Every day is getting warmer than the one before and the sun keeps shining brighter as the birds upgrade the quality of their singing. School is out, vacations are in, and work obligations are to some of us merely problems of the past. Summer’s definitely in the air right now, can you feel it? Well, no matter what you are feeling, we at Daastan can certainly agree that nothing sits better than a really good Summer Reading. Follow along and check out the 5 books that we think are particularly perfect to read under the summer sun!
Top 5 Books for Summer Reading
1. Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse
Ever stopped for a second and asked yourself what the meaning of life is? It is safe to admit that Hermann Hesse’s novel will provide an immensely unique answer to that question. We get to follow Siddhartha’s path as he embarks on a spiritual journey of self-discovery. Siddhartha’s quest for enlightenment will enlighten you as a reader too and it is guaranteed that you will, by the end of the book, have an updated outlook on life. For the best possible experience, find a river closeby (YouTube works too I guess) and sit yourself down right next to the ebbing and flowing water while you delve deep into this summer-based nature-themed story. This novel will unify your soul with the nature that surrounds you and at least for the moment it will be easy to remind yourself to stay present, and to appreciate the little details around you.
“Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, bizarre and enigmatic was the world! There was blue, there was yellow, there was green. Sky flowed and river, forest jutted and mountain: everything beautiful.”- Hesse
2. The Garden Party – Katherine Mansfield
Are you staying busy but eager to get some Summer Reading done? No worries! Katherine Mansfield has got you covered. The Garden Party might be a very short story, but it will not fall short of leaving you fulfilled with plenty of afterthoughts. Mansfield very subtly captures the emotional turmoil that cultivates when it seems impossible to disentangle yourself from the conventions that society has set out for you. The focal point of The Garden Party is not the plot, it is perhaps rather the minds of the people involved that are of main interest. This book is a perfect choice for Summer Reading due to the idyllic descriptions of the party in the garden: the grass is shining, the weather is ideal, and there is a lavish buffet of flowers that one cannot miss. And of course, the party does not come drama-free. This short story contains everything you need.
“Pots of pink lilies. No other kind. Nothing but lilies –canna lilies, big pink flowers, wide open, radiant, almost frighteningly alive on bright crimson stems.”- Mansfield
3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Many of us are already aware of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland, but that should not stop us from falling down the rabbit hole once again. There is no better time than summertime to experience the magical madness and whimsicality of the forests beneath our world. In fact, it is a necessity to take advice from three-inch-tall Caterpillars and talking White Rabbits. Lewis Carroll invites you over to a Mad Tea-Party this summer and your age is completely irrelevant for the enjoyment of the Wonderland.
4. Mrs Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
If you haven’t read Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway then now is the best time to do it. The whole story takes place on one balmy summer day in June 1923, in the warm air of London, and is perhaps mostly known for its use of a distinctive narrative device called the stream of consciousness. This essentially means that the emotions and thought processes of the characters are presented in a fluidly order. The internal monologue of a certain character can be depicted and then, without any marked transitions, the perspective changes to the internal monologue of another character; and so we get to familiarize ourselves with all the characters in a very nuanced way. This is a hot read for the summer season – you will not regret it!
5. Exterminate All The Brutes – Sven Lindqvist
Now before we get started on this one, it is worth mentioning that reading “Exterminate All the Brutes”: ‘One Man’s Odyssey’, ‘Into the Heart of Darkness’ and ‘The Origins of European Genocide’ will require a substantial amount of attention and if you are someone who is yearning for heavy knowledge about the most gruesome and immoral acts of humanity, then this book is for you.
Sven Lindqvist unravels shocking discoveries about the dark past of our world as he goes on his own journey through the Saharan desert. He exposes the roots of colonialism, racism, and genocide in Africa, and makes his way up to what ultimately resulted in Europe’s Holocaust. If you are looking to have your eyes opened then please feel free to dive into this incredibly necessary, relevant, and vivid truth-telling book. The monologues of this travelogue are accessible to all, and all we need is the need to read.
That’s the end of our list! Hopefully one of these books stuck out to you and will be read by you this summer – we promise you that you won’t feel disappointed! Now whatever you do, don’t go too far away, because we have plenty of other juicy books recommendations coming your way soon.
