Is Summer Actually The Season For Reading Big, Thick Books?

There’s thing successful nan aerial this summer: everyone seems to beryllium reference immense books. The New Yorker did a round-up of their staff’s summertime “Mega-Reads”: “sizable, sprawling novels, biographies, and useful of history that will support you absorbed and entertained until nan extremity of nan season.” The creator and writer Austin Kleon has agelong made a wont of reference big books for summer, “what [his] boy would telephone ‘thicc bois’.” Everyone’s reference Lonesome Dove each of a sudden. Layla Halabian wrote successful Language Arts astir being “addicted to nan Lord of nan Rings audiobooks.” And, anecdotally, everyone I cognize is either reference a 650-page caller successful nan parkland aliases hauling a broad history book on connected vacation.

What’s nan deal? Why each nan large books, and why this summer? I emotion task reading—I’m an unabashed Caro-head, americium ever recommending insanely agelong Gene Wolfe cycles to people, and person astir vanished reference everything Ursula K. Le Guin wrote—but my sensation for summertime reference is shorter, slimmer volumes. As a feline who doesn’t thrive successful summertime (hates shorts, sunburns measurement excessively easily, sweaty), this doesn’t consciousness for illustration nan earthy play to return connected a large read. Project books consciousness for illustration an indoor activity to me, thing you do erstwhile nan sun sets earlier and you tin hunker down. And nan logistics of reference thicc bois is counterintuitive to me. Summer is astir being retired and about, and I’m not judge I want to beryllium lugging astir immoderate 1000 pager that’s making my tote container strap trim a divot successful my clavicle.

But everyone other is going large this summer, and I’m emotion nan unit to subordinate in. I consulted immoderate experts connected nan phenomenon: Heather Akumiah and Leah Abrams, writers and nan hosts of nan very cool Limousine podcast and reference series. They’re hosting an Anna Karenina book club for what they’re calling “Big Thick Book Summer.” The first section of their book nine chat conscionable came out.

Abrams told maine that they initially picked Anna Karenina aft discovering “just really soapy and delightful Tolstoy really is (sorry, nary shadiness to Dostoevsky),” but they besides picked up connected thing going connected successful their community. “The much we mentioned Anna Karenina to friends, nan much we realized we were tapping into thing broader successful nan civilization astatine large,” Abrams said. “People are looking to heal their attraction spans, to beryllium absorbed successful thing agelong word again. We thought this would beryllium a nosy opportunity to do it each together.”

Healing attraction spans and reference together is evergreen, but nan thought of carving retired clip to really get into a large book does consciousness connected to summertime arsenic nan play of relaxation. Summer’s lazier and much chill. We’re seeing friends, staying retired later, drinking al fresco. Americans are grilling and shooting disconnected fireworks, and Europeans are each connected vacation. Summer is astir leisure, and arsenic Akumiah told me, “reading is nan eventual leisure activity.”

So it makes sense, particularly for book nerds, to footwear backmost pinch a book. Plus, summer’s everlastingly associated pinch a schoolhouse break. Akumiah, for illustration me, still connects “summer reference pinch puerility summers, erstwhile you’d person these endless, boring days that were your work to capable up.” Without immoderate homework, summertime was a chance to publication for pleasure.

But why nan move to a large task book? Are we each specified nerds that we’re creating our ain summertime reference challenges arsenic a throwback to erstwhile we were kids?

It could beryllium that summertime feels little crunched. Akumiah points retired that “in nan summertime we get nan illusion of much free time—through longer days, long-needed vacations, summertime Fridays (ew sorry), and nan wide consciousness that it’s clip to dainty ourselves.” I deliberation this is right. Summer is erstwhile we’re allowed to return our oculus disconnected activity a little, which is different measurement of saying we person much off-the-clock clip to group our ain goals. As Akumiah said, “no amended measurement to cull nan grindset than to prime up a big, impractical book that you tin transportation pinch you from parkland to rooftop to airdrome gross each summer.”

I deliberation for immoderate though, nan grindset is not truthful overmuch rejected arsenic it’s redirected: summer’s state is nan chance to grind connected your ain terms. A large book, particularly a classic, is simply a self-improvement project. We person nan clip to publication thing we’ve been telling ourselves we person to publication and person been intending to get to. Abrams said that she’s “spent years being intimidated by nan heavy Russian classics aliases simply assuming they weren’t for me.” What amended clip to look that fearfulness and really beryllium pinch dense lines of Tolstoy aliases Joyce than a agelong summertime day?

There’s a baked-in self-improvement and self-actualization perspective to a summertime task too. June done August is erstwhile you’ll get cool earlier schoolhouse starts again, erstwhile you’ll meet personification and autumn successful love, erstwhile you’ll spell to different state and return pinch New And Fresh Perspectives. Summer is erstwhile we fig our crap out.

Thick classics are often approached for illustration they person each nan answers. These are books afloat of large ideas and pinch tons to thatch us, aliases truthful we think. Writing astir Lonesome Dove, Michael Sebastian says that “McMurtry is each astir nan Big Themes.” Thick classics are tackling existential issues, and aren’t skimping connected ambition: they’re taking connected warfare and peace, crime and punishment, and mounting awesome expectations. Summer offers nan free clip to meet nan lofty goals we delegate to these books. We tin yet make nan agelong trek to nan mountaintop, consult nan sage contented of nan classical texts, and ponder their Big Themes, which each takes time. And nan summertime is erstwhile we’re each allowed to prioritize pleasance a spot more, which makes reference nan bigger, much decadent books little for illustration homework.

I wonderment if it is simply nosy and flirty to spell extracurricular connected a basking summertime time pinch a immense book. It signals carefree relaxation and a rich | soul life. It’s an interesting choice. Bringing Bolaño’s 2666 aliases Mantel’s A Place of Greater Safety to nan formation is saying that you person obscurity to beryllium for a while, and thing to do but publication and think.

The wherever of summertime is exciting, too: nan beach, nan pool, and nan caller metropolis are each awesome places to group up pinch a agelong read. I asked Abrams and Akumiah wherever they hoped to beryllium reference this summer, and Abrams told me, “I wish to beryllium reference successful my section parkland pinch nan sweet, saccharine knowledge of a Mamdani triumph successful nan Democratic superior wafting done nan aerial connected nan summertime breeze. And wait… wish fulfilled!”

That’s nan tallness of summertime leisure: taking clip for yourself is besides an acknowledgement of dream astir nan future. Taking connected a large book is making nan clip to relax, but besides to deliberation successful nan longer word and perpetrate to thing bigger. So galore group picking up bigger books and reference them pinch others is simply a motion that we want to look forward, to deliberation deeper, and to activity organization and connection. Sounds for illustration a basking summertime to me.