Summer’s here, and if you’re like me, that usually means grabbing a book or two to read in the quiet moments—on the porch, between errands, maybe even in the car with the AC running. But this year, I’m not reading to check something off a list. I’m reading to rest. To let my body breathe. To hear myself think again. Books that remind you: it’s okay to slow it all the way down.
1. Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
The Nap Ministry founder reminds us that grinding is not the gospel.
2. The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck
A guide to returning to your true self—even if it means walking away from everything that isn’t aligned.
3. All About Love by bell hooks
Foundational. Revolutionary. Soft. A deep look at how love (real love) transforms everything.
4. Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Poetry for the woman who left pieces of herself behind. Call them back.
5. How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong
On community, kinship, and building lives that feel like home. No isolation, no pretense.
6. The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
For the woman sitting with grief. For the woman learning to sit at all.
7. Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
Yes, pleasure is a form of protest. Yes, joy is a form of justice.
8. What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
One woman’s memoir of trauma, healing, and reclaiming herself—tender, raw, powerful.
9. The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
A book about art that becomes a book about life. Quietly brilliant.Barnes & Noble
10. Sistah Vegan edited by A. Breeze Harper
A collection of voices that centers Black women, food justice, and the body as sacred ground.
P.S. You don’t need Audible. If you have a library card, you likely have access to apps like Libby or Hoopla. These apps let you borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free. That means someone can read these books to you while you cook, garden, drive, or rest your eyes. No hustle. Just access. Ask your local library or check your app store.
