Fishin’ for Summer 2024 Books to Read?

Zócalo’s Friends and Contributors Have Reeled in Some Fresh Nonfiction for You

A man helps a young girl with her fishing pole, which currently has a large book at the end of the hook.

Once again, Zócalo has cast our net wide, asking friends and contributors to take part in a beloved Public Square tradition: our annual compilation of nonfiction book recommendations for summer. This list eschews the expected beach reads, instead trawling deep waters for stories that lure us to new places, surprise us with fresh perspectives, and catch hold of our imaginations.

The 13 books that made the 2024 Zócalo Summer Reading List all make for excellent bookworm bait. They show us what goes into building cities, and what goes into building the …

June 26, 2024

A hand holds a polaroid picture of Vancouver, which looks bright with green hills and mountains. Behind the polaroid, the rest of the Vancouver landscape is visible. It is darker, with the city and mountains lit in orange and red.

An Elegy for Vancouver Summer

Rising Temperatures and Raging Wildfires Have Me Dreading My Favorite Season—And Mourning the Splendid Days of My Childhood

by Paloma Pacheco | June 20, 2024

Last summer was my first in my new apartment. I’d moved into the building in the fall, several weeks into a cool Vancouver November. The trees were bare, and our …

Will SoCal’s Barbie Doll or NorCal’s Bobby Oppenheimer Destroy the World First?

Forget the Big Box Office War of Summer 2023. Barbenheimer Is a Tale of Two Competing California Apocalypses

by Joe Mathews | August 15, 2023

Which region is the greater threat to humanity: Northern California or Southern California?

That’s the most urgent question raised by 2023’s great cinematic contest between Oppenheimer and Barbie.

Sure, these are entertaining …

Zócalo’s 2023 Summer Reading List Delivers Much-Needed R&R

Your Season of Rest and Reads Is Here, Courtesy of Our Friends and Contributors

June 5, 2023

This summer, we could all use a little R&R—rest and reads, that is. And while Zócalo can’t help you with the first part (though if we could send a beach …

| Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Hot Girl Summer Is a Utopian Notion

We’ll Never Reach Its Coconut-Scented Siren Call, But That Shouldn’t Stop Us From Trying

by Jackie Mansky | September 9, 2022

Here in Southern California, the Santa Ana winds are blowing, summoning us back to school, back to our routines, back to our lives.

The potential that once hung so heady in …

Could Your Vacation Change the World?

Tourism Has the Power to Shape Politics, at Home and Abroad

by Christopher Endy | August 15, 2022

As the United States sends stockpiles of weapons to Ukraine, another transatlantic mobilization is underway. Freed from two years of COVID restrictions and testing requirements, Americans are once again traveling …

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