Road trips are a summer tradition with a rich literary history. While Kerouac too often gets credit for kicking off the craze with On the Road, travel as a metaphor for transformation has been around since Gilgamesh took off on a bender some 4,000 years ago. Humans have always been on the move in search of adventure and self discovery. After two and a half years of pandemic stasis, we all could use a good trip.
There’s no shortage of bookish itineraries you can map out on the internet, from Atlas Obscura’s detailed map of American literature's most epic road trips, to Rick Steves’ Booking it Through Europe tour, to Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries trek across South America.
We're adding a new one into the mix: The SBC x Graduate Book Tour! In more than a dozen cities across America, you can find a Silent Book Club meetup at the local Graduate hotel. If your travel plans take you on the road in August, schedule an SBC drive-by. Plot out your route on our custom Google map, and don't forget to pack your books!
Brooklyn Monti is dying. Or at least she thinks she is. Since Brooklyn was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease at 19, it’s affected her career, friendships, and love life. But will she let it control her future? When Brooklyn meets the man of her dreams, she must decide whether she allows the disease to take away the one thing she's always wanted: a family.
Bookmarks
Book-related links and other good stuff online
The Correlation Between Sundown Towns and Book Bans: Forsyth County, GA Book Riot
What is a silent book club? An introverted book lover's paradise, that's what Cincinnati Enquirer
With Rising Book Bans, Librarians Have Come Under Attack New York Times
Bans Off Our Books + Our Bodies Virtual Book Events
We’re not going back to a time before Roe. We’re going somewhere worse. The New Yorker
The Enduring Appeal of the Female Amateur Sleuth CrimeReads
Pints and Pages: Seven Boozy Bookshops Across the Country Wine Enthusiast
Iga Swiatek column: French Open favourite on reading Agatha Christie, Alexandre Dumas & George Orwell BBC
Rebel Girls Mean Business: 25 Tales of Entrepreneurs and Investors bookshop.org
Oh, what a beautiful archive: Oscar Hammerstein's letters reveal his many sides NPR
Overheard on Twitter:
Follow Silent Book Club on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Books we loved this month
A Woman is No Man, by Etaf Rum
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, by Allie Brosh
What are you reading? Share your recommendations
Find the SBC chapter for you
Tap the map to find a local chapter or a virtual meetup