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Smart Summer Reads for the Beach
Relaxation pairs perfectly with these smart and savvy books.
Published on July 8, 2022
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide
Anthony BourdainThe late, great Bourdain continues to bring us his infectious enthusiasm for the wondrous world he left all too soon. There’s no better way to explore new locales this summer without leaving your beach chair than with Bourdain’s book, where he bestows his best stories and recommendations culled from a lifetime of exploration.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
Tom StandageWhile you lounge in the sand sipping a cold one, let this book take you on a thorough tour of Western history by concentrating on each era’s most popular drink. Go back to the Stone Age with a glass of (probably not-so-cold) beer. Reflect on the past century of American dominance with a thirst-quenching Coca-Cola. And relax with a cup of (iced) coffee for a stimulating and refreshing read.
No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram
Sarah FrierGet a new angle on your summer snaps. “No Filter” won the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award in 2020. This is the story of how Instagram started in 2010 and in a mere 10 years became a worldwide phenomenon with over one billion users. Tech journalist Frier takes you behind the lens with those who turned the social media platform into a tool that’s altered all our lives, including interviews with co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us
Danielle J. Lindemann“The Bachelor,” “Real Housewives,” “Love Island,” and more — reality TV isn’t just a guilty pleasure, argues Lindemann, a sociology professor. It’s a looking glass into our very culture. This book explores how reality TV both influences and mirrors us, from politics and religion to sexuality and gender norms. “True Story” proves that reality TV doesn’t have to be a mindless endeavor.
Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America
Candacy Taylor“Overground Railroad” uncovers the little-known history of the “Green Book,” which was a travel guide of the U.S. for African Americans during segregation, outlining hotels and restaurants that would serve them. This microhistory reveals how Black families juggled newfound freedom and leisure with continued discrimination and lack of safety.
The Library Book
Susan OrleanThis book from Orlean is all love: Love for libraries and the lion-hearted public servants who work doggedly to keep library doors wide open for their communities. “The Library Book” begins with a disastrous fire that consumed the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986 and the subsequent search for the suspected arsonist, igniting readers’ interest in the world of the public library. She digs beneath the library’s quiet hum to unearth the many bustling departments and intriguing personalities at the heart of this institution that symbolizes shared knowledge and inclusive community.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Isabel WilkersonPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wilkerson brings to life the previously overlooked story of the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans uprooted their lives to move from the South to cities in the North, the Midwest, and West from 1915 to 1970. By tracing the journeys of three people, Wilkerson makes the sweeping history accessible and riveting.
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Imani PerryPerry has spent much of her time in the North (she’s a professor of African American studies at Princeton and attended Harvard and Yale), but her roots are in the Deep South, which she argues is the heart of the nation. “South to America” is a combination of an astute personal travelog and a scholarly sociological study of the South’s complicated relationship with race and more.
The Gotti Wars: Taking Down America's Most Notorious Mobster
John GleesonMobster John Gotti ruled the notorious Gambino crime family in New York City until his murder conviction in 1992. But this trial wasn’t the first — nor was it seamless. Hear the story straight from the prosecutor that went head-to-head with Gotti multiple times before finally securing his conviction by flipping Gotti’s underboss, Sammy Gravano. Part memoir, part courtroom drama, “The Gotti Wars” is an insider’s look at the criminal justice system during the mafia’s glory days.
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
Les PayneRenowned journalist Payne compiled hundreds of hours of interviews with people who knew Malcolm X personally, from siblings and classmates to cellmates and cops. After his death, his daughter Tamara Payne completed this Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning biography, which aims to paint a more accurate portrait of the civil rights activist, from his birth in Nebraska to his assassination in Harlem.
Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free
Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free
Sarah Weinman“The book is, in effect, a story of a wrongful conviction in reverse,” Weinman says in the introduction to this true crime chronicle. Weinman (“The Real Lolita”) details how murderer Edgar Smith manipulated his way off death row by establishing literary connections with William F. Buckley and others. “Scoundrel” breaks with many true crime conventions, yet still delivers a gripping narrative.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Stephen GreenblattIn this highly enlightening and compulsively readable history, a Harvard humanities professor reveals how a chance encounter inspired an ancient bookworm to save the last copy of a book considered radical and dangerous — leading to the Renaissance and the world as we know it.
If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future
Jill LeporeLonglisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2020, Lepore’s work dives deep into the little-known history of the Simulmatics Corporation, a precursor to today’s technological surveillance state. Lepore delivers “a story that hinges on the discovery, in the late 1950s, that computers and languages such as FORTRAN, based on an endless series of ‘IF/THEN’ statements, ‘an infinity of outcomes,’ could be used to gauge and influence voter preferences. The Simulmatics Corporation melded the worlds of ‘Mad Men’ advertising and high-tech geekery of the UNIVAC set,” writes Kirkus Reviews.
Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World
Simon WinchesterAfter bringing to life the history of one of America’s most storied, symbolic, and lawless bodies of water in the Scribd Original “The End of the River,” Winchester turns his attention to land, exploring what we mean when we talk about “owning” it. Of “Land” and Winchester, The New York Times writes, “Using his own land purchase as a jumping-off point, Winchester explores the political, social and emotional meaning humans have attached to property over the centuries. His book takes readers across the world, touching on dispossession, boundary-drawing, and humanity’s ‘frenetic appetite for territory.’”
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Kathe MazurSuperstar science and tech biographer Isaacson (“Steve Jobs,” “Leonardo da Vinci,” “Einstein”) is back with a profile of the woman who revolutionized modern medicine by cracking the DNA code. Get to know Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna, from her early days as a budding scientist to her pioneering work creating CRISPR, the tool that allows us to edit genes. This is a fascinating look at how Doudna unlocked the ability for human-made medical miracles and continues to grapple with the resulting moral issues.
The Resilient Society
Markus BrunnermeierResiliency is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges. And if the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s that American society is far from resilient. Brunnermeier, an economist and professor, uses lessons learned from the pandemic to explore how we can become more resilient. With the great possibility for future pandemics and natural disasters fueled by climate change, “The Resilient Society” is a vital read for citizens and policy makers alike.
Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World
Fareed ZakariaThe COVID-19 pandemic is finally beginning to feel manageable, but what can we learn from this experience? Diving into this question, Zakaria, host of CNN’s long-running news program GPS, compiles ten fascinating lessons about how the world has suddenly changed in the wake of this crisis. From the ramping up of “digital life” to the study of other potential biological dangers, this is a critical and hopeful primer on the new world we suddenly find ourselves in.
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World
Patrik SvenssonEels are elusive creatures that we know very little about, but this book offers a crash-course. Svensson intertwines personal narratives about fishing for eels with chapters on what we know about eels (not a whole lot) and analysis on how eels have been portrayed throughout the years in media. “The Book of Eels” is itself a wondrous, mysterious, electrifying mix.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah HarariIsraeli professor Harari uses history and science to challenge everything we know about our past, present, and future in his perpetual bestseller. This is one of those rare books that is both informative and impossible to put down, making it the ideal smart beach read.
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
Elizabeth KolbertIn her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Sixth Extinction,” Kolbert opened our eyes to human-caused environmental devastation. In her follow-up, “Under a White Sky,” she tackles the urgent issue of finding ways to reverse the damage done. She investigates possible solutions born of the very human ingenuity that got us into trouble in the first place. Could these innovations avert disastrous climate change? Or dig us into a deeper hole?
The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking)
Katie MackAs the name suggests, “The End of Everything” is about the end of the universe. The book is surprisingly uplifting, despite the title. How the universe will end is something that creeps into every curious mind, and this book will teach you how to think about it scientifically — while still using playfully frightening terms like “The Big Crunch,” “Heat Death,” and “The Big Rip.” Look up at the stars this summer with a whole new perspective.
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
Brian ChristianThe term “algorithms” need not scare away mathematically-challenged readers — the idea is far simpler, and more applicable, than you may realize. Authors Christian and Griffiths explain how algorithms are as useful for humans as computers, helping us filter through the near-endless choices and responsibilities that fill our daily lives. From our careers to our relationships, this book is an engaging education in logic and efficiency that can help you achieve a more stress-free life.
Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships is (Mostly) Wrong
Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships is (Mostly) Wrong
Eric Barker“Plays Well with Others” uses science to bust the four biggest relationship myths — “don’t judge a book by its cover,” “love conquers all,” “a friend in need is a friend indeed,” and “no man is an island.” Through case studies and exhaustive research, Barker exposes the truths about humans’ perception skills being far worse than we think, and shares key strategies for overcoming this fault to improve the quality of our relationships.
How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason
How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason
Lee McIntyreVaccines cause autism, COVID-19 is fake news, climate change doesn’t exist, and the Earth is flat: Science denial is very real and all too prevalent in modern society, and it’s tempting to let frustration guide our conversations with those who treat fact as fiction. McIntyre’s book is a compelling case against giving up, teaching readers how to talk to science deniers without judgment or anger. He gets to the heart of why science deniers believe what they do, enabling us to employ greater empathy and more effective arguments for future conversations.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Robin Wall Kimmerer“Braiding Sweetgrass” has been a mainstay on the New York Times bestseller list since its 2013 release, and Literary Hub named it one of the top 10 best essay collections of the decade (2010–2019). Author Kimmerer has built several bridges with this book — between modern science and Potawatomi traditions, and between humankind and the natural world. It pairs well with getting out in nature and soaking up some sun this summer.
Freedom
Sebastian JungerTravel along with “The Perfect Storm” author Junger and his three friends (two Afghan War vets and a conflict photographer) as they walk the railway lines and rivers of the East Coast, sleeping under the stars, for almost a year. This is a moving, thought-provoking mediation on the meaning of freedom and community that delves into how these two cherished human values both coexist and conflict. It’s a pleasure to wander with Junger, as he touches on boxing, resistance movements, the Apache, primatology, and more.