15 Summer Reads for Our Vacation

Fifteen of our favorites for our summer hiatus.

By Ed Simon

We’re now more than a whole week past the longest day of the year. Grills are about to be fired up for the Fourth of July, cars loaded with fuel, and itineraries planned out for road trips to the Sleeping Bear Dunes or the Keweenaw Peninsula, the Isle Royale National Park or Tettegouche State Park. Technically the calendar year ends in December and begins in January, but I’ve always felt like the real year’s end is in the summer, because when the days are long and there are spectacular sunsets lasting deep into the evening, I’ve always felt a natural inclination to contemplation. To taking stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

In that summertime spirit, Belt Magazine will be going on a two-month hiatus for July and August. Though the site itself might be briefly in a sleepy afternoon repose during that period, the editors be working on future visions of the site, finalizing details on the ways in which Belt will change while still honoring the work of reporting on, writing about, and imagining this incredible, diverse, and crucial region we all live in. To that end, there are some incredibly exciting developments that I’m looking forward to announcing in the weeks and months ahead in anticipation of seeing everybody in the autumn.

We’re not going to leave you hanging in the meantime, however. Even while we won’t be publishing for the next two months, I did want to curate a selection of some of my favorite pieces that we published over the past year. Some of these had massive readerships, while all of them deserved a massive readership. Some of them won awards, but all of them deserved them. Most importantly, all of them are evidence of what makes Belt so singular and indispensable. If you’ve read them before – read them again. And if some are new to you, now is your chance to give them the attention they deserve. As always, thank you for your support and reading. Looking forward to seeing everybody in September!