2019 Summer Reading List

Summer is upon us: another exciting chance to grumble about how damn hot it is, or, if you're in New England, how cold and rainy it is! If your eyes ache from staring into screens too much, might I suggest reading ~books~ instead? *adjusts imaginary glasses* (E-readers are for intellectuals and therefore do not qualify as screens.)

Below are my top three summer reading recommendations, aka the last three books I read:

SCI-FI/FANTASY: FIRE & BLOOD, GEORGE R.R. MARTIN (2018)
 

Fire & Blood is part one of two prequels describing Targaryen rule in Westeros. Apart from the usual incest and grotesque murders, the book contains numerous spectacular scenes that make the infamous family of dragonlords so compellingly awful yet awesome. The dragons alone are worth the price of admission, but at one point, a man launches himself from a dragon onto another man riding a dragon. That is commitment to winning, my friend. Best of all, the book's central conceit is that George R.R. Martin is a scribe for this period of Targaryen history, so the text is littered with ponderings regarding the veracity of conflicting accounts about specific Targaryens. Overall, a wildly entertaining journey, and I cannot wait for part two (and the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire, ahem ahem).

NONFICTION: THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO, AMY SCHUMER (2016)

Amy Schumer is at her funniest when her humor is self-deprecating, and this book is chock-full of that. In addition to fond reminiscences of her family, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo reveals how to get to the top in comedy: by being obsessed and working your tail off. Schumer also addresses dating, being an introvert, her new riches, and, on a more somber note, how affected she is by the shooting at a showing of her movie Trainwreck. This book is light, honest, and enjoyable, and I say that not as an Amy Schumer fan but as someone who initially passed on this book for a good three years before seeing a recommendation for it in a Jez comment forum. So yeah. Give it a go! Laughter is medicine.


HISTORICAL FICTION: THE SUMMER QUEEN, ELIZABETH CHADWICK (2013)

Eleanor of Aquitaine came to my attention via Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Lilith, Mother of Demons, has a book about her, and what could be higher praise than that?). Elizabeth Chadwick's The Summer Queen, the first in a trilogy, tops the list for novels about this famous medieval French lady. Chadwick's prose is beautiful, describing both the landscapes and the characters' internal lives in clear and vivid detail. Wedded into the royal family as a teenager, Eleanor starts out so promisingly as the queen of France, before court intrigues and manly foibles drag her down. But through it all, she remains a stalwart believer in her own power and capability, and the novel ends with her embarking on a journey to be queen again, this time of England. Highly recommended for history buffs. The Crusades!

TL;DR: Books are our friends! Check out one or all of the above!

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This post brought to you by allergies! whyyyyyyyy