As someone who grew up taking the summer reading club at the library seriously, summer has always been a glorious time of hitting up all the books that I didn’t have time for during the school year. As I have transitioned into adult summers, where time is taken by summer classes and work, my book count has dropped, but the joy I take in the season hasn’t. However you prefer to read — novels on the beach, audiobooks on the road trip, or beach reading near the barbeque — these titles all hold pieces of the coveted summer season.
Factory Summers (2021) by Guy Delisle
The summer job — a rite of passage for many teenagers and young adults entering the workforce. Starting at the age of 16, cartoonist Guy Delisle worked three summers at a pulp and paper mill in Québec City. In Factory Summers, he chronicles life in the mill, highlighting the tensions of class and sexism permitted in this all-male workplace.
A number of factors led to my enjoyment: the story isn’t complicated, its sincerity lends itself to a quiet power, and the art is simple, all black and white cartoons with a splash of yellow highlighting the action. The copy I picked up was translated from French and has inspired me to pick up the travelogues that Delisle has created too. Factory Summers has called me to find the art in the mundanity that makes up the nostalgia of my teenage jobs.
The Summer Pact (2024) by Emily Giffin
In the wake of a tragedy, a group of unlikely university friends make a pact. 10 years later this pact pulls them together as they embark on a trip that will bring a new direction to each of their lives.
Listening to this title as an audiobook is the way to go. This is a story told in three perspectives, with three different narrators, and hearing their stories rather than reading it felt like it was a story told by a friend. I got misty-eyed when the story came to an end and I had to leave them.
A quick content warning for this book — it deals heavily with themes of grief and suicide.
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies (2024) by Catherine Mack
Eleanor Dash only wants to kill off the main character of her best-selling mystery series, never see that one ex of hers again, and get this book tour over with. But as attempts are made on her and her ex’s lives, it becomes clear that she is asking too much.
This murder mystery by a Canadian author plays with formatting, hiding clues in footnotes and manuscript notes to pull readers through the narrative. This is a good book if you’re looking for a light read with enough intrigue to be left questioning the culprit’s identity until the end.
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs (2023) by Jamie Loftus
“Hot dogs. Poor people created them. Rich people found a way to charge fifteen dollars for them.”
This sets the tone for Jamie Loftus’s non-fiction title. In the summer of 2021, Jamie, her ex, and her pets travelled across the United States, eating every hot dog they could. This brazen book is both a travelogue and hot dog history.
The hot dog is a vital piece of summer for me, and this book had me both craving, and ready to swear off, the delicacy. Depending on one’s sensibilities and/or political leanings, this book could be hilarious or annoying — regardless, it is certainly unashamed.
Whether your summer goal is to escape, unplug, or learn a fun fact or two, there’s a book waiting to be opened this summer. None of this reading has to come with a price tag; all titles here are available at Fraser Valley Regional Library in various formats. So open that book (or the Libby app) and let’s get those summer reading goals done.
