Summer Reading Recommendations (for a tired brain)
Gentle Devastation and Cosy Crime: stories you might enjoy this summer
During my extended season of post barn building burnout recovery my brain has almost completely quit being able to read or even listen to fiction.
I simply can’t concentrate for more than 10 seconds at a time, even if I really enjoy the one sentence I manage to read.
Having loved reading for many years, this is possibly the most annoying and boring aspect of burnout recovery.
However! A few sweet little gems have made their way through the fog over the months. They all have a special place in my heart because of it.
I am hopeless at recommending fiction because I’m one of those readers who just remembers the vibes and none of the actual plot, or the character’s names. But! I am determined to try. I adored all these books and feel that, as the world gets more outrageous by the minute, anything we can do to share the simple beautiful things we love is worth doing, even if we do it badly.
The following recommendations are all gentle, cosy, and quietly devastating reads. When I’m fully functioning, my favourite genre of book is a big juicy devastating book. These I think of as small, sweet devastating books. They’re the same flavour as my favourites, but in an easier to absorb style, ideal for my slightly bruised brain.
Still Life by Sarah Winman
I listened to this book last September when I first moved into my barn. I think if I listened to it again now I would still smell plaster dust. The setting sweeps from wartime Tuscany to postwar London and is a joyful, character-rich story of art, love, and chosen family. Evelyn, a 64-year-old art historian, and Ulysses, a young British soldier, meet during WWII and their brief encounter reverberates through decades. The book celebrates beauty, food, friendship, and the transformative power of culture, with a gently magical, almost dreamlike tone. It is delicious all the way through and will mischievously transport you out of anywhere you would rather not be.
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
This is my second Clare Chambers novel, having galloped through Small Pleasures a few years ago and never forgotten it. I’m finding this the most difficult on my list to sum up. Chambers creates such vivid characters and worlds that I feel like I’m trying to briefly summarise the sky for to you. Let’s keep it to the facts – The novel is set in 1960s British suburbia and revolves around Helen, a single woman who works as an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital. We also meet William, who becomes a patient at the hospital. We learn about his life as an adolescent during the war, which he spent living as a recluse with his aunts. There are themes of deep rooted, everyday trauma and cruelty, as well as quiet rebellion and life-saving human kindness.
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
Set in 1979 Yorkshire, the story follows 12-year-old Miv as she creates a list of strange goings-on in her town following the Yorkshire Ripper killings. At once a murder mystery and a tender exploration of class, friendship, and growing up, it’s funny, sharp, and quietly devastating in parts. The story is told by multiple narrators whose lives overlap in the small town. The audiobook is expertly narrated and I enjoyed every single POV each time their chapters rolled around. This book could have been twice as long and I would still want to hear more from everyone. I listened to this one right in the middle of diffuser launch week and I can’t think of higher praise for storytelling than to hold my complete, rapt attention during such a busy time!
Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
A lush, gothic story set in a crumbling English country house during a sweltering summer in 1969. Frances, a middle aged, single academic woman moves to Lyntons, having been commissioned to catalogue its garden architecture. There she becomes entangled with an enigmatic couple, also on site to carry out similar work, for the absent American owner. With no supervision and endless hot summer days, time and minds begin to warp in a kind of adult summer holiday madness where nothing quite feels real. This is a slow-burn gothic tale that weaves obsession, voyeurism, and unreliable memory into a sultry, reality melting mystery. Intriguingly unsettling and with a thread of tragic mystery similar to Suspicious Things and Shy Creatures.
I hope you will find something to enjoy on the list
The books all share some common themes which make them idea summer reads for long quiet days that exist outside of time.
They conjure up a strong sense of place. Whether it’s a country garden, mid century British suburbia or the East End, a Tuscan villa, or a Yorkshire cul-de-sac, the setting in each story is an extra character.
They are comforting without being shallow. They’re deeply human, sometimes melancholic, always emotionally satisfying.
They all have an old-fashioned or timeless quality. They belong to a slower, analogue world. Less tech, more tea.
I would LOVE to know if you read one so please do send me a message here or on Instagram or in any other way you see fit. Please do also send me your recommendations if you think you know of a little gem I would like based on this list.
