Something to read, something to drink, a little bit of sunshine, and cooling breeze: a midsummer's dream.
This summer, I've been strolling through the parks, along the beach, or down the streets always with a book in my bag. I seek refuge under a tree in hot bright days to form my reading nest, or maybe a bench in the park would be just enough for the day.
We are confined in closed spaces for a good part of the day. We lose touch with sun, sky, and outdoor scents and sounds. Let's reclaim all our senses by simple acts at the end of the day: walk on the earth ground, not asphalt or concrete; breath in the scents of mother nature; listen to the waves or the sounds of trees dancing in the breeze. Seek shelter in nature, find a perfect place to rest, and open a book to dive into another world.
Here are a few books I recommend for your perfect midsummer's dream:
Desert Solitaire: Edward Abbey says that this book--his most well-known work--is also a curse, as it helped draw millions of "industrial tourists", to the Arches National Park, where he was a seasonal park ranger for three years. In his book, he condemns industrial tourism which includes building highways right through national parks, turning every corner into a restaurant or motel for the sake of accessibility, comfort, and safety. He is mesmerized by the desert. Read what he says about the desert:
"..., I find myself in the end returning to the beginning, and can only say, as I said in the first place: There is something about the desert...There is something there which the mountains, no matter how grand and beautiful, lack; which the sea, no matter how shining and vast and old, does not have."
Now, who wouldn't want to go the desert?
Americanah: Written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it also happens to be on Obama's reading list for this summer. It says something, right? It is a story of a Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who moves to the United States for studying and then decides to stay. Through her story, we hear a race and identity struggle, and what it means to be "black" and "African American black" in this continent. Some of her observations are so to the point that I couldn't help but agree. After some years, and to everyone's shock, Ifemule finds herself back in Nigeria in search of identity and love.
This was a great discovery as I enjoyed this author's other books as well. Adichie is now a well-known public figure, particularly for her feminism-related work; see "We should all be Feminists" and also "Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions".
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions: The author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, writes a letter to her friend Ijeawele to underline fifteen principles on how to raise a feminist daughter/son. It is brief but to the point. It'd be a good starting point for those who want to understand gender issues.
Sense and Sensibility: Every now and then, we should go back to the classics. This novel was written by "A Lady" according to its first edition in 1811 or, as we know of today, by Jane Austen. The plot is mainly based on the romantic lives of two sisters: Eleanor, the one with sense, and Marianne, the one with sensibility.
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