take care

a collection of words and images + book recommendations

hold hands with someone you love today, tomorrow, always.

joão césar monteiro

isabella killoran

abasan al-kabira, palestine

take rest, angels.

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a couple nights ago, i put out a q+a box on instagram asking people what is a novel they’ve read in the last six months that they loved. so many of you shared what you’ve been reading lately and i’m so grateful. i want to be more consistent with reading this summer so i’m excited to browse your recommendations and find a few that excite me.

a master list for your next summer read:

• vita nostra- the dyachenkovs

• exciting times- naoise dolan

• small things like these- claire keegan

• severance- ling ma

• cleopatra and frankenstein- coco mellors

• if beale street could talk - james baldwin

• drive your plow over the bones of the dead- olga tokaczuk

• a tale for time being- ruth ozeki

• our wives under the sea- julia armfield

• the shadow of the wind-carlos ruiz zafon

• the shards- bret easton ellis

• i who have never known men- jacqueline harpman (i finished this book in 1 hour, it was so good)

• bliss montage- ling ma

• legends and lattes- travis baldree

• all the lovers in the night- mieko kawakami

• sunset- jessie cave

• my brilliant friend series- elena ferrante

• writers and lovers- lily king

• masters of death- olivie blake

• covenant of water- abraham verghese

• shuggie bain-douglas stuart

• soldier, sailor- claire kilroy (adding to my cart)

• big swiss- jen beagin

• when we were birds- ayanna lloyd banwo

• the red tent- anita diamant

• talking animals- joni murphy

• ripe- sarah rose etter

• my year of rest and relaxation- ottessa moshfegh

• slow days, fast company- eve babitz

• demon copperhead- barbara kingsolver

• psalm for the wild built- becky chambers

• death valley- melissa broder

• martyr- kaveh akbar (on my reading list)

• a little life- hanya yanagihara

• how to end a love story- yulin kuang

• 100 years of solitude- gabriel garcia marquez

• the book of goose- yiyun lee

• fresh water for flowers- valerie perrin

• chouette- claire oshetsky

• cutting for stone- abraham verghese

• if on a winter’s night a traveler- italo calvino

• the details- ia genberg

• disorientation- elaine hsieh chou

• after earth- peter david

• real americans- rachel khong

• good material- dolly alderton

• the thursday murder club- richard osman

• against the loveless world- susan abulhawa

• diavola- jennifer thorne

• butter - asako yuzuki

• these precious days- ann patchett

• luster- raven leilani

• none of this is true- lisa jewell

• the guest- emma cline

• a little luck- claudia piñeiro

• thee body problem- liu cixin

• geek love- katherine dunn

• the favorite game- leonard cohen

• ruth and pen- emilie pine

• brown girls- daphne palasi andreades

• we have always lived in the castle- shirley jackson

• giovanni’s room- james baldwin

• milkfed- melissa broder

• piglet- lottie hazell (i personally did not like this novel at all)

• fight night- miriam toews

• tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow- gabrielle zevin

• a little renaissance- veronica glover

• this ain’t no promised land- tina shelton

• the unbearable lightness of being- milan kunderas

• weirdo- sarah pascoe

• things i don’t want to know- deborah levy

• second place- rachel cusk

• parable of the sower- octavia butler

• empty houses- brenda navarro

• the friend- sigrid nunez

• lapvona- otessa moshfegh

• the things- georges perec

• klara and the sun- kazuo ishiguro

• freedom is a constant struggle- angela davis

• east of eden- john steinbeck

• strange the dreamer- laini taylor

• gilead- marilynne robinson

• normal people- sally rooney

• alphabetical diaries- sheila heti

• betty- tiffany mcdaniel

• a wild herb soup- emilie carles

• kitchen- banana yoshimoto

• my husband- maud ventura

• if cats disappeared from the world- genki kawamura

• babel- rf kuang

• enter ghost- isabella hammad

• kala- colin walsh

• bunny- mona awad

• the saint of bright doors- vajra chandrasekera

• alphabet for gourmets- MFK fisher

• all this could be different- sarah thankam matthews

• family lexicon- natalie ginzburg

• the door- magda szabo

• talking at night- claire daverley

• post office girl- stefan zweig

• little weirds- jenny slate

• the many daughters of afong moy- jamie ford

• all fours- miranda july

• butter honey pig bread - francesca ekwuyasi (love)

• animal- lisa taddeo

• three women- lisa taddeo

• i’m a fan- sheena patel

• swimming in the dark- tomasz jedrowski

• chain gang all stars- nana kwame adjei-brenyah

• bellies- nicola dinan

my personal summer reading list:

• paradise rot- jenny hval

• open me- lisa locascio

• the answers- catherine lacey

• ordinary human failings- megan nolan

• thirst- marina yuszczuk

• exhibit- ro kwon

• communion- bell hooks

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thank you for being here with me.

xo