Summer Reading Plans

It is June, which hopefully means at least three months of summer, and three months of lots of lovely reading opportunities.  I love to read at any time of year, and as I have said on many occasions, I am never knowingly without a  book.  I would never go anywhere without a book stuffed into my handbag, which means all handbag purchases have to be capable of comfortably storing a paper back.

Reading is part of my daily routine. It happens organically and provides a reliable rhythm to my day.  I know if I haven’t had much time to read for a few days I begin to feel irritable.  Reading along with writing and running gives me a reliable emotional equilibrium.

When summer arrives I feel excited about the reading time ahead and I begin to make plans.  There is a joy to summer reading which I adore.   I know that it will take place on holidays where it is perfectly acceptable to sit with a book for hours on end.  Without the pull of chores and work and the routines of life which get in the way, I feel freer in my reading. Much of my reading will also take place in my own garden. Just this weekend I was sitting in my sunny garden on a Sunday afternoon book in hand, and the gentle hum of bees buzzing as an accompaniment.  I will read after supper outside, with candles and strings of lights as the sun goes down.  I will read when we are in France in a couple of weeks and I will read in rural campsites where we will temporarily set up home in our camper van in the UK at various points throughout the summer.

Often I will visit a favourite bookshop or two just before a holiday to stock up on summer reading.  This year I have books I have been saving especially, and books which have been in my TBR basket for a while, many of which I can’t wait to get to.  As always there will be a mix of fiction and nonfiction.

Fiction

If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler

Summer isn’t summer if I don’t have Anne Tyler by my side for at least part of it.  Over the years she has accompanied me around Europe, the UK and more exotically to Costa Rica.  I adore her examination of the minutiae of relationships and small town life.  This novel is one of her earlier ones published in 1964 but it is one of the few I haven’t yet read.

Lucy by The Sea by Elizabeth Strout 

Elizabeth Strout is another of my favourite authors.  This, her latest novel came out last year.  I bought it in January and have been saving it to read in the summer.  This is the same Lucy from My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh William. In this novel she leaves New York to spend lockdown by the sea with her husband.  Like Anne Tyler, Strout has pin point understanding of the human psyche and uses this in the clever way she writes about relationships.  Her writing is blissful and I can’t wait to sink into it again.

Darling by India Knight

I was a little nervous about this novel.  Darling is a contemporary take on Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love which is a novel I adore and see no reason for it to be tampered with.  However I have read such good things about this by India Knight, that I now can’t wait to read it.  It has been described as ‘total escapist bliss’ What more could you wish for in your summer reading!

Consequences by E.M. Delafield

I love Persephone books and am gradually building up my collection.  If I spot them in second hand bookshops I always snap them up.  Currently I have 3 unread Persephone books on my shelf and this is the one I want to get to next.  E.M Delafield is the author of Diary of a Provincial Lady which I adore.  Consequences is described as angrier than her other books but also sad and funny too.  I am yet to pick up a Persephone Book I haven’t enjoyed so I have high hopes for this one too.

Farm Girl by Corinne Cunnigham

Corinne is one of the friends I write with regularly and I can’t wait to read her novel set in Massachusetts.  I adore Corinne’s writing .  She is so evocative in her description of place, and I know this will be a beautiful book to accompany me on any of my summer holiday travels.  I really recommend her newsletter if you enjoy gentle writing about a books, knitting and living a rural creative life

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Another one which has been on my TBR list for a little while. Barbara Pym is the author of one of my favourite quotes “One did not drink sherry before the evening, just as one did not read a novel in the morning”. This is from Quartet in Autumn which is another one of her novels I thoroughly enjoyed.  Excellent Women is recommended as the starting point if you are just dipping  your toe into the works of Barbara Pym. I think some her lighthearted humor set in 1950’s London might suit me very well

We all Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

I don’t always read too much contemporary fiction and try to avoid the hype associated with so many new releases.  This is a reasonably recent release I had been looking forward to and was thrilled to find a pristine hardback copy in my local Oxfam Books.  It is described by Marian Keyes as having “Nora Ephron style wit, moving, comforting and one of her favourite books ever”.  I’ll go with that recommendation.  I also happen to adore the cover of this book…and whatever anyone says, I do judge a book by it’s cover!

The Battle of the Villa Fiorita by Rumer Godden

Another vintage read, and I have a beautiful vintage copy of this book I picked up in another local second hand book shop.  This is set in Lake Garda in Italy which immediately makes me want to read it over the summer.  I have been flicking through this one and some of the descriptions  of olive groves, walled gardens filled with peach blossom and figs already have me dreaming of long lazy days in the sun.

I would also like to read The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. It was one I had intended to read last year but didn’t quite get to.

Memoir

Three Houses by Angela Thirkell

Another charity shop find and another one I have been saving.  I am reading a number of memoirs this year and have also been reading through Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire series for a while now, so this is a lovely melding of the two.  It is memoir based on the three houses in which Thirkell grew up from Literary London to the English seaside.

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

This is another book I have been saving for just the right time.  I have a beautiful hardback edition so it is likely to be one I read at home rather than on my travels.  This is a deeply personal collection of essays in which she reflects on home, family, friendships and writing. Ann Patchett is another author I enjoy and I am very curious about the content of this lovely book.

Cookery and Gardens

Simple by Ottalenghi

I adore the food of Ottalenghi and there are a couple of recipes in here which I cook regularly but I want to cook more from it.  There are many delicious salads and grilled meat and fish recipes which sing out summer, and those are the ones I shall be trying out.

A Year Full of Flowers by Sarah Raven

This is a book I regularly refer to and it sits on a small table in my kitchen at all times.  A highlight of last year was visiting  Sarah Raven’s garden at Perch Hill.  The photography in this book, particularly the stunning Dahlia garden transports me right back

Diary of a French Herb Garden by Geraldine Holt

It was the peaceful cover of this book which first drew me to it in a local charity shop, but as soon as I picked it up I knew it was one I wanted to read.  I have been saving it to read in France this summer.  This is Geraldine Holt’s diary account of the restoration of a curates ancient walled garden in an area of the Ardeche.  This is where we will be travelling to this year so it will be the perfect accompaniment as we discover an area bathed in sunshine and wild mountain herbs.

I will also quite likely continue working my way through Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple series and Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire series.  Miss Read is never far away from my reading pile and her books set in rural england are delightful at any time of year

Of course I will be visiting book shops too this summer, so I suspect a few other books will sneak their way onto my summer reading list.

I’m not a huge reader of magazines but I do regularly read Simple Things and have had a subscription to Wildflower for the past year so will be dipping into those too.