This weekend we celebrated the fall equinox. And that means it’s time for my summer edition of . . . Top Five Books.

At the end of each season – on or near the equinox or solstice – I force myself to choose five books to highlight for you. Only five. Sometimes it’s hard for me to choose just five . . .  because the books I read were all so good. Sometimes, though, it’s a struggle to choose five at all because the season was clunker-heavy – or I was in a reading slump (it happens). I was a bit worried at the beginning of this summer, because it appeared I was headed toward one of those clunker kind of seasons . . . but then, closer to the end of summer, I hit the jackpot! I’m happy to report that I ended up reading several great books over the summer months, and I’m eager to tell you about five of them today.

Let’s get started!

First, I’ve got a book that just barely snuck onto my list, time-wise! In fact, I finished reading The Rich People Have All Gone Away by Regina Porter just as the moon was rising on that last official day of summer. While the “blurb” for this book makes it sound like a mystery/domestic crime story, that’s kind of misleading, because friends? That blurb only scratches the surface. The Rich People Have Gone Away is actually a very fine piece of experimental literary fiction – and a compelling, completely engaging read to boot.

Regina Porter makes some magic happen here. She skillfully weaves together multiple characters, overlapping storylines, and a dizzying array of social issues. She creates a cast of very real, very human (and very flawed) characters,* each with complex and well-developed back stories. She sets everything up in a time (early pandemic days 2020) and place (New York City) we’re all quite familiar with. Against a backdrop of societal expectations, she addresses issues of race, privilege, identity, sexuality, and marriage without ever sounding “preachy.” And . . . she never drops the ball on the plot. (There are plenty of twists and turns you never see coming.) Really . . . it’s brilliant. Masterfully done. 5 stars.

*And yes, there are LOTS of characters to keep track of, so if you pick this book up, I advise keeping a running list of characters right from the get-go. ALSO . . . don’t avoid this book because you’ve heard it’s a “Covid book.” It is set during the early days of Covid, yes. But it’s not about Covid. (Think Covid as setting rather than plot device or theme.)

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Next up, I’ve got a book that really surprised me . . . Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino. What surprised me most, actually, is that I picked it up in the first place. I’ve previously declared myself officially “over” the Bildungsroman as a genre. And I typically avoid sci-fi altogether. And Beautyland . . . ticks both of those boxes: it’s a Bildungsroman . . . about an alien!

I’m not exactly sure how to even describe Beautyland. It’s quirky. It’s charming. It’s lovely. Is the main character, Adina, really an alien? Does it actually matter? In the end, all we know for sure . . . is that Adina never quite feels like she belongs in the human world, but she tries her best to understand and express what she observes about the human world. And the result is a gentle, quiet, and truly beautiful book about longing and belonging, love and grief, and – above all – finding beauty in the ordinary, mundane things about life on earth.

Beautyland made me laugh . . . until it made me reach for the tissues. It also makes it clear that I really need to avoid making broad, sweeping statements in the future (like I’ll-never-read-another-Bildungsroman, for example). 5 stars.

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Then, I’ve got The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise by Olivia Laing. Now here’s a book that’s right up my alley! In fact, it’s a book that hits (almost) all of my book-buttons. But I also realize . . . your mileage will likely vary.

Although I hadn’t had the pleasure of reading anything by Olivia Laing previously (I will rectify that in the future), as an avid gardener, I was intrigued by the title and cover of this lovely book, so I dove right in, blind to its charms and unsure what to expect. What a delightful surprise! It is one of the best books I’ve read this year, certainly.

I’m not sure, though, how to best describe this book to others. It is part memoir, part “garden porn;” part history, part philosophy; part political rant, part call to action, and part pandemic-processing (in the best possible way). And I am here for ALL of it. Difficult to describe, lovely to read. 5 stars.

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Next, I’ve got a book recommended to me by my friend, Bonny . . . Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession. I had not heard of this particular title previously, nor have I seen it on any “must read” lists (because I’d remember that title . . . ), but Bonny loved it. And I loved it. In fact, I’m pretty sure this will end up on my best-reads-of-2024 list, once the dust clears in December . . . because, friends? “Must read” list or not, this is one of those hidden gems kind of books!

Leonard and Hungry Paul is a quiet, gentle story about two quiet, gentle men living their quiet, gentle lives genuinely and with integrity. It took me a while before I trusted that this book was not going to . . . throw me curves or create drama or disappoint me in any way. Instead, it just drew me ever tighter into an appreciation of these ordinary lives well-lived by ordinary people. Leonard and Hungry Paul (and no, we never find out why he is “hungry” or why he is called that) is filled with kindly, wise reflections and observations about the (really rather mundane) world we all live in. Humorous, poignant, and calming, I found Leonard and Hungry Paul to be a delightful respite from the stresses of living in today’s world. It was a refreshing breath of fresh air . . . when I really needed one. 5 stars.

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Last up for my summer list, I’ve got Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore, another friend-recommendation – this time by my friend Karel.  Now Valentine was one of those books you may have missed (I certainly did) . . . because it was released (as a debut, no less) just as the pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020. So despite great reviews and being named a “Jenna’s pick,” it really did suffer from terrible timing. I’m happy to shine a light on this one, 4+ years later. Because  . . . WOW. This is a stunner of a debut novel!

Valentine is a heartbreaking story masterfully told through the voices of (mostly) women coming together/holding life together in the aftermath of a brutal sexual assault in the oil fields of West Texas in the mid-1970s. This was intense, compelling, couldn’t-put-it-down reading for me. The characters, the setting, the pacing . . . everything just sings. It will piss you off, I imagine. It will have you clamoring for revenge. And it will also steal your heart. I wasn’t quite expecting all that. But I do expect that this book will stick with me for a while. 5 stars.

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How about you?
What books would make it onto YOUR summer Top Five list?

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If you want to see what I’m reading now, or if you’d like to check out my recent reviews on Goodreads, just check out the sidebar on my home page.  You can find me here on Goodreads.

If you’re looking for my previous Top Five lists, you can find them in my Field Notes (just click in from the menu bar at the top or bottom of any page) — or click the link.