Hinton’s Summer Reading List
Summer is finally here! Whether you’re going to the beach and need some books to pack, or you need a summery escape as you commute to work, the Hinton team is here to recommend some great books to read this Summer! Since our local libraries always do Book Bingo, we thought we’d construct our reading list to help you almost get to Black Out on your Bingo card!
Maggie’s recommendations
Censorship: Banned Book Club, by Hyun Sook Kim. This powerful graphic novel is set in South Korea in the 1980’s. It tells the story of student uprisings that started with students reading books banned by their government.
New-to-You format: Still True: The Evolution of an Unexpected Journalist, by Reagan E J Jackson (audiobook). Our debut book is also an audiobook! A book that should be required reading for Seattlites is EVEN better with Jackson reading it herself. Available wherever audiobooks are sold (and borrowed)!
Humor: Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris. I have loved David Sedaris since I was a teen. Short hilarious stories, some non fiction from his life, some completely fictitious and absurd. Just don’t read it in public unless you’re cool with bursting out laughing in front of strangers…
BIPOC Historical fiction/nonfiction: I struggled to choose one so… Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland (fiction), what America would look like if the civil war ended because zombies started to rise during the battle of Gettysburg. Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Satterly (Nonfiction), How the American space program ran on the brilliance of Black Women.
Buddy Read: Three Alarm Fire, by Juan Carlos Reyes. Our second author, Reyes, wrote electric stories about people at moments of emergency- Reyes is also quite experimental, so reading this book with a conversation partner will help you soak in all the brilliance.
Rose’s recommendations
Grief: Judas Goat by Gabrielle Bates. A truly stunning debut poetry collection from a local Seattle author! Bates utilizes expertly tuned language to explore the grieving that emerges in familial, intimate, and sexual relationships.
Flower on the Cover/In Title: A Boy Named Rose by Gaelle Greniller. This graphic novel focuses on Rose, a person growing up in the French cabaret scene, and the questions of gender and sexuality that appear as he gets older. Perfect Pride Month read!
Monsters: 70 Scenes of Halloween by Jeffrey Jones. A highly experimental play, where the scenes can be rearranged into any reading order. The script utilizes the backdrop of Halloween to accentuate a failing marriage, as a reflection of Jones's own life. Expect all sorts of ghouls!
Hope: All About Love by bell hooks. A fundamental text for those looking to understand the possibilities of love, especially in a time of such political turmoil. hooks's analyses remain a gateway for us to hope for a more loving and fulfilled future.
Marcus’ Recommendations
SAL Speaker: The Emperor of Gladness is a haunting, hilarious, and wholly original reminder that even in a world unraveling at the seams, our joy, grief, and resistance are still worth writing down.
Suggested by an Independent Bookseller: Copaganda is essential reading for anyone ready to rip the blindfold off mainstream media and confront how law enforcement has weaponized the news to criminalize the vulnerable and shield the powerful.
Found Family: One Last Stop is a queer love story wrapped in time travel and found family, reminding us that joy, resistance, and connection across generations are all part of the same revolutionary magic.
Great Escapes: Lovecraft Country turns the haunted house of American racism inside out, using cosmic horror to show that the real terror isn’t monsters from beyond—but the systems that were built to keep Black people afraid, invisible, and silent.
One Big Book: To Survive on This Shore is a beautiful coffee table sized book. Each spread has one page that is a full page portrait of a trans elder, and a corresponding page that tells part of their life story in their own words.
Elinor’s recommendations
From Nic at SPL’s Capitol Hill branch: Miss Major Speaks. It's a conversation with her and Toshio Meronek. Real stark. Blunt. but hopefully in that same way I think. Very short but powerful and a compelling, easy read.
SAL speaker: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Summer is the perfect time for a romantic comedy and excess!
Grief: NOX by Anne Carson. This is one of the most impressive physical books I own. It deals with the death of her brother through collage, poetry, fragmentation, and so much care.
PNW Nature - Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Leigh Allen. A group of reality dating show contestants find themselves on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Fun, gory, and campy!
Censorship: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Some of the most beautiful prose out there; that also happens to be consistently challenged or banned.