What We Are Reading This Summer
A little snapshot of our summer reading so far.
June and July have been filled with novels, some memoirs (and biographies) for me. During summer time I love reading in the mornings at Prinzenbad after a refreshing pre-work swim, in between hikes or at newly discovered cafes, parks, or lakes during holidays.
Originally, I had planned spending some time this summer with Clarice Lispector, but I’m still looking for the W. W. Norton editions (which I know is silly and probably makes my life more difficult than it needs to be, but here we are :)). Instead, I spent some time with Ingeborg Bachmann (very fitting in the month of her 100th birthday). Regina Schilling’s beautiful documentary, with Sandra Hüller’s narration, finally led me to Malina, Bachmann’s masterpiece and a novel I will certainly return to. I'm fascinated by Ingeborg Bachmann’s personality, life, and her brilliant use of language.
Other personal highlights were Eileen Gray’s biography and Lena Dunham’s memoir Famesick (which also made me start watching Girls). If you are looking for something lighter, I would recommend Jem Calder’s I Want You to Be Happy (think Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico meets Sally Rooney), Yael Van Der Wouden’s Safe Keep or Vigdis Hjorth’s witty If Only. And if you aren’t on it already, I recommend starting (or continuing) Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume series. I can’t wait for the next translation!
Next up on my reading list: Sara Baume's Opening Night, Gwendoline Riley's The Palm House, Deborah Levy's August Blue, Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space (and, hopefully soon, Clarice Lispector's Near to the Wild Heart).
— Deniz
My summer break is just about to start; I’m typing these lines from a train heading south. The last few weeks have been so packed that reading unfortunately fell short, which makes me even happier to head into vacation with a bag full of books.
I’ve just started Fast Abend, Immer Noch Hell, a book I got for my birthday and the perfect way to kick off summer vacation: Danish author Linea Maja Ernst pulls you straight into a perfect midsummer setting, following a group of queer friends reuniting after years apart in a house in the Danish countryside. Having studied together and having been through so much, ten years later old memories, experiences, changes and longings resurface. There’s also a lot of cooking in this book, described so deliciously, it's hard not to get hungry reading it.
Next up is The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, which I actually started back in spring but decided to save and finish in summer instead. August Blue by Deborah Levy has also been sitting on my shelf for a while, waiting for just the right moment in August. Thank you for the inspiration on both books, Deniz. I’m also really looking forward to Haus Aus Wind by Laura Naumann, another summer novel, this one set on the Algarve. I’m also super curious about The Guest by Emma Cline, a story that unfolds over five summer days in the Hamptons on Long Island. And as I loved Ayelet Gundar-Goshen’s Waking Lions years ago, I am now very excited to dive into another of her books, about inner conflict, moral values and a toxic society: Ungebetene Gäste.
— Shirley
Is it just me, or do you also tend to pack far too many books, even for the shortest trip, just to make sure you can choose based on your actual vacation mood? And who knows, maybe you’ll even underestimate how many books you end up reading (that happened to me for the first time last year).
Anyway, I just got back from a week on my favorite Danish island, and what you’ll find here is a selection of summer reads from Berlin and Bornholm, plus the book that’s waiting for me as soon as I finish the two I’m currently reading. Here we go.
I had been impatiently waiting for My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy, one of my favorite writers of all time, and it didn’t disappoint. I loved the way she weaves historical reflections on Gertrude Stein together with the stories of three very different women whose lives become intertwined through what feels like both chance and fate.
After Deniz, Shirley, and I had the chance to see Siri Hustvedt live during her book tour, it felt even more moving, and at times heartbreaking, to read Ghost Stories. It reads like Hustvedt’s way of making sense of the loss of Paul Auster, and it’s a deeply tender portrait of love, grief, and memory (thank you again for that very special birthday gift, Shirley.)
Four more wholehearted recommendations: Ayşegül Savaş and Jem Calder, two writers I only discovered a few months ago but who completely won me over. Calder’s I Want You to Be Happy is such a precise observation of… I’m still not entirely sure what to call it… modern relationships? Modern loneliness? I also enjoyed his debut, Reward System, but I’d always recommend starting with his second book. Ayşegül Savaş, on the other hand, completely amazed me with her quiet, poetic prose. She has this remarkable ability to bring us incredibly close to her narrators’ inner lives while keeping the world around them slightly out of focus. Absolutely essential reading!
A few more books I read over the last few months: Notizen für John (Notes to John) by Joan Didion, Constance Debré’s latest, Offenses (which unfortunately disappointed me), and Kae Tempest’s Divisible by Itself and One.
Recent reads from Bornholm: You’ve probably seen the cover of Strangers all over Instagram by now. I certainly had. Despite my initial skepticism, I packed it anyway, and I’m so glad I did. It’s the story of a man who leaves his wife and children without warning during the pandemic. A devastating premise, but an incredibly compelling novel. After finishing Strangers, I picked up Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney. It also begins with someone walking away from their marriage without warning, this time abandoning her husband and children. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m curious to see where the narrator will take me.
Lately I’ve also been reading, watching, and thinking a lot about digital and AI ethics, the effects AI has on our ability to think critically, and the growing influence of the “tech bros” on politics and society. After seeing Rainer Mühlhoff’s re:publica talk, I immediately bought Künstliche Intelligenz und der neue Faschismus. I’m still reading it, but it already feels like one of those books that will stay with me. It’s part of the Reclam series, so it comes in that wonderfully compact format that’s easy to take anywhere.
Another recent discovery was A Toolkit for Gathering, a wonderfully inspiring workbook on creating meaningful gatherings in cultural contexts. I picked it up on Deniz’s recommendation, and I can’t wait for us to talk about whether some of its ideas could inspire future Reading Room events.
And finally, waiting patiently on my bedside table is Booker Prize winner Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi. I’m very excited to dive into that one next.
— Teresa