Is there anything better than relaxing on the beach or by the pool with a great book? Vacation time and weekend getaways are just around the corner, and we know you’re definitely going to need some good reads. Here are a few of our must-reads for this summer.
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History, by Keith O’Brien
Back in the 1920’s women were barely given the right to vote. So, imagine being a women trying to break into a new field of technology (aviation) and one that was completely dominated by men? That’s the story of Fly Girls. It’s about how five women fought to compete in the national air races of the 20’s and 30’s, and won. The five women were the famous Amelia Earhart, Florence Klingensmith, who worked for a dry cleaner, Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcee; Ruth Nichols, who bucked the system of her blue-blood family and struck out on her own, and Lousie Thaden, a coal merchant and mother of two.
And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready, by Meaghan O’Connell
O’Connell found herself accidentally pregnant in her 20’s and took on motherhood not quite prepared. The result was this hilarious, raw, no B.S. account of her experience of the emotional and existential challenges of becoming a mother. O’Connell holds nothing back and goes straight for the anxieties and unspoken taboos that are supposed to be off limits with humor and frankness.
Sharp: The Women Who Made An Art Of Having An Opinion, by Michelle Dean
This book focuses on ten powerful, brilliant women and how they changed the scope of political and artistic opinions in the 20th century despite being undermined by their male counterparts. This books delves into the lives, setbacks, and accomplishments of Dorothy Parker, Rebecca West, Hannah Arendt, Mary McCarthy, Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, Joan Didion, Nora Ephron, Renata Adler, and Janet Malcolm. If you love reading about women paving their own paths despite resistance, pick up Sharp.
The Death of Truth, by Michiko Kakutani
“Fake news!” You may have heard that a time or two. In an increasingly confusing political landscape filled with half-truths or outright falsehoods, it’s hard to decipher fiction from reality. Kakutani dives into the current state of the world and how we have moved so far away from science in favor of propaganda and biased ideologies. He dissects social media, literature, tv, politics, and academia to diagnose a country (and world) that is sick with fact-less information.
Raw: My Journey Into The Wu-Tang, by Lamont “U-God” Hawkings
Whether you like hip hop or not, this never-before-told story is moving and delves into the life of one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang clan, Lamont “U-God” Hawkins. Born in the projects of Brownsville, New York in 1970, and raised by a single mother in one of the roughest areas of the city, Hawkins found solace and a life changing circle of friends in fellow Wu-Tang founding members RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, and Masta Killa. Through music this group of talented men found their way out of a destitute life and into the ears of fans around the world.
