So you finally schlepped to the bookstore because you promised yourself that this summer you really were going to read, only to find yourself completely overwhelmed by options. Where to start?
Well, we at the Clog are here to help! We’ve begun our very own book club, and our first theme is Summer Lovin’. The following are books about people in love, not necessarily in summer time, but all fast, funny, whip-smart, sometimes silly, sometimes powerful books about romance.
1. Adverbs by Daniel Handler
If the stylish weirdness of this book feels familiar, it’s probably because it is. Daniel Handler is none other than the Lemony Snicket of your childhood, employing his given name for these seventeen interconnected love stories, each chapter titled appropriately with an adverb. Some people are “wrongly” in love, others love “briefly” or “immediately” … and so on and so forth.
2. Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Sophie Kinsella is really, really good at what she does, and what she does is fast, happy books that are the literary equivalent of downing a glass of champagne. She’s best known for the Shopaholic series, but Can You Keep a Secret? is a bubbly pink book about talkative, friendly Emma Corrigan who reveals all of her secrets to a stranger on a plane only to find that he is her boss — who incidentally is also super hot.
3. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
This Is How You Lose Her is a collection of interconnected short stories, all in some way about his recurring protagonist Yunior, a familiar face from his earlier works. In typical Diaz form, the love stories are an electric, lyrical rollercoaster of poetic slang, the kind of writing where you read every single word and don’t lose interest for a second.
4. Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding
As an eighth-grade English teacher once told us, “classics are classics for a reason.” He was trying to get us to read Gone With the Wind, but today we’re talking about Bridget Jones. The book — written, as the title implies, in diary form — is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice and follows thirty-something, smoking, drinking, trying-to-improve-herself Bridget in her quest to find love in London. On this note, Pride and Prejudice is a good read too.
5. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Americanah is weighty. It’s almost 600 pages. It deals with race and immigration and Nigerian identity, but it’s also a love story between Ifemelu and Obinze, who are smart and young and in love when they become separated by visas and oceans and life. There can’t be a list of love stories without a long, star-crossed one, but Adichie’s clear and beautiful writing is a pleasure to get through despite the daunting subject matter.
Image source: baddogwhiskas
