Chapters by Chelsea: We Should Never Go Outside Again

You may remember that back in the spring, I made a case for staying inside to escape what I have dubbed “The Yellow Torture.” Or, more commonly known as, “all this [insert your favorite curse word here] pollen.” Well, I am back and ready to convince you that the outdoors is really just an evil hellscape trying to make our lives miserable at every turn, and the summer season is Mother Nature’s favorite torture chamber. Look at the evidence: despite the fact that it literally feels like we are breathing in water droplets on a hot, humid day in North Carolina, it is still somehow dry enough for the threat of forest fires. Oh, what’s that? You haven’t managed to drown on the 75-degree dew point? Try to drive your car through a flooded street, I dare you.

Point is, we are all much safer inside our air-conditioned homes. With books. Here are some suggestions that might cool you down while the Devil throws a raging frat party outside.

Okay, first off. I know a number of people who say this book ~cHaNgEd tHeIr LiFe~. So hey, maybe reading this book will lead your life to a path that doesn’t involve frantically searching your Contacts list for which one of your friends has a pool. This book is about a kid being stuck on a life raft at sea for 227 days with no one but a tiger to keep him company. Honestly, I might be a little jealous of Pi and Richard Parker. Who needs a friend’s pool when you are surrounded on all sides by the literal ocean?

The world is not lacking for fish tales. My dad has some, my grandfather has more, and any local you meet from the North Carolina coast has about twenty of them ready to go at any moment. If you haven’t read the most well-known fish story of all time, I beg you to settle in with this Pulitzer Prize-winning novella. Yes, a book about fishing won a Pulitzer. Hemingway’s shortest book is a relaxing and easy read that might just teach you a lesson or two. And if you’ve checked this off the “must read” list already, why not have another go at it. This one never gets old.

This book takes place in Alaska. Enough said.

This unique romance will pull you in so hard, you’ll forget about the 100 degree heat index.

You watched the show. Now read the book. It’s even better. The book is always better.