Summer is upon us, and that means the semester is over and so is required reading. Now’s your chance to pick up a book you’re excited to read instead of one you’re teaching for the seventh time. Whether you’re researching or relaxing this summer, we have plenty of books to keep you occupied (and perhaps teach you something new!) before the new semester starts.
Getting serious about your writing career, or just looking for a little inspiration? Buckle down with The Geek’s Guide to the Writing Life, full of practical advice for building a successful, sustainable writing practice. Or maybe hone your powers of perception with The Writer’s Eye, a guide to finding inspiration from the senses and the physical world. You can turn to the essay collection The Writer’s Reader for encouragement from some of your favorite writers, like John Berger, Edwidge Danticat, Italo Calvino and Zadie Smith, just to name a few!
If your summer plans involve catching up on all the latest thrillers, take it a step further a read about the origins and effects of the genre in Crime Fiction as World Literature and Scandinavian Crime Fiction.
Have you seen all the recent Marvel movies? Then delve into the history, forms and contexts of the superhero genre in Superhero Comics. If Black Panther was your favorite, check out Black Comics, a survey of the work of black comic artists from the early 20th-century to today. But don’t forget, we can all be heroes – Autobiographical Comics explores the graphic works that put our own experiences on the page.
If you need an escape from reality, fall into the world of surrealism with a fascinating investigation of the movement’s legacy in From Paris to Tlön, or with a collection of works by surrealist poets from around the world – Surrealist Poetry: An Anthology.
Spend the summer getting up-to-date on environmental issues by reading the latest research on ecocritical literature in our Environmental Cultures series – the first four books are now in paperback!
If you haven’t heard of the Object Lessons series, you obviously don’t follow us on Twitter. Perfectly portable, beautifully designed, and endlessly compelling, these short reflections on everyday items will make you look at the world in new ways. We can’t choose just one to recommend, so take a look through the whole series here!
And last but not least, there’s nothing better than reading about reading. Mere Reading, a Choice Outstanding Academic Title, provides new close readings of classic American novels to remind us how to find magic and wonder in the books we study. The Phenomenology of Love and Reading shows how reading can teach us to love by helping us practice some of love’s habits—attention, empathy, and a willingness to be overwhelmed. The Work of Literature in an Age of Post-Truth (coming next month!) celebrates the values of a humanities education and the way learning to read literature teaches us to think critically about the world around us. Happy reading!