Your no-bullshit guide to summer books

It’s summer, AKA performative reading season. Looking to flex in the park or attract a mate? It’s time to pack that tote and head to a patch of grass armed with a book you’re actually reading, and – critically – one you want to be seen reading (à la Hailey Bieber’s Nietzsche re-read…).

Here’s a no-bullshit guide to what the Plaster staff are genuinely immersed in, and what they’re strategically leaving face-up while scrolling TikTok.

What I’m actually reading: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
I watched Capote a few months ago and bought the book immediately after (love a film-watch-to-book-purchase pipeline). I read it pretty much every morning on my commute to the office to fill myself with a deep sadness and fear, ready for the day.

What I’m pretending to read: White Noise by Don DeLillo
I only bought this book because an influencer I have a parasocial crush on said it was her favourite. Technically it’s not performative reading because the cover is ugly :—-)

– Izzy Bilkus

What I’m actually reading: Love in Exile by Shon Faye
Shon Faye, the hun to end all huns, reclaims heartbreak like its couture. Love in Exile isn’t just a memoir, it’s the Magna Carta.

What I’m pretending to read: The Portable Nietzsche by Frederich Nietzsche
In honour of Hailey Bieber, this summer I’m performatively pretending to read The Portable Nietzsche by Frederich Nietzsche on the tube. I might even bring a pink highlighter for the ride, to occasionally highlight random sentences just to really make sure everyone’s definitely fooled. Little do they know, I’m actually just eavesdropping on the argument the couple opposite me are having. Mwahaha.

– Dora DB

What I’m actually reading: This Is Memorial Device by David Keenan
I was recommended this by a friend who said I’d love it which instantly made me cautious…When I was given it, the first thing I saw was a Kim Gordon quote on the front cover which reads: “I wanted to live in this book”. I was sold. The book is about a Scottish muso devotee who’s obsessed with a local band. It’s filled with angst, love and yearning – for people, music and meaning. Dry and hallucinatory. I highly recommend.

What I’m pretending to read: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
I got it a couple months ago and despite it being a short story, I keep putting it off. I have listened to a podcast on it though, so maybe I don’t need to actually read it. 

– David Spence

What I’m actually reading: Radio: A True Love Story by Libby Purves
Like any Boomer in a Millennial’s body, I adore the radio. Not podcasts, the actual radio, specifically BBC Radio 4; where amazing things you’ve never ordinarily choose to listen to are thrust upon you (though I draw the line at The Archers omnibus). When it comes to radio, Libby Purves has seen it all, from both sides of the mic. It’s part memoir, part romance novel, part history of over a century of radio.

What I’m pretending to read: Bassoon Technique by Archie Camden
As a lapsed bassoonist, I’ve been ‘reading’ this for about a decade. Archie doesn’t fuck around; this book is straight to the point. If you’ve picked up bad habits, Archie will blast them out of you. 

– Harriet Lloyd-Smith

What I’m actually reading: Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin
Scaffolding is the perfect summer read. It was recommended by a friend in the wake of her reading Anaïs Nin’s infamous journals…Need I say any more? Elkin sets this heady novel in one Parisian apartment in which the experiences of couples, living 50 years apart, intertwine. PS. The character Clémentine is an Art Historian (and radical feminist) with some great takes… 

What I’m pretending to read: Angol Magyar számítástechnikai szótár (Hungarian Dictionary)
I’ve been in a stand off with this little Hungarian dictionary since I visited the homeland two years ago. My last name (it’s giving Johnny English) is a shameful reminder of the language I should be fluent in. Alas. Vajon valaha megtanulok Magyarul (will I ever learn)?

– Livia Magyar

Actually reading: Electroboy by Andy Berhman
Where to start. This memoir has everything. It’s fast, it’s dangerous and impossible to put down. A brilliant portrait of manic depression, written without glamorisation and always personal. Follow Andy as he ends up fighting a conviction for fraud against “artist” (if we can call him that) Mark Kostabi. Andy’s memoir traverses through the ’90s New York underbelly. Sex, Drugs and…most importantly…art. 

What I’m pretending to read: America by Jean Baudrillard
Well, it’s technically research for a project but I’d be lying if I said I was flying through it. No fault of the authors. Most definitely mine. It was written by Jean Baudrillard who was described by J.G Ballard as “the most important French thinker of the past twenty years”… As I said, it’s definitely me!

– Finn Constantine

What I’m actually Reading: Severance by Ling Ma
Take some brand strategists, property lawyers and personal finance consultants and fling them into a zombie apocalypse! This book follows the story of a woman who hates her NYC office job (managing the overseas production of Bibles), as a new infection destroys civilisation. Instead of the virus turning people into the flesh-eating undead à la 28 Days Later, it compels the infected to mindlessly repeat their old routines unconsciously.

What I’m pretending to Read: Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
I really wanted to read this book but tragically got the French translation instead. It’s probably a good book but I don’t really know what’s going on. I just wanted some language practice before my hols! Buying the English version feels like giving up so it’ll be a performative tube read until I can admit I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. 

– Emma Ralph