By Gabriella Griffin
Arguably, no summer is complete without the experience of falling asleep on the beach with a book on your face, and a book-shaped sunburn to remember it by, or pulling at least one all-nighter, devouring the pages of your new, or old, favorite stories. This year, The Mossy Log team is proud to present its most recommended summer reads, which cross the boundaries of genre, style and display an impressive variety of themes. Please enjoy this selection of our staff’s favorite works.
“Famesick” by Lena Dunham | Megan Ziegele, Editor-in-Chief
This summer I had the immense pleasure of reading Lena Dunham’s memoir “Famesick.” Dunham is a figure you either love or love to hate, and I fall into the former category. She excels at rich storytelling that does not shy away from controversy or self-congratulation — a thin line to walk — and one that most memoir writers fail to catch their balance on. Whether you leave your reading with a changed opinion on her character or not, I believe her writing speaks for itself. Dunham may not be the singular voice of her generation, but she is certainly a voice of my own, and a bold one at that.
“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel | Charles Anderson, Managing Editor
Mandel’s novel takes place in the Upper Midwest, 20 years after a pandemic has wiped out most of the human population on Earth. Those who are left wander a wasteland with only the memory of the modern world. Only ghosts live here: Old gas stations are converted to make-shift houses, highways are overgrown, suburban homes are looted beyond repair, airports become museums to mankind. The modern world is a miracle. It is a wonder to fly on an airplane, flush a toilet, and turn on the lights. St John Mandel reminds you of that at every turn with beautiful prose. You can read this book in just an afternoon or two. Or, I did, anyway.
“Woman at Point Zero” by Nawal El-Saadawi | Ziad Mahmoud, News Editor
My favorite read this summer was “Woman at Point Zero” by Nawal El-Saadawi, a short true story about the encounter between the author, a psychiatrist, and a woman awaiting execution in her prison cell for murdering a man. The woman narrates her life story leading up to the murder, including her childhood struggles with injustice and abuse, her many marriages and her life as a sex worker. The story is about oppression, class, gender, and most of all, choice: why we do what we do and how much control, if any, we have in making them. It deeply changed my perspective on justice through its touching personal exploration of politics and class, and it offered a unique perspective on sex work and gender oppression that I have not read in other feminist authors.
“Girl, Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen | Scarlett Robinson, Opinions Editor
This book was a short but impactful read. Later adapted into a (great) movie starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, Kaysen’s memoir about her experience in McLean Hospital — a private psychiatric facility in Belmont, Massachusetts — is immersive. Kaysen draws the reader close to her story by presenting real documentary evidence from her stay in the facility — intake reports and other records that lend the memoir added weight. Throughout the book you follow her experience in the facility as she realizes how she does and does not fit in with her fellow patients. It is a great exploration of the psychiatric system, and it is interesting to discover over time how Kaysen was not completely honest with the reader or even with herself, regarding her experience in the facility.
“My Heart Hurts” by Andrew Damazio | Debbie C. Mukuka, Opinions Editor
Damazio’s novel explains the unavoidable reality of pain and suffering: regardless of who you are or what your life looks like, difficult seasons are simply part of being human. The book reflects on selected painful seasons of Damazio’s life, but what I love most is that he doesn’t simply tell you, “You will suffer, but it will be worth it” — something that can feel dismissive and callous when you are actually hurting. Instead, he acknowledges that while those seasons deeply changed him for the better, he would never pray for them and he does not gloss over what it actually feels like to be in the middle of them. I recommend this book to anyone who is going through a difficult time or has gone through one and felt unseen, because it gives you permission to acknowledge how hard it is. Although the book is ultimately written from a Christian perspective and points toward the hope found beyond suffering, Damazio intentionally writes in a way that welcomes readers of any religious background to wrestle with the reality of pain and suffering.
“Love and Other Words” by Christina Lauren | Gabriella Griffin, Arts & Culture Editor
If you know me, you know that this book is my all time favorite, so it was an absolutely necessary re-read this summer. It was not always my favorite and I actually hated it when I first read it. I was confused, I did not understand why the characters were doing what they were doing, but the more that I thought about it, the more I realized I was completely wrong about how I first felt, and I love it with my entire heart now. This book completely guts me one chapter, then makes my heart seep with nostalgia and cozy bliss the next. The story is told in flashback and present day perspectives following two childhood best friends, Macy and Elliot, who fall in love as children before becoming estranged for a decade, eventually coming back together. The writing makes me feel like I am living in a whimsical memory, with genuine despair, grief, confusion and deep wholesome love permeating my heart. Their relationship and friendship only gets better the more you read it.
“Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez | Isabella Kavanaugh, Features Editor
I spent a lot of the summer reading about gender, and the ways things like nationalism and religion have created a very fractured idea of American masculinity. “Jesus and John Wayne” is the kind of book that leaves questions in your mind a long time after you finish it. Through tracing the politics and media of the 20th century, Du Mez outlines the ways a very rugged ideal of masculinity has been shaped in the name of “Christian America.” This was far more of a straightforward history than I had pictured it being but it was extremely compelling. This book is incredibly relevant to today’s political climate, using a history of evangelical patriarchy to illuminate the staggering results of evangelical patriarchy to illuminate the staggering results of evangelical voting blocs in recent elections.
“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman | Faye Seirafi, Sports Editor
The novel follows a middle-aged man as he returns to his childhood home in the countryside. He recalls the dark and strange things he saw the summer he turned seven years old. An enthralling, unsettling novel, it is creepy, but not too scary. A beautiful piece that explores memory, childhood, and magic. The book is a great length for the often stunted summer attention span.
“In Tongues” by Thomas Grattan | Noah Lowrey, Features Editor
This novel follows a young gay man in NYC who becomes dangerously intertwined with an older couple with whom he just happens to walk dogs for. I absolutely adored this book in all its sexy, strange glory. Grattan’s writing is almost confessional in the way he portrays his complicated protagonist and cast of mysterious characters. The novel is this tightly wound ball of energy that you just can’t wait to get to the center of, constantly toeing the line between realism and something slightly hungrier, melodramatic and forceful.
“The Tangleroot Palace” by Marjorie Liu | Maya Hoover, Arts & Culture Editor
This collection of short stories trapped me for hours, and I am not ashamed to admit that I reread portions of it more than once over the course of the summer. Liu’s prose is beautifully written, and each of the six short stories and single novella encapsulates a different take on fantasy and science fiction writing. My personal favorites were a tie between “Sympathy for the Bones” and the titular novella, “The Tangleroot Palace,” but every story had its own draw. Liu has a knack for digging into the heart of an experience and forcing the reader to actually sit with the emotional toll of it, something that makes the work compelling as a whole regardless of the reader’s personal preferences.
Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat | Cas Priadka, Backdoor Editor
If you are interested in a political fantasy drama, then this is the series for you. Bonus points: it is a gay enemies-to-lovers romance. The relationships between Pacat’s characters are deeply complicated, and watching them shift over time is incredibly rewarding. I highly recommend it if you want a quick dive into a captivating world.
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