, and nonfiction (as my summer reads show) but you’ll likely start to see a bit more romance in the mix.

Here are eight books that I’ve been recommending and loving during the past few months. If you’re inclined to purchase any of them, I’ve linked to my Bookshop.org page which supports independent booksellers and also gives me a small commission.

The Formation of Calcium by M.S. Coe (Spurl Editions, 2023, 234 pgs)

This cover, of what is a tiny little book size-wise, is wildly deceptive—an apt descriptor for a book I’m still thinking about many weeks after finishing it. Mary Ann Washie, who is in her mid-50s with an estranged daughter and lackluster marriage, has committed a crime and needs to get the hell out of her stifling life in Chatauqua, New York.

Reinventing herself, she flees to Florida and befriends a fellow con artist, Natalie. But our past is never past, and as her guilt becomes ever more burdensome, Mary Ann records her confessions into a tape recorder, labeling her cassettes with quirky innocuous titles, such as The Formation of Calcium.

If you like a bit of mystery and a smattering of horror (parts of this felt like a nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart), if “unhinged woman goes batshit and you’re here for all of it” is your jam, The Formation of Calcium is for you. Everyone should be talking about this book because it’s absolutely brilliant. 5 stars.

First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger (The Dial Press, 2024, 224 pgs)

Several years ago, at the Barrelhouse-hosted writing conference Conversations and Connections, I attended a session led by Lilly Dancyger. I admit to forgetting what it was about (I’d have to dig up my notes) but I came away just so impressed and have followed her career ever since. She’s a literary genius, something that’s evident in First Love, her essay collection about friendship. It's brilliant and vulnerable and gorgeous—and so much more. The cover photo is of a younger Lilly on a fire escape with two friends—a scene that readers will come to know throughout the pages of First Love as the tiny New York City apartment retreat when life became too much and where Lilly and her friends sought refuge with bottles of whiskey and cigarettes, especially when Lilly’s beloved twenty-year-old cousin Sabina, was murdered.

Lilly writes with such depth and love, not only about Sabina but the indelible bonds between the friends who got her through that trauma. These are the friends who became Lilly's family during her feral childhood and teen years of spending all night roaming New York City's streets and parks, not attending (and eventually dropping out of) school and working as a bartender. We follow them through the pivotal years of their lives, of failed relationships and growth. Lilly's gasp-out-loud writing made me feel like I knew Raiona and Sydney and Leah and Heather and Carly—and that I, too, wanted to hang out on the fire escape drinking with them, telling them my secrets, grieving their and my losses. (There's a lot of that in First Love.)

"Remember that, of course, there is no map for grief. That her grief is an entirely different country from your own, and the only person who can ever find their way through is her. Feel silly for thinking you could impose order or something like this. That you could offer her anything more than your presence."

First Love is heart wrenching and raw at times yet tender at others. It is, above all, a goddamn masterclass of a love story. 5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and The Dial Press for the ARC. Buy First Love here.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker (Doubleday, 2020, 377 pages)

Don and Mary Galvin’s family was unusual not solely for its size — their twelve children were all born during the entirety of the Baby Boom (1945-1965) — but because six of their sons were diagnosed with schizophrenia. This was, of course, during a time when the stigma of mental illness foisted blame on “refrigerator mothers” and treatment consisted of institutionalization, lobotomies, and overmedication.

Kolker skillfully blends the Galvin family’s harrowing story of public and private psychological breakdowns, abuse, and violence with the scientific developments and evolving understanding of schizophrenia. This isn’t an easy read, but it’s an important one. 5 stars. Buy Hidden Valley Road here.

In Tongues by Thomas Grattan (MCD, 2024, 288 pgs)

It’s the summer of 2001 in New York City when Gordon, a gay 24-year-old transplant from the Midwest, takes a job as a dog walker. He’s a bit out of his element and still healing from a previous relationship when he gets swept up into the lavish art dealer world of his wealthy clients, Phillipa and Nicola.

This wild ride is the type of book where you want to reach through the pages and stop the protagonist from making a terrible decision or mistake, all while you turn the pages emotionally salivating to know what happens next. Thomas Grattan’s writing is superb, and I loved how he used the metaphor of tongues in various ways throughout this fast-paced, gripping novel. I can’t remember exactly what it was that made me knock off a point, but this is a solid 4 stars. Buy In Tongues here.

Nearlywed by Nicolas DiDomizio (Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2024, 368 pgs)

Ray and Kip are engaged and an opposites-attract couple in every way, especially in their approach to life. As a Millennial internet writer and content creator, Ray is comfortable sharing every detail of his life online while his husband-to-be Kip, a Gen X doctor from a wealthy, conservative family loves his privacy. Despite this, they’ve built a successful life together and are in love when they decide a “pre-honeymoon” at the famed Earlymoon Inn will help them destress before the big day.

