An Invitation To Estivate

A summer reading list, quality reality TV, 'Renaissance' and plant-based ice cream.

Estivation: the state or condition of torpidity or dormancy induced by the heat and dryness of summer : the state of one that is estivating.

For the first time in years, I’m actually putting work on the back-burner to slow down. As the season that gives me a serious case of the blues, you could say I’m estivating. But luxuriating doesn’t come easy to me. I still feel the need to make my leisure productive. So I’ve been doing the 1000 words of summer challenge (writing 1000 words a day) and reading more than usual. I’m the kind of person who likes to read several books at once—I need to have a different one for all the different moods I encounter in a day. So in light of my summer reading, I thought I’d share some of my recommendations (like I did in January).

A feel-good essay collection that will make you laugh:

• We Are Never Meeting in Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby

An eco-travel thriller with a feminist slant:

• The Disaster Tourist: A Novel by Yun Ko-eun

A glamorous rom-com set in …