You may have noticed that this year’s summer reading guide is tighter than previous editions: it only has 7 categories, 5 books in each, and—this is the big change—if I couldn’t imagine you wanting to take the book to the beach with you, I didn’t include it.
(Need the guide? Here’s how to get yours).
That means no crazy-slow-to-develop gorgeous novels, no productivity books, no poetry. (Well, not many.)
But I like to read year-round, and I know I’m not alone. As much as I love my novels, I also read to get smart—to develop my craft, to dive deep into subjects, to explore topics I know nothing about.
So I created my Summer Syllabus. (Thanks to Melissa for suggesting the title on facebook.) These are the books that didn’t make the cut for the summer reading guide because they’re too nerdy (even for the Nerdy Nonfiction category!) But I want to read them this summer—or at least feel like I should.
So here’s my Summer Syllabus: 10 summer reads that will make me smarter:
Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
Chance or the Dance
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
The Economy of Cities
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity
Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me
Writing Creative Nonfiction
Which of these look good to you? Will you make your own summer syllabus? What will be on it?
57 comments
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED “Maphead”, and “Team of Rivals” is actually already on my list (I registered to win it on Goodreads, but didn’t make the cut – sadly).
Carrie, I think you’re the one who first put Maphead on my radar. Thanks for that!
Loved “Booked”! Definite beach reading for me but I think that depends on if you enjoy memoirs.
I enjoyed “Unbroken”– so I look forward to reading “Boys in the Boat” – thanks for sharing that. I look forward to several other selections here: “Booked”, “The Joy of X”, and “Writing Creative Nonfiction”. I think my teen son will enjoy “Maphead” and maybe “Team of Rivals”. A wonderful “summer syllabus”. Appreciate your book lists!
Boys in the Boat is fantastic – one of my favorites from last year. The Joy of X was really enjoyable as well, and Team of Rivals is great. You’ve got some terrific picks here!
Team of Rivals is not very nerdy. It’s a great read. If you’ve read any David McCullough books, it’s similar to those. I haven’t read any of the others so I’m excited to add some of them to my list!
Confession: I’ve never read any David McCullough. I’ve meant to, but that doesn’t really count. 🙂
Oh, I think you would really like him. He has a way of writing history and biography books as if they are novels. His audio “The Course of Human Events” is also fantastic. I’ve read Truman, John Adams, Mornings on Horseback, and 1776 and there’s not a dud in the bunch. There was a book of essays I checked out once by him but I can’t remember what it was called. I haven’t read all of his books but I keep meaning to.
I loved Unbroken and have been curious about Boys in the Boat for that reason. Booked is also on my list. My husband loved Team of Rivals – I bet you will too!
I’ve got several stacks of TBRs at the moment – I need to make my own syllabus!
I would love to see what you put on your syllabus!
WOW. I actually really want to read every single one of these books. I’ve never seen a book list where there wasn’t at least one where I was like “Meh.” Thanks Anne!
HIGH PRAISE, especially from you! Let me know if you read any. 🙂
Thanks for these suggestions. “Booked” is the only one I’ve read and it’s definitely not staid — it’s so fascinating how KSP weaves different stages in her life with various books that were life-altering for her. Of course the problem is you’ll want to read, or re-read, every one of the books she talks about after you’ve finished, but that’s a good problem!
Of course I’ll want to read all the classics next! Hmmm, I hadn’t foreseen the effect on my to-be-read list. Shudder!
I’ve been wanting to read Team of Rivals for a long time! Currently reading another book about the Civil War (1861 by Adam Goodheart) which would make my grandpa proud–he watched the Ken Burns series with me repeatedly when I was a kid.
Booked sounds right up my alley!
So how about a Summer Novel Syllabus for those long, slow, literary novels? 🙂 I know, I’m being greedy!
I think I’ll re-post previous years reading guides soon. There’s a “gorgeous novel” category in there somewhere. Off the top of my head, a few favorites are Jayber Crow, Gilead, Brideshead.
Oooh – Writing Creative Nonfiction sounds good! I got to hear Terry Tempest Williams speak when I was in college, and I loved her.
Really? Jealous. I really liked (most of) When Women Were Birds—such an interesting structure. Although I haven’t read anything else by her. At least not yet. 🙂
She was seriously amazing. She read her “why I write” essay, and I loved it so much my roommate had it printed and framed for me for graduation.
I need to go find that essay then!
http://rvannoy.asp.radford.edu/rvn/312/whyiwrite.pdf
Thank you for sharing that essay. I feel like I just returned from an exhilarating adventure after reading it!
Okay, now my summer reading list just exploded–again! Thank you for the reminder that I want to read Unbroken–I had just mentioned it to my husband over the weekend. My first Doris Kearns Goodwin was No Ordinary Time; and I’ve been circling Team of Rivals since watching Lincoln last year.
