READING LIST ; SUMMER

Summer '25 - a curated list of reading

Reading is how I win during the summer. I typically hate summer: hot and sticky and almost designed to drive me insane. The season drains me. Time never seems to pass linearly — it’s either all at once or nothing at all. Blink, and a month has passed by; lay in the garden for an hour, look at the clock, and find it’s only been 5 minutes. It’s ennui, boredom, and a sluggishness that winds itself around my bones, stubborn and difficult to shake off.

But this year, I’m hoping to make the most out of it. My summer is going to look like Italian beaches, idleness, escaping my hometown, music and vinyls, capturing every moment on film, movie theatres, nostalgia.

Here are a few books that I’m hoping will carry me through:

CATEGORY ONE: summer haze
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan

Bonjour Tristesse (1954) by Françoise Sagan is a short novel about a 17-year-old girl named Cécile who is spending the summer on the French Riviera with her widowed father, Raymond, a charming and hedonistic man. Their carefree life is disrupted when Anne, a sophisticated and serious woman from Raymond's past, arrives and plans to marry him. Feeling threatened, Cécile schemes to sabotage their relationship, leading to tragic consequences. The novel explores themes of youth, freedom, love, and emotional manipulation.

Cheri and the End of Cheri by Colette

Chéri and The End of Chéri are two linked novels by Colette, exploring the relationship between a young man and an older woman in post-World War I France.

Together, the novels explore themes of love, aging, change, and the emotional aftermath of both war and lost passion.

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CATEGORY TWO : niche classics
The Devil in the Flesh by Raymond Radiguet

In The Devil in the Flesh, a precocious teenage boy engages in a secret love affair with Marthe, a married woman whose husband is away fighting in World War I. Their relationship, intense and illicit, unfolds amidst the constraints of bourgeois society. The novel explores themes of passion, immaturity, and moral recklessness, ending tragically with Marthe’s death and the narrator’s emotional detachment.

Pan by Knut Hamsun

Pan follows Lieutenant Thomas Glahn, a reclusive hunter living in the Norwegian wilderness, who becomes entangled in a romantic and destructive relationship with a woman named Edvarda. The novel delves into Glahn’s psychological complexity and his inability to connect with others or understand social norms. Pan contrasts the purity of nature with the confusion and cruelty of human emotions, portraying love as both ecstatic and ruinous.

Jenny by Undset

In Jenny, a Norwegian painter living in Rome, Jenny Winge, seeks independence and artistic fulfillment. However, her aspirations are challenged when she falls in love with a man whose values and lifestyle clash with hers. The novel explores the emotional and social constraints placed on women, particularly around love, motherhood, and creative freedom. Jenny ends in sorrow, underlining the tension between personal ideals and societal expectations.

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CATEGORY THREE: reading IS political
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

In Minor Detail, Adania Shibli intertwines two narratives to explore violence, memory, and historical erasure in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first part, set in 1949, recounts the rape and murder of a young Palestinian girl by Israeli soldiers. The second part follows a modern-day Palestinian woman who becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind this crime, retracing the girl’s steps in a journey marked by oppression and psychological unraveling.

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CATEGORY FOUR: roman holiday
Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante

Elsa Morante tells the story of Elisa, a woman recounting her family history and personal disillusionments in a decaying Sicilian aristocratic household. The novel spans generations, blending realism with elements of fairy tale and myth, as it explores themes of illusion, class, love, and betrayal. Elisa grapples with the lies—both personal and societal—that shaped her life, uncovering the destructive power of fantasy and self-deception.

This has been on my reading list for years, it’s one of my only 5-star predictions… very excited!

The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey is an epic poem chronicling Odysseus’s long journey home after the Trojan War. Over ten years, he faces trials including monsters, temptresses, and divine wrath, while his wife Penelope and son Telemachus fend off suitors at home. The Odyssey explores enduring themes of heroism, loyalty, cunning, identity, and the meaning of home, shaping the Western literary canon with its blend of adventure and moral reflection.

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

In The Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante follows Olga, a woman whose husband abruptly leaves her after fifteen years of marriage. Spiralling into emotional and psychological crisis, Olga confronts feelings of rage, worthlessness, and maternal responsibility. Set over a few harrowing weeks, the novel is a raw exploration of female identity, self-destruction, and eventual resilience, capturing the intense interiority of a woman rebuilding herself from the ruins of abandonment.

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