Gentle readers, I hope summer is treating you well. Personally, I find that the whiplash from the heat to thunderstorming for days is getting a tad out of control. I spent a good portion of my weekend finishing books that I half started or just put down and forgot to pick back up.
Given the summer air, I’m tempted to reread Rilla of Ingleside, it always reminds me of this time of year and I adore the image of the older women sitting and gossiping on the verandah about their kids. It’s about time I share with you some of my latest reads. (I’ve been angling for an ARC of John Mark Comer’s new book, but I suppose I have to content myself with the October pre-order.)
Books of Summer 2026
The Memory of Old Jack
“It was as if he went to his fields in the spring, not just because he wanted to, but because his father and grandfather before him had gone because they wanted to…he was answering the summons of an immemorial kinship.”
Wendell Berry knows how to pack a poignant punch in his novels. Short but endearingly sweet, Old Jack is a farmer whose ways are of a different time. He is an imperfect man, yet his virtues gleam in the midst of the wreckage of his life. Jack is a man aware of his limitations and perfectly keen to be who he is, no matter who wishes him to be otherwise. Berry writes Jack and the town of Port William clearly, for its values are clear. The people of Port William are a people who belong to a place and the place belongs to them. It’s utterly strange to them to lack a connection to the land, to long to be anywhere other than where they are. I feel the flaws of my city life so deeply in Berry’s words. The wanderlust in me is a sympton of this disconnection, one I cannot bear and yet I know not how to rectify.
Moral of the story: It is good to know our limits, to know that it is better to remain than to keep on wandering.
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The Journey of Desire
“There is no predicting these losses; they happen to us. We choose only how we respond. The second kind is known only to the pilgrim. They are the losses we choose.”
I’m honestly on my way to read everything that John Eldredge has written. I am a big fan of his podcasts and his books provide a deeper look into his worldview. I was urged to consider picking this one up as I came to the realization that desire and dreaming really had fallen away from me.
This book digs into why we so often quench desire, whether it’s our false beliefs or fear. If you find yourself tempted by desires you know aren’t good for you, it may be that what you’re actually longing for is Eden, and those false desires are your way of trying to mask that deeper longing. I really appreciated the chapter of how God will allow desires to be thwarted as we try to make something the ultimate thing.
Moral of the story: Take the time to attend to the longing underneath your desire.
Famesick
“When I wept under a tree at rehab, looking more like Ferdinand the bull than a woman, he (Bill) assured me weeping in fields was par for the course.”
Lena Dunham in all her infamous glory really did compel me to pick up her second memoir. Though I watched a few episodes of Girls (it’s quite a lot!), I really do enjoy Dunham for the writer that she is. She’s aware of her privilege, the nepo-baby-ness of it all, but she is actually talented. This memoir has an insanely well done metaphor, and I’m sure Dunham herself wondered if the fame itself was what made her sick in the first place (it certainly exacerbated her health issues).
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the parents’ role in her life. I fear we all forget, sometimes, how supportive parents can really be the catharsis for when life really grinds you into the dust. That’s not in a lot of memoirs. Everyone these days is self-made. Famesick is a confrontation of Dunham’s controversies–she owns up to most of her stuff although some of it is couched in questionable language. I absolutely think it’s worth the read if you have the time.
Moral of the story: You have to learn the language your body is speaking.
The Rising Tide
“Then they all jumped in again, sharing memories, telling the same old stories, because if they were talking about the past, somehow they didn’t have to think too much about the present.”
If you know me, you know I love a good cozy mystery. The Vera Stanhope series is quite a bit more than that. Vera is a sharp detective with a nature that I see myself in. She likes comfort. She finds herself wanting to move and at the same time, being unwilling to. She is both nostalgic and wounded by her past. The Rising Tide was a standout book in the series. I love how Cleeves writes her characters with their fears and their worries, and no character is quite who they appear to be.
Moral of the story: We don’t always see what’s in front of us until it’s too late.
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Songs for summer 2026
Dissolve Me / Back in My Ways by Movements
Take a little drive
There’s a shadow on the corner with the sign
So why should I complain when I’m standing in the light
I’ve been given more than I could ever find
Counting blessings left and right
So when did I get this way?
I am utterly excited for this fall where I get to hear Happier for Now. The singles from Movements lately have been so darn gorgeous. I’m loving this new era. The first verse of Back in my Ways is worth the listen. Wild to hear that Patrick, the lead singer, didn’t like this track at first!
Halcyon Blues by Citizen (the boys are back!)
I wasn’t meant to love you
Why could I choose to be such a fool?
Bittersweet like summer rain
Coming down hard on you
Halcyon Blues, yeah
This is my new favorite Citizen song. It is perfection! It’s so dancy and fun and utterly sad. And that’s a genre of music that I do adore. (See: Paramore’s After Laughter). The title track for their new album, coming out on my birthday, is mourning someone you once loved becoming a stranger to you. Unfortunately, that’s a bit relatable right now.
Forever Without You by Evanescence
This is the last tear fallen
This is the last open door
We always knew we were damned
I knew the moment you touched my hand
There’s too much fire to hold
And no one else would understand
The iconic Evanescence returns of an album worthy of their name. I didn’t enjoy The Bitter Truth, but Sanctuary has been a delight. This song, referencing band troubles, has the mix of Amy Lee’s stunning voice with little easter eggs and a piano to soften the blow. Amy’s emotion makes this song the best on the record ❤️
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Haircut by Noah Kahan
But at least I got a soul, even if I’m in a bad place
Even if I’m eating fast food, sleeping at my dad’s place
I’m happy for your haircut, I’m happy you got your act clean
You’re showing up like bad news and leavin’ like a bad dream
I do think The Great Divide is a great sophomore album for Noah (even though I have yet to hear his freshman audition). This one is a sleeper to others. Everyone seems to love American Cars. I love dancing at the chorus, and what a banger last line!
Green by The Maine
My mother says that I should get some sleep, yeah
My eyes are red and not the normal green
And I wanna know what it feels like
To fall forever
This is an album intro like I haven’t heard since 2015 with Miles Away. I really enjoy how fun and bright this song is. It feels like the boys are grown and happy and it’s so nice to hear it in the music. It’s wild to think they have kids now. It’s been a wild road with The Maine.
Joy Next Door by The Maine
Maybe it’s a sign
Or more a metaphor
The sun is in the sky
He doesn’t even know
She was never here at all
I saw someone say that this album sounds like the music playing the car in a movie when the characters are on a long road trip, and no other song quite fits that description like this one. It’s unique and abstract. There’s nostalgia and it’s riddled with a tinge of sadness that doesn’t dissipate. Maybe it never really does. Sonically, it’s the perfect hint of melancholy.
Let me know your favorite recent reads and songs of late below!
Signing off,
Gigi
Studying Life with Gigi 