Seasonal Reads: A Strange and Literary Reading List for the Dog Days of Summer By Harmony Gibson

By Harmony Gibson 

Summer is a strange time-- a season between seasons. The days are long and ceaselessly hot. Petrichor hangs in the summer air when the clouds swell with rain. And there’s some sort of melancholic nostalgia that grips us long after our youthful days of summer. There’s something in us that rises to grasp it, to rediscover that hazy, adventurous spirit that always seems to awaken after springtime. The one that begs us to explore, to go outside and play or to simply sit with the trees and allow our minds to wander. 

It’s a time that simultaneously craves boredom and creativity—action and lazing. To some, that feeling is encapsulated perfectly in a beach read. To me, and I think to you, the reader who clicked on this article, it’s less concrete than that. 

It’s not just the sea, the sun, the heat-induced idleness or idyllic nature. But what it inspires within us, how it affects and changes us, how it moves us through to busier seasons, forces us to slow down and return to an intrinsic piece of ourselves that came more easily to us when we were children and that rises in us and evolves as we get older. This article is a list of books that evoke that feeling, for differing reasons. A list of books to read during the heart of the dog days of summer; for the curious, and for the strange.

Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury

Dandelion Wine is a reflective, nostalgic novel following a young boy named Douglas as he experiences the simple, slow moments of an unforgettable summer growing up in the Midwest during the 1920s. The book embodies the melancholic and introspective, yet hazy and adventurous spirit that summer tends to hold for us all, making its impact lasting and enduring. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to return to as you grow older, each reread evoking the youthfulness of the season and of youth itself. 

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell

Vampires in the Lemon Grove is an anthology of strange stories. It’s perhaps the closest book on this list to a beach read because of its bite-sized format. Many of the stories contain evocative imagery and surreal transformations, with characters who meditate on their circumstances and selves. The titular story follows an aging vampire couple who feed on lemons instead of blood, but each story holds an introspective message embedded within the fantastic and uncanny.

Starling House, Alix E. Harrow 

Starling House is a true modern Southern Gothic. It follows Opal, a cynical woman in her mid-twenties who becomes drawn to the haunted house in her hometown, as it has plagued her dreams since she was a child. As she navigates the otherworldliness of the southern gothic town she lives in, she simultaneously grapples with class, race, and grief. Starling House leans more summer despite its autumnal and gothic themes. The setting is mystical and harbors secrets it was built upon. The story itself is overgrown and restless like summer—it’s liminal and has its own set of rules, yet carries an unmistakably human and intrinsic heart at its core. The story tackles the fantastical, hazy, and surreal qualities that summer holds while underlining the simple truths of love and humanity that we understand from youth, yet frames them from the perspective of an adult rooted in modern and nihilistic circumstances. The novel blends the urban and the magical in a way that transcends yet another haunted house story.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s famous comedy has all the ethereal strangeness of summer: fairies, anthropomorphic oddities, a dreamy woodland in summertime, and romantic adventure.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower,  C.S. Forester

A nautical historical fiction novel following the titular Hornblower as he becomes a midshipman in the navy during the Napoleonic Wars. A sweeping, episodic tale that details Hornblower’s rise through the ranks, swashbuckling duels, and dangerous naval adventures, all set upon the thrashing sea from galley to ship.

Walden, Henry David Thoreau

Walden is Thoreau’s introspective philosophical reflection on his time living closely alongside nature. It introduces his social critiques and ideologies about living deliberately and slowly. It’s the perfect work to ponder while spending time outdoors.

Stardust, Neil Gaiman

Stardust is a fairy tale in the truest sense, following a young man as he navigates the realm of faerie in search of a fallen star for his true love. The work is a fantastical and ethereal adventure with magic and whimsy, unicorns, witches and a flying ship. 

Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon 

The Priory of the Orange Tree is a standalone, modern high fantasy epic that follows intertwining characters across a vast realm built on a foundation of draconic magic, ancient water dragons, cultural divides, and fierce women warriors on beastly steeds. It intersects intensive worldbuilding with medieval nostalgia and fantastical, ethereal magic systems, alongside one of the most unique portrayals of dragons you’ll encounter, drawing on Chinese mythology and water-based mystical magic systems.

The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater 

The hunt for a sleeping ancient Welsh king, a trek through hazy woods where time stands still, academia lofts, and fortune tellers. The Raven Boys is perhaps this YA author’s most underrated series, following young Blue Sargent and her interconnected fate with the boys of Aglionby Academy boys. It’s a mystical, hazy adventure that captures the nostalgia of youth and the fantastical nature of fate and mysticism within a Southern Gothic setting.

Blood of Elves, Andrej Sapkowski 

Another series opener, Blood of Elves is a high fantasy rooted in Slavic folklore. It’s the series that inspired the video game series and Netflix original of the same name. The Witcher tells the tale of Geralt, a supernatural mercenary in a world where the mythological, magical, and medieval intersect. The sweeping world is highly immersive and immediately pulls you in. The format is fast-paced and almost episodic, reminiscent of short stories told around campfires or in the warm lamplight of your bedside.

Cirque Du Freak, Darren Shan 

One of the more unexpected pulls of the list, Cirque du Freak follows a young boy who is pulled into the strange world of a traveling circus and the vampire who sires him in this whimsical, dark, and strange series. Though aimed at a younger audience, the story is the perfect bite-sized portion of summer strangeness, with the liminal freak show, hazy memories of growing pains, eccentric characters, and surreal imagery as incomparably enrapturing backdrops.

Frenchman’s Creek, Daphne Du Maurier 

A more classic-leaning option, Frenchman’s Creek is a literary historical romance following a dissatisfied woman who falls in love with a pirate and disguises herself as a boy to join his crew. The work blends gothic romance and high-seas adventure, making it the perfect escapist summer read.

The Odyssey, Homer 

Perhaps the most relevant summer read this year might be Homer’s The Odyssey. The ancient Greek poem follows Odysseus’s journey to return home after the Trojan War, encountering mythological beings and tribulations along the way. It is the ultimate nautical epic. Perpetually relevant, enduringly timeless, and always enrapturing, you simply can’t go wrong with another reread of The Odyssey.

An old Goosebumps novel 

This might be the biggest leap of the list—but one I wholeheartedly stand behind. For me, at least, R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps novels were the epitome of childhood, especially cozy late summer nights spent reading past bedtime. They were fun, campy, strange, and scary—a thrill knowing you were reading recreationally instead of some dull required reading story for the next school year’s summer reading list. My favorite? The “choose your own adventure” ones, which allowed you to skip ahead to different endings and moments, letting you feel like you were actually experiencing the adventures within the pages. Somehow, after all this time, picking one up as an adult still holds that youthful thrill, that undeniable summer excitement.

Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris

Lastly, Dead Until Dark might be the perfect mix of old and young. Oddly enough, this first written installment is nothing like its televised counterpart True Blood—except, of course, for the sensual allure of the vampire. Aside from the steamier scenes, the book series is actually incredibly fun, whimsical, and strange; a far cry from the dark, gory, and gothic True Blood television show. The books follow Sookie Stackhouse, a fairy waitress in a small Southern Gothic town, navigating first loves, the supernatural, weretigers, and… undead Elvis with a thirst for cat blood? It’s whimsical, weird, filled with Southern spice, and carries the kind of late-night fun that seems to thrive (or is reanimated) in summertime.

Though these may not be your typical beach reads, each book on this list evokes something intrinsically summer. Whether that’s the hazy nostalgia of childhood, the strange and fantastical feeling of wandering into the unknown, the melancholy introspection of time spent in prospering nature, or the adventurous spirit that seems to awaken after springtime, each story captures a different piece of what makes the season so enduring. They remind us of the curiosity that lives within us long into adulthood, of the part that longs to explore, to imagine, and to return to the wonder we carried more easily as children. 

-HG