I haven’t seen Lincoln. Worth it?
Lincoln was very good.
I enjoyed Lincoln too, Anne. Sally Field was amazing as Mary Todd Lincoln. This is a neat (short) interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i504LdoWV-g
I read and reviewed Booked when it first came out. It should be on everyone’s reading list, no matter what the season!
Yes, and yours was one of the reviews that made me want to read it!
Just requested The Boys in the Boat from the library! (I am an Unbroken fan.) Probably will also check out Team of Rivals.
Thanks for the recommendations!
-Theresa
Happy reading!
Maphead sounds really intriguing to me. I’m also considering The Joy of X since I am currently reading a similar book. The book I am currently reading is The Disappearing Spoon, which is about the periodic table. It is very interesting to learn how each element came about and I love that I am learning something. The way the author writes about the elements is intriguing and not boring, but a lot of the book does go over my head since I’m not great with Chemistry or Physics :]. Also, you’ve recommended too many books that sound good and I need to find a lot more time to read everything!!! :]
The Disappearing Spoon would be perfect for this list! (Well, except that I already read it. 🙂 It’s just the right kind of book.
Loving several of these suggestions! I like to temper my light summer novels with something thought-provoking for balance, so these are right up our alley.
Is that Ken Jennings the famous guy from Jeopardy? We are Jeopardy nerds around here. Perhaps my hubby would like to join in reading a few of these.
Google says yes—it’s the same guy!
Oh, I knew I recognized that name! Haha, thanks!
Unbroken is in the queue to be read (on your recommendation) and I should have ordered a Team of Rivals already. Now I think I’ll have to add Boys in the Boat. I’m about to get buried if I don’t get crackin’!
I hear you on that! If I read three of these a month, I’ll finish this list by Labor Day. But then I have all my other summer reading lists to also tend to…. 🙂
Oh these look great! What a challenging list of books- thanks! I read Alone Together and became initially quite pessimistic about technology. I think I’ve lightened up since then- will be interested to read your thoughts!
Ooh, more to read this summer! I love maps, so I’d love to pick up the cartography one first. Followed by the Creative Nonfiction one. On Writing Well is one of my favs.
Yay! I thought that was a fun title. 🙂
I love Writing Creative Nonfiction, and the Zinsser is on my shelf, but I don’t think I’ve ever read through it. Now I’ll have to go check.
My oldest daughter read Joy of X recently and really enjoyed it! (I raise them on nerdy nonfiction…) 😉
Let me know what you think of Team of Rivals. I have had that book on my list for awhile, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. A friend of mine read it and found it difficult to keep all the players’ roles straight. I love American history though, especially the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Link for Booked actually goes to the Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.
Fixed! Thank you.
I would love to read Writing Creative Nonfiction. I think my Creative Nonfiction class in college changed writing for me. It was like learning about blogging before there really were blogs!! (Not many, at least. This was in 2003.)
Booked also sounds up my alley!
So, the last book, ‘Booked’ is linked to a book called “The Secret Keeper”, which looks interesting but not the same book. These all look interesting, I’m checking them out, will add them to my goodreads list…
Thanks for the heads-up. It’s fixed now. 🙂
I love the idea of a Summer Syllabus! I haven’t read any of these, but am definitely adding them to my to-read list. ‘Booked’ looks particularly up my alley, but I’m curious about all of them (though I may be too math-phobic to read ‘Joy of X’). Thanks for the great recommendations, as always. 🙂
I love this idea, too. I keep thinking about it, but I don’t feel very purposeful yet. Fun list though!
Maphead made me think of a book I read a few years ago, “Longitude: by Dava Sobel. It’s about the attempts to accurately measure longitude. Fascinating stuff.
I’ve read that latitude is easy but longitude is tough to measure. (Why do I know this??) I’ll add it to my list! But no promises I’ll get to it by Labor Day—this is getting out of hand!
Being a schmut book reader (insert cringe from all your followers) I don’t usually have much to add to a literary discussion. But tonight at a graduation party three states from home someone mentioned reading a book about a crew team and I actually knew what they were talking about! They had great reviews for The Boys in the Boat, and I am looking forward to reading it when I get back from the beach. Btw, finally read Into Thin Air and Five Days at Memorial. Excellent reads and very thought provoking. Thanks for the recommendations!
Woohoo! Have fun at the beach, and let me know what you think of it when you read it. 🙂
Most of these went on my to-read list (which is getting out of control, hahaha). I love to alternate fiction and non-fiction. Especially can’t wait to read the books about writing, as that is an area in which I’ve been trying to grow.
I love this list! Many of these are already on my (very large TBR list) but this moved them up a few notches. I have read _On Writing Well_ and highly recommend it! Thanks for taking the time. I love connecting with readers who go beyond just he popular fiction in a season. Love the podcast and website. Thanks for taking the time to keep it fresh all the time.
-Jeannine