Summer Reading Recommendations from Barry Jenkins, Adam McKay, Bret Easton Ellis and More

Adam McKay (Vice, Succession)

How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

I can’t imagine what would make me pick this book up. But I’m glad I did. Gives a framework and reference to these times that are almost entirely characterized by their total lack of reference and framework.

The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova

I love books that take compelling stories and amplify the reasons and science behind the choices made. Konnikova decides to become a high-stakes professional poker player — within a year. We don’t just struggle and triumph with her, we learn exactly and scientifically why we are struggling and triumphing. I couldn’t put this down.

Also read: Amy Seimetz Doesn’t Sit Still: Inside She Dies Tomorrow

Facing the Climate Emergency by Margaret Klein Salamon

We can scream about the science forever, but until we are mentally and psychologically ready to deal with the destruction of our livable atmosphere, it won’t matter. Klein Salamon is a certified psychotherapist who also happens to be one of the leaders in the climate change movement. This book should become the guide for readying ourselves for the epic challenge of all challenges: saving billions of people from global warming.

Andrew Bujalski (Support the Girls, Results, Computer Chess) 

I have lived and dreamed amongst movies for as long as I can recall. And so the books I hold dearest are the ones that do things that movies couldn’t possibly do. These three are great pleasures to read — buoyant, so you needn’t fear drowning — but deep enough for the most experienced diver…

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro

The Weil Conjectures by Karen Olsson

Caleb Hammond (MovieMaker Managing Editor)

Submission by Michel Houellebecq

French satirist Michel Houellebecq was accused of attacking Islam with this novel, but it’s clear to anyone who has actually read it (and not just followed the bizarre circumstances of its 2015 release) that contemporary French society is Houellebecq’s real target. His sense of humor is on full display, as is the trademark French existentialism that makes French art endearing at times and insufferable at others. This story posits that authoritarianism might benefit certain individuals — those without much at stake, who are willing to more or less roll with the punches — while the disenfranchised suffer. A short book, it’s a great entry point to those looking to give this forever-scowling Frenchman a shot.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

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