This year, summer reading was replaced by enrichment activities for the coming year, much to the glee of most of my classmates (minus AP Lang, Lit, and the AP languages, which ask you to read a couple of books). I, however, happen to like summer reading. Since my freshman year, my reading time has decreased, and so I’ve enjoyed being able to read/meet my quota over the summer. Here’s an extensive list and ranking of my summer reading, from the bottom:

#7 • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Some memoirs are good, like Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (a.k.a. Japanese Breakfast). However, Born a Crime—despite Noah being a supposed comedian—was a snoozefest. 

Born a Crime? Boring. 2/10.

#6 • They Say/I Say by Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff

This was an AP Lang required reading, so no, I was not all that into it. It was repetitive, and some things were kind of obvious (yeah?? use the opposite argument in your rebuttal?? duh??), so the book kind of had me rolling my eyes sometimes.  

They Say it’s a 3/10.

#5 • The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

I’m going to be fully honest with anyone reading this, I don’t remember this book. It was a bunch of magical orphans on a cliff, I think. The relationships between characters were written beautifully, if I remember correctly. 

4/10. What were their names?

#4 • How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

HtRLLaP is one of my required readings this year for AP Lit, and, like They Say/I Say, it’s a textbook-type book. But it’s much more interesting than its AP Lang counterpart, touching on different elements of novels and what they can mean, including vampires and fairy tale spins! 

I read it as a 5/10.

#3 • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

I had read this a few years earlier because my brother had read it for the same class, AP Lang (yes, I know, I, too, question myself), so it was more of a reread, but the book made more sense than it did four years prior.

7/10. I have no comments.

#2 • Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

I love a good short story. I love suffering (schadenfreude). It's a recipe for success. Some of the stories were confusing and I didn’t quite understand how they were maladies, but that’s okay.

8/10. I laughed at the Jesus statues chapter.

#1 • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Also a reread, but I love the classics and, Oscar Wilde is such a funny guy and I love that one John Singer Sargent painting of him (which most likely inspired the book, as they were neighbors and friends). It's such a wild story, it's hard not to go crazy like Dorian Gray. 

10/10 for the guy sentenced to prison on account of “gross indecency.” 

As you can see, some summer books are better (The Outsiders, 8th grade; The Picture of Dorian Gray) than others (Born a Crime) and some are just plain masterpieces (Dorian Gray)*. Of course, everyone’s allowed their own opinions, but I think this is a great list (not biased at all.)  

*It’s a classic for a reason, everyone…

I hope you did your summer work this year!