Rainy Vacation Reads
For many of us, summer means vacation, especially trips to the beach. It’s been weeks of planning vacation reads and countdowns and careful packing to ensure that every detail is seen to so intense relaxing can begin. No matter how much we plan for every contingency, sometimes the weather has other ideas. If you’re stuck inside on vacation, here’s a list of books to take you to far away places. These books will take you outdoors when you’re unable to go yourself.
Deer Hunting in Paris: A Memoir of God, Guns and Game Meat by Paula Lee
When a Korean American get curious about the world, she travels from Paris, France, to Paris, Maine, where the former vegetarian learns how to hunt. Her funny observations are sprinkled throughout her adventures, dating a man from a conservative family, and recipes. This book can give you a rainy day escape and a great idea for something to cook while stuck indoors.
The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors by James E. Mills
In 2013, the first all African American team of climbers set out to conquer America’s highest point, Mt. Denali, Alaska. Mills’s memoir examines not only this rugged expedition, but also how people of color examine their place in the wild. Mills shares other people’s stories and accomplishments alongside his own. This book will take you north to unexplored lands and also inside yourself to examine the reach racism extending far outside our cities and suburbs.
Dirty Blonde and Half-Cuban by Lisa Wixon
Alysia Briggs is determined to infiltrate Cuba to find her absent father…and this was before its borders were open to Americans. She gets stuck in Havana, ends up broke, and living among the jineteras—educated Cuban women who supplement their unlivable incomes by servicing sex tourists. This is a deep look into extreme poverty and the resilience of people worldwide. Getting caught up in tragically beautiful Cuba will make you forget all about being trapped in the house.
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
Finally, if reading about other people out in the world while you’re stuck inside isn’t your thing, then you’re more of a misery loves company kind of reader. Check out The Vacationers by Emma Straub. In this novel, vacation certainly goes awry. The Posts plan to take an exotic island vacation to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary and their daughter’s graduation, but instead secrets and jealousies resurface and threaten to ruin everything, much less their vacation. After reading this drama, you’ll be glad it’s only raining on yours.
