9 Books that Feel Like the End of Summer
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no cost to you.
These nine books are perfect for the last few weeks between summer and fall. They channel those last hot days, the eruption of life before the end, elemental emotions, summer's eve, turning grapes, birds leaving south, and the flowers blooming one last time.
Summer's Eve
A Simple Heart by Gustave Flausbert
Following the life of a servant woman, this book explores the trials of that life and her search for love. She “endures loss after loss by embracing the rich, true rhythms of life.” Reading this mirrors the changing of the seasons. Felicite shows appreciation for the offerings in her life and copes with the hardships her way. As she grows older there are bursts of life but ulitmatly everything turns colder.
Eruption of Life Before the End
The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada
The Hole is the epitome of those hot days with no breeze. It lingers and swelters without repose. Asa’s left alone during the day. Cicadas buzz without end, her in-laws water the garden, and children play in mile-high grass. But not everything is as it seems. The more she explores the more questions arise. It’s ironic that the hotter it became in the book, the cooler I felt. Things were ripe and plenty but I felt like the more I read, the cooler and deader it got.
Final Flowers Blooming One Last Time
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This felt like the end of summer in much the way you feel when you finally accept yourself. Janie learns about love and power. She searches for true unconditional love. The forces of nature rain down and Janie must weather the storms, both real and symbolic, hurdling her way.
Elemental Emotions
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
Tsukiko and Sensei, former student and teacher respectively, find each other years later. Their relationship takes shape and the two reckone what they know and their lives against the other. Loneliness and love filter between them and become almost characters themselves.
Birds Flying South
At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop
It's a book set at war. There are battles, death, and endless violence on each page. The meaninglessness in all of it becomes apparent throughout. It speaks on colonization and masculinity. There’s a sort of blankness left after reading like you want the character’s happiness but it’s not there.
Turning Grapes
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Everything changes in Area X. People, plants, and animals all evolve behind the invisible wall. We are left to watch as the place and their actions bring about the change.
Last Hot days
Summer by Edith Wharton
Charity grows from child to woman. The world once a mystery to her becomes apparent and life touches her in its embrace. Her identity and decisions mark her and continue her evolution into adulthood.
Between Summer and Fall
Quicksand by Nella Larsen
Helga straddles her different identities and struggles to find herself amidst the various places she goes. Born to a white mother and a black father, Helga feels different than those around her. She moves to other locations in search of where she will belong. Her story is complicated and nuanced, harsh but honest. It explores her race, gender, the colorism she faces, and a constant battle with her identity.