4th Annual (Way Too Early) Summer Reading List.

By Ben D’Alessio

It’s weird right now. Check out one of these books I’ve read since the list last April and get you some normalcy, or some escape, or get weirder, if that’s what you’re into.

They’re in no particular order, except for the first one, which was my favorite of the year, probably. They’re not the only nine I’ve enjoyed, just the ones I decided to write about. I post each book I read on my Instagram if you’d like to scroll and check out any others.

You can find the last three lists here, here, and here.

I also write my own books, which I recommend for any time of year. Check ’em out at bendalessio.com.

1. Parable of the Sower (1993), by Octavia E. Butler

I could make a case for the first three books on this list to be my favorite of the past year, but if I’m going with one only, it’s going to be Butler’s Parable of the Sower. A dystopia set about by climate change, corruption, corporate greed, racism, and segregation, taking place in the 2020s, with a protagonist that possesses a power which provides her with hyper-empathy, or, the ability to literally feel the…