The summer syllabus – Modern Mrs Darcy

The Economy of Cities

by Jane Jacobs

I’m weirdly fascinated by urban planning, so this follow-up to Jacob’s classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities (one of the books that makes me feel like I’m not crazy) is on my must-read list. Many consider this later work by Jacobs to be her crowning achievement as an author and shaper of society.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

by William Zinsser

Imagine The Elements of Style, but meatier, and for nonfiction. I’ve read chunks of this book but never the whole thing, which is why it’s been languishing on my books I’ve been meaning to read list for too long. (With all these writing books on my list, I need to plan for extra time to write!)

The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity

by Steven Strogatz

I don’t know enough about math to even describe this book: ask me in three months? Goodreads reviewers swear it’s readable, and the author has been a frequent guest on Radiolab, which gives me hope. While it sounds interesting, this isn’t the kind of book I’d usually take to the beach. I’m making a place for it this summer.

Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me

by Karen Swallow Prior

Bronwyn first talked me into reading this one, but it got bumped up my list after I heard the author speak at FFW. The title sounds fancy and staid, but Prior had us in hysterics with her excerpt that linked Thomas Hardy with her teenage attempts to lose her virginity. A possible beach read.

Writing Creative Nonfiction

by Carolyn Forché and Philip Gerard

A writerly friend recommended this at FFW last month as a good book for improving my craft as a nonfiction writer. I ordered a copy before I unpacked my suitcase. It’s a compilation of thirty-ish short essays—from Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams, Philip Gerard—focusing on different aspects of the craft. I should start this soon so I can read it slowly over the summer.

Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks

by Ken Jennings

This book has been enthusiastically recommended by several book nerds with great taste, and explores the history of mapmaking from the olden days of parchment to today’s google maps and GPS. I love a good map (who doesn’t?) and am totally intrigued: when it comes to geography, I don’t know enough to know what I don’t know.

Chance or the Dance

by Thomas Howard

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for years, as it’s been recommended by numerous people I respect across the years who have nothing in common (except for being older than me, wiser than me, and not afraid of reading deeply). But it sounds a little dry so I haven’t made myself pick it up—yet.

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other

by Sherry Turkle

Technology is changing the way we interact with each other: but is that good or bad, and what should we do about it? Turkle, an MIT professor, draws on 15 years of data to show how face-to-face relationships are changing in the facebook age. Because I make my living largely from behind a screen, this is on my must-read list.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

by Daniel James Brown

Billed as a perfect choice for fans of Unbroken, this bestselling story about an American crew team seeking Olympic gold during the Depression has garnered nearly 2000 5-star reviews on Amazon. I fully expect this to be as compelling as any novel I read this summer.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

I promised myself that I would read something, anything by Goodwin this year, and I did: Wait Till Next Year, which made the summer reading guide in the Nerdy Nonfiction category. I liked it so much I’m diving into the deep end with this straight-up history of the Lincoln era. My dad will be proud.