The Reading List: Staci's 2015 Beach Reads
Sometime toward the end of last summer, I read an actual beach read. It basically made me want to dive head first into the shallow end of the pool. Don't get me wrong -- not everything I read is particularly high-brow. In fact, most of it isn't. I'm the first to read some good chick lit -- Emily Giffin, Lauren Weisberger, all favorites. But this Elin Hilderbrand's The Matchmaker was like the bastard child of Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, and any given Nicholas Sparks book, complete with horrendous writing, a supernatural yentah in pearls, amputee sex (really.), and a slow, painful death due to indiscriminate cancer.
Ugh.
All that is a long way of saying I'm skipping the so-called "beach reads" this year. Here's what's on my list for the beach trips I have planned later this summer.
I WAS TOLD THERE'D BE CAKE
Knowing nothing about Cake or Sloane Crosley, I had had this book on the ongoing "to read" list that I casually e-mail myself solely due to the fact that, as you can imagine, I really like the title. When Jen put it on her Spring Reads list and multiple people extolled Crosley's humor, I downloaded it and I'm pretty sure it's now one of my favorite books ever. Favorite essay: "You on a Stick." Read it.
HOW DID YOU GET THIS NUMBER
Sensing a theme here? Yeah, as soon as I finished Cake, I downloaded How Did You Get This Number, and it hasn't disappointed thus far. Really, she is so damn funny and I aspire to write like her. I want to BE her when I grow up. Also I've learned in this book that we both grew up relentless avoiding public bathrooms as children. I wonder if she is unable to pee in the ocean too.
THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING
OKKK, yes, my girl crush again. Truth be told, this one was on my e-mailed reading list for a while too because look at the title! Duh. And I didn't know Crosley edited it. As a matter of fact, I didn't know until I searched it to get the book cover image that it comes out every year. So naturally, I'll be reading the 2011 edition THIS year, because Sloane Crosley edited it.
A CLASH OF KINGS (A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, BOOK 2)
I think this was actually on one of my earlier reading lists and I never got around to it. Probably because it has been on my Nook for two years and I can't bring myself to commit the better part of a year to reading Game of Thrones. But I do want to know if Jon Snow really dies. Oh sorry, did I spoil something for you? (I know, I'm only on Episode 4 of Season 5. Bastards not named Jon Snow have spoiled this for me too.)
MODERN ROMANCE
I've seen Ansari promoting his new book a lot about what dating is like today thanks to text messages and social media. I figure by now I'm sadly an expert on the topic of modern "romance," and if you can't laugh about it, well...
And on that note, here's a clip of Ansari and Jimmy Fallon giving you your first textual experience. You can thank the last guy who asked me out on a date for Facebook messaging me this clip (no, really).
-Staci
