Jane Eyre
Confession time: I have never read a sentence by any of the Bronte sisters. For too long, I have rested on my laurels for completing Moby Dick, Ulysses and The Brothers Karamazov (all in my 20s, all to impress men). Now in my blissfully boring mid-40s, I am setting my bookshelf to rights by reading masterpieces by women that I foolishly ignored as a petulant youth. It’s going well; I was asked to leave the library when I would not stop gushing about Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca at closing time. My big summer read will be Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics, $7.99, 9780141441146), a novel about the hard-knock life of the eponymous orphan who strives for independence in pre-Victorian England. They say it’s a feminist love story, which I certainly could have used all those years ago. But it’s never too late.
—Erica Ciccarone, Associate Editor
The Plantagenets
When I saw that two of my obsessions—Dan Jones and anything connected to the Tudor dynasty—had converged, I knew I had to add The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England (Penguin, $20, 9780143124924) to my TBR. I first discovered Jones through 2019’s Crusaders and was immediately hooked by his narrative style. He presents the past like a story, making it engaging and easy to follow even for someone like me who’s easily distracted when reading nonfiction. Jones has a gift for humanizing historical figures without compromising accuracy, drawing you in to their world with vivid detail and personality. My summer read traces the unruly Plantagenet dynasty from Henry II to Richard II, setting the stage for the rise of the Tudors. Fraught with drama and power struggles, the Plantagenet lineage is the foundation of modern English history, and the book’s time period covers the Black Death, the Knights Templar and the Hundred Years’ War. I’m excited to see how Jones unpacks this epic saga.
—Shawna Davenport, Controller
Eyeliner
I have a rule that I follow every summer: Read nothing that would be out of place next to a pool. This, for me, means nothing too taxing or dark in subject matter or tone. Summer is the season for Regency romances, for cozy and comforting mysteries. I especially adore historical deep dives into topics that could be called—by less expansive minds—frivolous, like the debutante or how the studio system of classic Hollywood actually worked. This year, I’ll be reading Eyeliner: A Cultural History (Penguin, $26, 9780143137092) by Zahra Hankir. An expansive look at how eyeliner has functioned as both adornment and armor throughout eras and cultures, Eyeliner is exactly the type of nonfiction title I turn to when I need to give my summer whimsy a little weight to balance things out: a book that’s easy to dip in and out of, but one that will also leave me with lasting knowledge of a fascinating subject.
—Savanna Walker, Managing Editor
Invisible Women
While other readers may opt for light, breezy books to read poolside this summer, I plan to dive into something data-focused and more infuriating than relaxing. Celebrated author and feminist Caroline Criado Perez breaks down the shocking reality of gender inequality in research in Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (Abrams, $18.99, 9781419735219). Examining hundreds of studies that use men as the standard reference, Perez explicates the everyday ways women are left out of data in the home, workplace, doctor’s office and beyond. What does it mean for 50% of the population to be excluded from scientific studies? And more importantly, how are women paying for this bias—in lost time, money, or, too often, with their lives? From car safety testing to voice recognition software and medical research, Perez exposes the ramifications of a world that has been built by and for men.
—Rebecca Bonifacio, Marketing Manager