I thought for this entry I would do something a little different. Anyone who follows any of my social media feeds knows that I am an avid reader. I am always carrying at least 2 books in my bag with me at all times. One of my favourite summer pass times is sitting out in the sun with a good book, or inside a coffee shop with a good book because I live in Newfoundland and sitting outside in the summer isn’t always an option:
But I digress. In this post I wanted to list a couple of my current favourite summer reads, because I get a lot of folks asking me for suggestions. So, this is the list I came up with, in no particular order. Read em all you won’t regret it!
1) You Deserve a Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart.
If you don’t know Mamrie Hart yet get thee to a computer and check out her hilarious YouTube series You Deserve a Drink, in which Mamrie will teach you how to make some pretty amazing cocktails whilst making you bust a gut with her amazingly terrrrrrrrrible puns. I was one of the nerds anxiously awaiting the release of this book and let me tell you it did NOT disappoint. You Deserve a Drink is a collection of short essays and anecdotes from Hart’s life ranging from spending Spring Break on an all-male gay nudist resort with her girlfriends to the bachelorette party where she accidentally hired a sixty year old meth head to teach the ladies pole dancing. This is one of those “will make you laugh out loud in inappropriate places” type books and I promise you will enjoy every minute of it. Each chapter comes with a cocktail recipe AND like her YouTube videos the whole book comes with it’s own built-in drinking game. I mean really, what more could a girl ask for?
2) How To Build a Girl – Caitlin Moran
I love Caitlin Moran. I would like to put all of her books on this list, but for the sake of time and space I’m just going to give you her most recent literary offering. Described as “The Bell Jar written by Rizzo from Grease, with a soundtrack by My Bloody Valentine and Happy Mondays”, how to build a girl is Moran’s new coming-of-age novel about a young girl trying to figure out, in her own terms, what exactly it takes to build a girl. I’m actually still in the middle of reading this book as I type this. but it’s so damn good I had to add it to the list. It’s such a joy to read, Moran’s writing is laugh out loud funny and incredibly charming. This is a great book for a day on the beach, or a rainy weekend stuck inside, guaranteed to make you smile!
3) Relish: My Life in the Kitchen – Lucy Knisley
This is one for all you foodies out there. Lucy Knisley has a fantastic collection of beautifully illustrated graphic novels but this is one of my favourites. Part memoir and part cookbook Relish brings together captivating anecdotes about Knisley’s life with incredible recipes she picked up along the way and had literally drawn out step by step for her readers. My words don’t really do it justice so here is a small sample of what you can find inside.
4) Through The Woods – Emily Carroll
Ok, I just want to start out by saying this book is BEAUTIFUL! Carroll’s illustrations are a feast for the eyes. This would be the book you wanna read while sitting around the campfire on a dark summer night. Through The Woods is a collection of spooky short horror stories from Carroll’s Web Comic. I read this book twice in a row. The first time for the incredible storytelling and the second time just to get lost in the mesmerizing artwork that covers it’s pages. This was easily one of the best graphic novels I’ve had the pleasure to read this year.
5) Lumberjanes Vol 1 – Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooke Allen
Carrying on with the campfire theme the last book I’m going to mention here is the first of what I hope will be a long series. I love Lumberjanes. I wish this book had been out when I was a kid. Â Lumberjanes follows the adventures of five best friends who are spending the summer at the Lumberjanes Scout Camp. Described as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gravity Falls featuring five butt-kicking, rad teenage girls wailing on monsters and solving a mystery with the whole world at stake”, it’s a great story about friendship, girl power and the awesomeness of Summer! Plus it’s both written and Illustrated by a group of amazing female artists!
Let me know what you thought of this list! If people are into it maybe I’ll do a few more lists down the road.
Thanks for reading! Now get off the computer, go pick up one of these books and head to your favourite reading nook!
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