A Cairn for Vacation
When the summer rolls around, I (a city mouse) like to pack up my family of four and head to a rental house in the middle of nowhere. The town doesn’t matter as much as whether or not it’s within driving distance and has enough space for my kids to roam like free range chickens. Only under these conditions can I begin my temporary transformation into a country mouse, finding a quiet spot on a couch or a pool chair to read (and doom-scroll?) without interruption.
This summer we went 200+ miles outside of San Francisco. We dusted off our summer clothes and flip flops and bathing suits and sunglasses and withstood the three+ hour drive with its never-ending “are we there yet?”s to arrive at a rental house chosen because it had a pool, a hot tub and a swing set—all of which were used in heavy rotation before 8:00 a.m. most mornings.
While being the passenger parent on a road trip involves the demands of snack distribution and United Nations-level negotiation skills with respect to de-escalating sibling conflicts, it does come with its perks—most notably being able to listen to an audiobook on noise-canceling headphones. And listen to audiobooks I did!
If you find yourself in a similar place—whether on a train, a plane, or in the car, on a vacation or a staycation, with others or alone—and need some recommendations for summer reading, here are some books I’ve read recently that might just be for you.
Happy reading!
Courtney xx
The Girls Who Grew Big — A moving story centering the complexities of young female friendships as impacted by pregnancy, relationships / men, race, class and bodily autonomy.
The Compound — Love Island meets Survivor in a dystopian setting.
Nothing to See Here — A woman is hired by a former friend to care for her two stepchildren. The catch: they spontaneously combust when they’re mad.
These Heathens — A young girl in Georgia seeks an abortion during the civil rights movement and the Black queer community are the heroes.
Heartwood — A slow-burn literary mystery about a search and rescue mission to find a missing hiker.
Blood in the Water — A YA novel about a girl from NY who goes to visit wealthy family friends on Martha’s Vineyard and finds herself solving a murder.
Don’t Let Him In — Men behaving abhorrently and the women who love them.
The Sicilian Inheritance — Upon the death of her beloved great-aunt, a woman travels to Sicily to uncover an old family secret and lay claim to a piece of land.
It’s a Love Story — A child actress-turned-director at a movie studio is so desperate to get her first optioned project funded, she’ll chase down the childhood co-star that broke her heart (before becoming a modern-day rock star) to see if he’ll write a hit song for the film to give it the commercial appeal it needs to get made. MAYBE LOVE IS ALSO FOUND ALONG THE WAY.
Tuesday July 8 Book Releases On My Radar:
