So, I wouldn’t consider my summer to be a brat summer. On the contrary, my summer consisted of a lot more reading than I thought Iâd do.
One would think an English major would be tired of reading books after doing nothing but reading for an entire academic year. While that is partially correct, this summer, I ended up reading a lot more essay collections and memoirs over the break than my regular fiction list!
Therefore, I thought, why not start off the new school year by recommending some of my favourite compiled essays and memoirs from the summer season for all of you lovely readers to enjoy?
From memoirs about religious trauma to essays about food, I have scoured every sort of memoir and essay collection there is. If you’re in a reading slump, looking for a new read, or want to change your reading up from BookTok romances, stick around to discover four new finds.
- How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
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My first recommendation really inspired me to, one, start reading more memoirs and non-fiction, and two, write this list!
How to Say Babylon is Safiya Sinclairâs recounting of her childhood in Jamaica as the daughter of a tyrannical Rastafarian father. Her father was skeptical of what Rastafarians call âBabylon,â or Western influence in their family and culture.
In order to prevent this influence, Sinclair, her sisters, and her mother weren’t allowed to wear makeup, pants, or jewellery or cover their hair. They also weren’t allowed to make friends or socialize with people outside of their nuclear family.
Sinclairâs prose is beautiful and poetic, clearly influenced by her mother sneaking her poetry books while her father would be away working at nearby resorts to support the family. Sinclairâs writing and the way she paints her story for the reader is extremely moving; there were quite a few passages in this that made my heart sink.
If youâre trying to search for a feminist memoir that wasnât written by a celebrity, pick up How to Say Babylon and see what you think.
- Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
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Anyone who knows me knows my relationship with food is sort of complicated. Due to my being on the autism spectrum, my sensory limitations really show up with the foods I eat and, by extension, limit my palate.
Despite this, though, I’ve always really loved cooking shows and food blogs. Do they fix my yearning to try things like seafood or certain dishes? Absolutely not. But what they do provide is joy.
I can feel the joy of cooking and eating radiating from this selected author. This is why I decided to pick up Bite by Bite. Aimee Nezhukumatathil uses different foods or spices to recount eras of her life and how those foods tie her to her family and friends.
She talks about mangos and how they make her feel connected to her Filipina and Malayali Indian heritage, as those countries produce the best variety of mangos. She recounts memories of how her dad, after being paid from his job at a hospital, would take Aimee and her sister to get gyros together.
Nezhukumatathil uses both personal and historical narratives to discuss her love and appreciation of food without being too preachy or acting like you will know the food sheâs talking about. Her tone throughout the read is approachable and reminds me of food TikTokers I love, like Justine Dorion, The Korean Vegan, or BabyTamago.
If youâre a foodie, or just have some interest in good eats, Bite by Bite is the book for you.
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
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Carmen Maria Machadoâs In The Dream House discusses a topic that not many memoirs will â a toxic lesbian relationship.
Machadoâs memoir recounts her time in college in a relationship with a woman that turns into a nightmare and retells the events in a genius way through the use of different cinematic tropes, genres, and techniques.
While changing her former partner’s name to “Dream House,” she uses witty titles like âDream House as High Fantasy,â âDream House as Lesbian Pulp Novel,â and âDream House as Confessionâ to retell her story. By using these cinematic techniques and tropes, the memoir feels dynamic. The story never really feels like it drags out, and you can feel the emotion behind each chapter. Â
While the memoir deals with an incredibly painful and traumatic experience in Machado’s life, she writes with such care and each trope is delivered beautifully. This is one of those non-fiction books where the language isnât trying too hard or doesn’t present itself to be incredibly high-brow.
Overall, her memoir reads as if it’s a podcast â conversational and easy to understand.
- The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centred Planet by John Green
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Well, youâd need to expect one celebrity-written book here. John Greenâs The Anthropocene Reviewed is a series of essays written about a vast â and I mean vast â number of topics. Green expands on topics ranging from Scratch ânâ Sniff stickers to the Walt Disney World’s “The Hall of Presidents” attraction to CNN, all of which end in the style of a Yelp or Google review.
Every topic includes a personal story of Greenâs that relates to the prompt. For example, in Greenâs story about the Hall of Presidents story, he discusses when he was a teenager and hated almost everything mainstream â including Disney World. The attraction being discussed is one of the most empty and best air-conditioned, which helps distract from the sweltering, gross Floridian heat. He then goes on to discuss how the attraction made him genuinely reflect on the actions of nations like the United States and corporations like Disney that profit off the work of others to get the great title they carry.
Green comes to each of these anecdotes with an honesty that I really enjoyed. It feels like youâre reading the substack or Her Campus article written by a friend, and it acts as a great entry point into essay collections for those who may be skeptical.Â
Well, folks, those are my top four essays and memoirs from this summer. I know non-fiction can be daunting and maybe even a bit pretentious, but the books above open the door to non-fiction in ways I never would have imagined!