July is, without a doubt, my favorite month. I love to sink into summer vacation mode with lots of swimming, berry picking, scary movies, breezy beach reads, and all of the beauty New Hampshire has to offer. I find myself feeling more curious in the summer - perhaps because the natural world is more accessible or maybe from the slower pace I tend to take on - and decided that this year I would dive into a few topics that have absolutely nothing to do with my day job. Sara and I decided to share a few of our favorite non-fiction texts with you that have brought us a bit of summertime delight. Happy reading! And as always, please send us a message with your favorite book or what you would add to this list at voices@nhpr.org. - Zoë
The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise by Olivia Laing
This stunning meditation on gardens throughout time and space is described as a “humming, glowing tapestry, a beautiful and exacting account of the abundant pleasures and possibilities”. Laing manages to weave together questions about land ownership, religion, and the human drive to create beauty. I enjoyed reading the first few chapters in my own makeshift garden with the bees buzzing & scent of basil in the air. Don’t skip this one if you’ve ever stopped to smell the roses. - Zoë
The Thing With Feathers by Noah Strycker
There is a blurb on the back of this book that sums it up better than I could: “A thoughtful and engaging book, encompassing pigeon races, physics, vulture baiting, the Backstreet Boys, and a mathematical model applicable to both tennis rankings and chicken hierarchies.” I mean, if you’re going to pick up any book about birds, make it this one, okay? -Sara
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
All I’ve felt like watching this July is reruns of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Something about reality tv just hits differently in the summer. The juicy drama, larger than life personalities, all of it! Last weekend I was ad targeted with Pulitzer Prize winner Emily Nussbaum’s latest saga Cue the Sun! and ordered it immediately after reading the excerpt. The book is described as a “revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary”—from its contentious roots in radio to the ascent of Donald Trump…the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it.” I can’t wait to sink my teeth into my copy! - Zoë
Monster, She Wrote: The Women who pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction By Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson
A review on the back of this little green book hooked me in…“the curatorial quality of a literary anthology, the historical rigor of an academic text, and the pleasure of a picture book.” And boy am I glad! This eye-opening encyclopedia holds over 200 recommendations for spooky stories, plays, and novels sprinkled with details about the pioneering women who made it all happen. A total must-have for the horror girly in your life. - Zoë
Bonk by Mary Roach
Oh, I truly recommend everything Mary Roach has ever written with my whole heart, but for summer, why not dig into her exploration of the science of sex? Our understanding of our most intimate relations hasn’t always been the smoothest, and Roach will have you laughing at the ways we’ve attempted to expand that understanding throughout history. (Not your topic? Try Fuzz, stories about animals breaking the law!) -Sara
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain
Every summer I feel like I get bit by the travel bug. All I want to do is venture to a new country., eat new foods, lounge on a beach with turquoise water, or sing ABBA songs in Greece. If you’re like me in that way, Anthony Bourdain’s book World Travel needs to be on your summer reading list. Bourdain writes heart-warming and hilarious vignettes about places he has traveled, sharing bits of culture, where he would choose to stay, avoid, and most importantly what to eat. After a hundred or so pages of this gem, you’ll feel like you just went on a trip somewhere you may not have ever even dreamed of going before. - Zoë
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the 21st Century by Alice Wong (Editor)
It’s disability pride month, and what better way to celebrate than to take in stories of what it’s like to live with a disability, visible or invisible, by folks who’ve lived it. This collection of essays, letters and manifestos showcases a broad range of experience that can be painful and frustrating, but also proud and beautiful and hopeful. -Sara
I Feel Bad About My Neck, and other thoughts on being a Woman by Nora Ephron
From the rom-com queen herself is a hilarious, easy-to-read, intimate memoir about growing older as a woman. Sure, this isn’t the only book you should read about what it means to be a woman, Ephron was a rich, white cis-woman living in an upscale neighborhood in New York and that should be taken into account, but it’s a fun read that any woman no matter her age can relate to. I especially enjoyed her essay on ‘Rapture’. - Zoë
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robison
If you’ve read Augusten Burroughs’ Running with Scissors, you are familiar with the particular and chaotic family life Robison grew up in - they are brothers. Look Me in the Eye is Robison’s account of growing up neurodivergent in that family, getting a diagnosis (now called Autism Spectrum Disorder), and carving a fulfilling life for himself. It is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious. -Sara
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
I can’t think of a better book to dive into while relaxing on the beach than Price’s treatise on our overexerted, exhausted hustle culture that burns people out and taxes their minds and bodies. As an overachiever in recovery myself, I needed the message that rest is necessary and good, that pausing for joy is vital, that to stop - just stop - is as crucial to a fulfilling life as passion and hard work. So, please, read it in a hammock while sipping a lemonade. No regrets! -Sara
