3 Books for Summer Reading: Enrich your vacation while enjoying the sun
Personally, I’m the type of person who always buys a book—usually by impulse, at a random petrol station or magazine kiosk—when leaving for vacation. Sure, you can be a more organized person and have time to scroll online or walk along the amazing-smelling corridors of the bookstore (who doesn’t love to sniff a good book, right?). But most likely, you're in a rush and forget to pack your book. I’ve been the person who calmly chose her vacation book in earlier years; however, I found myself once again forgetting to pack something: a book. Well, not just a book, but the book. It has to catch my attention; otherwise, I won’t even take a glimpse at the first page.
This year was no different, and I just realized I did it once again at a random petrol station—buying a book, not something else, you dirty mind! I’ve fallen in love with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s style from One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I was so, so curious to read another story from him that I was just starstruck once I read his name on the bookshelf. I knew I had to buy the overpriced book, so I did. And go figure—nothing to do with my first experience. A lighter reading, and the style was so very different.
Until August, or See You in August, was such a refreshing afternoon read. I just wish I had more of it. It’s a very mundane story, but so light to read and somehow cozy. It ended so soon that I even found myself reading all the notes from the editor (which I don’t usually do). And to my surprise, I just realized—right now, as I write this—that this book was the first one I can recall not reading the last page of.
I do have the terrible habit of reading the last page of every book that grabs my attention. Still, there was something about this little story that stopped me from doing it.
The story revolves around a woman. She’s married, has two kids, and supposedly lives a happy life. Every August she returns to an island where her mother is buried and stays there for a day to catch up on her monologues toward the grave while cleaning it up and placing new flowers. Something changes in her on one of those nights, and it’s a decision she comes back to every year, whenever she returns to that place.
I don’t want to spoil it for you, as that would be taking away all the pleasure of reading it. You just go over her feelings toward what seems like a midlife crisis and dive into them while she makes her own difficult choices.
If you are looking for a light summer read, this can be a good choice—and keep in mind it was one of the last stories the Nobel-winning author wrote.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a more intense read, I would suggest one of my recent favorites by Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore. You know when you’re reading a book and get the feeling that it’s going to end in a certain way—and then it does? Disappointing, right? With Murakami, that has never happened to me, and this book gave me chills at so many points. The incredible capacity he has to describe certain details and scenes is astounding to me.
Kafka on the Shore tells you two different stories that meet each other at some point—and at that point, you’ll find it mind-blowing. As a cat owner, and to other cat lovers, I must advise you to read it carefully in some parts, as it can be a bit distressing.
Have to say that, like many other books, I also read the last page in the beginning—and oh man, I certainly did not expect that ending! I felt like the ending left me craving more (as usual), but at the same time, I could get the closure from the ending of that story.
If you like to read a few pages at a time and have about a week or ten days of time off, Murakami’s book is an amazing pick!
