Caught Reading: Cool Reads on Hot Days, July 2017

July brings hot sun, warm breezes, fireworks, barbecues and sandy beaches. As things heat up this summer, we caught you reading some cool summer reads.

Heating up the grill at Foster Beach over the Independence Day weekend, we spied several readers devouring more than just hot dogs and burgers. Underneath the shade of a tree in the grass, you were reading Look at Me, a quirky tale set in Rockford, Ill., of a model recovering after a devastating car crash. Lying on your beach blanket in the sand, you were reading The Circle, a satiric novel that explores the dangerous side of the technological world. A film adaptation of The Circle was recently released.


Up on the Gene's Sausage rooftop, taking in the cooler-by-the-lake breeze, we caught you reading A Man Called Ove, a novel about a grumpy old man and his new neighbors. (If you liked A Man Called Ove, we recommend these readalikes.)

Riding the Red Line down to a White Sox game, we caught you reading the wonderful play Fences by August Wilson. Part of Wilson's "20th Century Cycle" telling the stories of African-American life, the play depicts the struggles of a former Negro League baseball player after Major League Baseball was integrated in the 1950s. Fences was recently made into an award-winning film starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.

Lounging in the grass in between bands at Pitchfork Music Festival, we caught you reading Can't Stop, Won't Stop, a history of the hip-hop generation. At the festival's book tent, we caught you perusing The First Collection of Criticism by A Living Female Rock Critic by local author Jessica Hopper.

What else are you reading this summer, Chicago? Let us know in the comments!