My favorite moment of a summer day is the late afternoon, when the heat finally begins to subside, but the sun still lingers. Like a siren’s call, I feel the urge to be on a patio with a cool drink sitting nearby. For a season that is usually packed full of vacations and outings, I love the inherent coziness of a summer afternoon. There is a certain quality of that part of the day that feels carved out from regular life, and I want all my books during the season to feel exactly like that.
In I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, Glynnis MacNicol goes to Paris post-pandemic to simply enjoy herself. There’s no redemption arc, no productivity, no lesson, just dancing on the Seine, plenty of handsome men, and a plethora of cheese. That’s it – the radical act of a woman taking her own pleasure seriously.
“Women in myths are forever condemning the world to chaos in their search for knowledge - the apple bitten, the box opened. But I know plenty. I am not here to learn. I am here to feel.”
This quote has stuck with me ever since I read her memoir. Don’t get me wrong, I love learning new things and reading from a different point of view, but it’s also okay to simply have fun. To me, that is what summer is all about – fun, pleasure, and no responsibilities. And summer reading can feel like that when you let it. Forget the Goodreads goal; all that matters is that you take some time in the afternoon to read a book that you genuinely enjoy, and that’s enough.
Summer is the season we give ourselves permission to read selfishly. So if you need to get in the mood, here are some books about women doing that same thing, living for themselves, in different ways.
Françoise Sagan wrote Bonjour Tristesse when she was 19 years old. The book follows a teenager during her summer on the French Riviera as she meddles in the lives of the adults around her, consequences be damned. At that age, nothing matters but the exact moment you are living in, and that is just the feeling you get when reading this book. Bonjour Tristesse is a pleasure with a little bit of guilt baked in that you’re choosing to ignore. This is the kind of book you read with the AC blasting, not worried about what it’s going to cost, because all you care about is feeling comfortable in that moment.
Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz, which is less plot and more vibes, is another great seasonal read. Babitz perfectly captures the wayward feelings of your 20s and sets it all in a sun-kissed, drifting, unhurried summer. I remember the first time I read this, and it put me at ease. For a Type A person reading a book about a girl with no direction, that isn’t the reaction you would expect. But it made me realize that everything will work out and come along when it’s supposed to, and in the meantime, I might as well have as much fun as possible.
What is more fun than a little romance in the summer? They call it a summer fling for a reason. Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage is your one-way ticket to a guilty pleasure, and you earned it. The book follows Emmy, a professional barrel racer who moves back home after an accident derails her career. A bummer start, but we get to watch Emmy reclaim her spark and find her way back to something she loves (with a little help from a cute cowboy), and that is the exact energy I want this summer.
Summer is the time to be the main character. Yes, have fun and relax, but also don’t let the season pass you by. In Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters, we get to see several minor characters, women who spent entire novels adjacent to the story, finally get their own stories. There is something about summer and the endless possibilities it prompts that gives us all the space to be the main character, even if it’s just for our own afternoon.
Glynnis MacNicol argues that the pursuit of enjoyment is a political act, both a right and a responsibility. Honestly, I agree. Summer reading isn’t a frivolous activity that you squeeze in between productive things. Whether you’re reading a western romance, hanging out in Eve Babitz’s California, or enjoying a problematic summer in the French Riviera, that is an act of possession over your own interior life.
This summer, I’ll be on the patio with a cool drink, enjoying the afternoons and, more importantly, having a lot of fun.