Naturally, things quickly go awry and miscommunication ensues. Their vacation is anything but relaxing as Ray and Kip struggle when confronting their past and expectations for their future.

Nearlywed is a fast-paced LGBTQ contemporary romance with depth and so much heart. I loved Ray and Kip’s banter, the ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture references (I listened on audio and literally LOLed many times), and the sheer delight I felt while reading this. Nicolas DiDomizio will be one of my go-to romance authors, for sure. 5 stars. Buy Nearlywed here.

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead Books, 2024, 288 pgs)

Oh my God, this book absolutely wrecked me. Let me just say right off the bat that I was expecting this to be good because Akwaeke Emezi is one of the most extraordinary writers of our time, but holy hell, I did not expect to take the visceral emotional ride that I did. Little Rot is a brilliantly written and structured novel that is not for the faint of heart. I’m talking all the trigger warnings for this one. There are some heavy scenes, including a few involving a child sex worker, that will sear your soul. I nearly DNFed this at a few points; I continued because I had a sense that being uncomfortable was part of Akwaeke Emezi’s intent, and it is.

Little Rot begins innocently enough. We meet Aima and Kalu as they’re breaking up and Aima’s about to board a plane from Lagos, Nigeria back home to London. After Kalu drops her off, she impulsively decides not to leave, calls her best friend and stays with her. To drown his sorrow, Kalu goes to a sex party (as one does, immediately post-breakup) hosted by his best friend, Ahmed. It’s a decision that will change his life and the lives of Little Rot’s five main characters

Akwaeke Emezi is a mastermind in how they seamlessly connect these stories and makes the “rot” palpable. The “little rot” alludes to the way corruption begins and festers in one’s soul (“I feel like he took a handful of dead things and he pushed his hand into my chest and dumped them there and now I’m decaying, like him. I’m rotting; I’m dying.”) and surroundings (“This city changes us so slowly that we don’t notice, little by little. Until it’s too late. And we’re part of everything we’ve ever hated.”). The rot holds power.

Another quote (of many) that I loved: “There are some places that you swear you’ll never go back to because the space itself has become inseparable from the time; the there is the same as the then and you don’t know how to deal with the space if it’s inside a different slot of time.” And from the acknowledgements, this note from Akwaeke: “This book might be difficult to witness but my hope is that it gives us some courage to witness the difficult things in our lives, to understand how close they can brush to our skin, and to move accordingly.” 5 stars. Buy Little Rot here.

Funny Story by Emily Henry (Berkley, 2024, 387 pages)

Being a newbie to the contemporary romance scene, I knew I had to pick up an Emily Henry novel. Her newest release, Funny Story, was a delight. (And, to be honest, a much-needed palate cleanser after Little Rot.)

Daphne is thrilled about marrying Peter, decorating their beautiful house in his hometown of Waning Bay, Michigan, and working as a children’s librarian. Everything is falling into place until Peter’s bachelor party when he realizes he’s in love with another woman—Petra, his best friend since childhood. The wedding is cancelled, Peter and Petra celebrate their romance by going on vacation, and devastated Daphne has a week to find someplace else to live.

Enter Miles, Petra’s equally brokenhearted boyfriend, who lets Daphne move into his two-bedroom apartment. Bonding and commiserating about their exes over action movies, Daphne and Miles delight in pretending to Peter and Petra that they’re a couple until they can’t ignore the sparks between them.

Despite finding a few side characters and their stories unnecessary to the plot, I really enjoyed seeing how Daphne and Miles’ relationship developed. I liked Emily Henry’s writing, particularly the dialogue, and now understand why she has such a devoted following. 4 stars. Buy Funny Story here.

Sleepless: Unleashing the Subversive Power of the Night Self by Annabel Abbs-Streets (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024, 272 pages)

This is not yet another book about insomnia or the importance of sleep for our bodies and minds, although both are part of this narrative. When Annabel Abbs-Streets’ lifelong pattern of sleeplessness intensified following the loss of her father, stepfather, and puppy, she began to explore the power of darkness and night as a force for creativity, insight, and courage. Because our bodies undergo biochemical changes during the night, she encourages women to embrace what she calls the Night Self.

Abbs-Streets’ gorgeous prose blends historical examples of women artists who famously created at night and the societal origins of women’s fear of being outdoors well after dark alongside memoir and self-exploration. By night, Abbs-Streets walks through London, hikes pitch-black forests, and visits the darkness of the Arctic Circle. Sleeplessness has been compared to Katherine May’s Wintering, and indeed, it has a similar feel and tone. If you enjoyed Wintering, chances are this one will be for you, too. 5 stars. Buy Sleepless here.

Substack’s giving me a message that this post is too long, so I guess I’d better end this here. Tell me, how’s your summer been? Reading anything good?

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