Our family is about to hit the road for our annual beach vacation, and here’s what I’m packing. (Note: always pack a hardback and an audio, so when you want to behold all those waves and all that sky and all those seagulls, you can listen while watching.) My hardback choice this year is Justin Cronin’s new novel: The Ferryman. On audio, Tom Hanks’s new novel: The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.
Of course, I can’t recommend either of those to you, because I haven’t read them yet.
Instead, I’m recommending my favorites so far from this year. But there is a caveat. I’ve been deep in the throes of revising my second novel, The Keeper of Crimes, and when I’m in that creative headspace, I can only read three kinds of books: memoirs, books about the creative process, and great stories. Nothing else will hold my attention.
So, without further ado, here are my picks from each of those categories.
Great Stories
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
On the face of it, this is a book about time travel, plagues, and love, but really it’s an exploration of existence and the nature of being human. It plays with the biggest of questions: what is this thing we call existence that we’re all living within? And does it matter, as long as we find our people and our purpose?
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Neffinger
Another book about time travel! The concept here is so unique, though. It could be framed in the form of a question: if you possessed a genetic mutation that caused you to involuntarily time travel to particular people and moments in your life, which of the great loves and great traumas of your life would draw you back to them over and over again? And it’s excellent on audio, while you gaze out at that ocean.
Memoirs
A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney
This story—about the death of the comedian’s toddler son—is heart-wrenchingly human. It’s a book about grieving honestly. As such, maybe don’t read it on the beach, where your tears will make the sand cake on your cheeks. Read it first thing in the morning over a cup of coffee on the porch, and let it set straight your priorities for the day.
10% Happier by Dan Harris
While this book is not strictly a memoir, the story of the ABC news anchor’s on-air panic attack and his journey toward peace through the practice of meditation is the compelling thread, as you learn about the practice itself. The best book on mindfulness and meditation I’ve ever read.
On Creativity
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
For anyone who fancies themselves creative in any way whatsoever, the wildly successful music producer has crafted a book of short chapters about how to nurture the creative mindset, which is much less a set of actions and much more a way of being in the world. As a creative, you will walk away feeling like you belong to something, and that the something you belong to is worth everything you can give to it.
Govt Cheese by Steven Pressfield
While this book is as much memoir as a book on creativity, the two are inextricably intertwined for this guru of the creative craft. His journey illustrates how the hard times, if we keep moving through them, are an essential part of the journey. A huge encouragement to not stop believing in yourself before the break through.
And last but not least, if you haven’t picked up The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell yet, it is now the winner of an Illumination Book Award, a Nautilus Book Award, a Reader’s Favorite Award, an American Fiction Book Award, and it was a finalist for the FOREWORD Indie Book of the Year. You can click below to get your copy in paperback, digital, or audio.
Hi, summer reading suggestions are Here and Now by Henri Nouwen, Joyful Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot, and How To Inhabit Time by James K.A. Smith.