I was a savage for Pizza Hut as a little girl.
My childhood memory of reading goes straight to their BOOK IT! program, which gave baby Cris a delightful incentive of getting a free pizza after reading a list of books. The feeling of knocking off all the books on my list one-by-one was pure, maniacal pleasure. I remember the taste of my own personal pan cheese pizza; the fried dough, oodles of mozzarella, and absolution I would reign queen of da books.
Diana Vreeland said, “My life has been more influenced by books than by any other one thing.”
It took me a while to recognize this as my own poetic landscape. Places and experiences are stamped into my head because of a book. Books remind me so deeply of places I’ve been, and where I was in my own life.
One of my favorite things in the world is an intense love affair with a book.
Most of the time when I’m having a great moment, I immediately search for my phone, wanting to take a million okay-ish photos. As I started thinking of what I want to read this year, I had a tiny awakening: A book is the best polaroid. I remember the way the sun felt, the comfort of a bed or chair, the subway line I was on, or the taste of coffee at a cafe. I can remember furniture, light in the room, and sounds I heard, thanks to books. Exact locations of where I read fill my mind, and I am swept up in it again.
Some of the times that pop in my head…
A silent meditation retreat in Bali is when I dove into Shantaram, devouring before sunrise, in between 3-hour meditations, and at night on a very uncomfortable bed.
On a bullet train heading out of Tokyo, where I was so fascinated by a man reading Bad Feminist. I didn't even bother to look it up, the title spoke to me. I downloaded immediately on my kindle, and read in many tranquil spaces in Oita, where I stayed with a monk in his family's temple.
Half-dressed in ski gear and exhausted from lessons with my instructor in Morzine, I found refuge in the The Girl who Saved the King of Sweden over a table of Vin Chaud and Raclette.
While it feels I only make time for reading books during traveling, I realize we can put them in little crevices of our lives. This summer, I am enjoying a lot of home time, so I'm all about celebrating the moments you can make yourself. Here are a few books I think are great for travel-esque moments you can make at home.
three books I think are great for summer
1.
Breakfast at Tiffanys | NYC
One day while walking in McGolrick park, I found this book on a park bench with a “Free” sign.
"Put that down!" my friend said immediately. "It's probably infested with bugs."
How fitting, that in my first week of living in Brooklyn, that this is the first book I pick up.
It’s brings you into a 1940s Upper East Side brownstone, with the iconic Holly Golightly. Reading her dialogue is everything.
You can just imagine her lines, like, “I’ll never get used to anything. Anybody that does they might as well be dead.” I live!
I adore Audrey Hepburn in the film, but reading the book while breathing in New York is its own kind of perfection. Or, while eating a beautiful meal alone — Another favorite NYC activity.
Read while: Eating a sorbet at a restaurant, on a picnic blanket, sitting at a bar with a lovely crowd, in a Brooklyn-esque café.
2.
A Little Life | Nicaragua
During a very monumental time in my life, I found myself immersed in this book in - of all places - a surf trip in Nicaragua. It was during the really sad days of COVID, which shut down any possibility of work. I felt stuck in ways I couldn’t control. Two days before New Years, I booked a one-way ticket to Central America.
I felt like “the only tourist in Nica,” as I had this whole surf camp to myself. Someone left this book behind, and since I was off-grid with no wi-fi, I read. And read. It is one of those books you could be anywhere doing anything, and get so absorbed.
I finally finished the book, in bed, trying to ignore the large insects, chirps of the geckos trying to hunt them, and ceaseless barking of wild dogs. Even all of that did not stop me from crying at the end.
It follows four boys who meet in college, and how their lifelong friendship shapes their existences in New York City. That’s a horrible description, but you can go to the book link if you really want the full tea.
Read while: On a comfy bed with a face mask, a carefree Sunday with an afternoon at home, in one of those travel hammocks from Costco.
3.
Far From the Madding Crowd | Portland
One of my favorite staycations is a picnic in a park.
And the best place to do it in Portland, OR is Peninsula Park. I can smell the roses in the sun just imagining it. There is something very Jane Austen-esque about reading an 1800s period book in a park, and I lean into that—hard.
This book takes you into the lives of Sheep Farmer Gabriel Oak and fiercely independent Bathsheba Everdene, down in bucolic England. The slow burn of their romance makes me wish we still wrote letters with quills by oil lamp.