Not So Basic Beach Reads
Not-so-basic reads, beach bag and beyond.
While talking summer pages, a friend recently lamented that she found herself (once again) in a furious race to finish a book for book club. She didn’t seem to be enjoying the monthly selection, yet she soldiered on because of the book’s declared “importance.” As we later perused the latest summer reading lists filled with lighter fare, a goldilocks moment: Maybe the best reads are both enjoyable and impart a deeper meaning. Hence, our non-basic list was born.
Love letter to America.
Sometimes it takes an outsider to remind you just how good you have it where you are, and Roger Bennett’s new release does just that for the U.S. of A. In Reborn in the USA: An Englishmen’s Love Letter to his Chosen Home, Bennett is like a PR rep for our currently somewhat worse-for-wear country, sharing how he began his love affair with all things American as a young boy growing up in Liverpool, England in the 80s. He shares how his pen pal in Chicago brought him face to face with his beloved Chicago Bears and how he eventually became a U.S. citizen. During his book tour, he reminded us of that time (1990, Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday) when Tracy Chapman became an overnight sensation by stepping in for Stevie Wonder before a rowdy Wembley Stadium.
A bestseller with bite.
The bestseller list can be a crapshoot; sometimes books are popular because they are that good, but sometimes they simply sell a lot of copies and we’re not sure why. Malibu Rising has earned the title for good reason. The glamorous Malibu setting (grounded nostalgically in the 80s) and centering event—an epic end-of-summer party being thrown by four famous siblings—puts this in “beach read'' territory, but with some heft and heart that keep it from getting too confectionary.
So random.
Though we are armed with more data and information than ever before, our brains still cannot stand to accept the randomness of our daily lives. Nowhere is this more true than with the concept of the “hot hand” in basketball—the belief that when you have a string of successes (read: baskets) you are likely to continue on that streak. This belief carries forth from basketball to everything from roulette to how asylum cases are settled. In The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks, Ben Cohen puts our resistance to randomness on full display while reminding us that not all is rational (and does it really matter if it’s real, if Steph Curry thinks it is)?
Work made better.
We have fanned out on Kim Scott since she introduced us to the idea of “radical candor.” Her straight shooting, action-oriented style is once again present in Just Work: How to Root Out Bias, Prejudice, and Bullying to Build a Kick-Ass Culture of Inclusivity. We have all promised to “do better” in our workplaces, but this is the real-deal blueprint for people who really want to make a more just workplace a reality.
Master multitasker.
While we pat ourselves on the back for washing, drying AND folding our laundry, Stacey Abrams is out there propping up democracy, fighting for voting rights and somehow writing a Grisham-level legal thriller called While Justice Sleeps. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
A classic circle-back.
We love nothing more than rediscovering (or just plain discovering) a good classic (see our previous, repeated suggestions that you read Lost Horizon). And Appointment in Samarra is no exception. At its publication, it was one of the first studies of small-town society (later known as suburbia), and how a man’s impulsive acts lead him to his ultimate escape of his cushy life and its expectations.
