Every summer I optimistically set out to read more. When I was a kid, I excelled at reading. My parents proudly saved my giant bookworm chains from elementary school and I always had way too many coupons for Pizza Hut personal pan pizzas (the reward for reading x number of books at the time). But now with the internet, I find myself reading less and endlessly scrolling more and more. When the internet (and life) begin to feel overwhelming, I would always choose a book to escape into. 

Saying "misters" feels a little strange, but in order to be fair, I just had to create a gift guide for the guys in our lives. Brothers, friends with great taste, or, if you're lucky, a boyfriend or husband. They deserve a little bit of high quality love too especially when it comes to things they may not even realize exist. Let's face it, some of them aren't known for their quality choices, right? This guide is filled with some interesting, unique, and thoughtful gifts. I mean, who else is going to enjoy a chocolate salami or a meat subscription box service? What I've learned in life are boys are pretty complex, but there's a few universal interests.

Design is completely and utterly fascinating to me for so many reasons. So many reasons I think no one wants to hear on this blog (it would be the longest, most boring blog post ever). Mainly that I admire anyone who can look at an object and see something that can be made different about it. My favorite design books encompass quite a few subjects including industrial design and graphic design. There's something about the ideology of what makes certain products, designs, or brands stick and others fade away that I find very intriguing. I love that there are 6,000 unique ways to redesign objects but still make them functional. I mean how many designs for chairs have you seen in life?

Every summer there's a thousand summer reading lists where people tell us what we should be reading. Everything from the hottest fiction book (which is apparently Rich People Problems) to those books that are supposed to make our lives better. I mentioned in my summer bucket list my intention to read 3 New York Times Best Sellers so, of course, that meant making a list of books I want to read. Here we are, it's nearly August, and I have yet to finish one. See, my intentions were good, but I have to try harder to accomplish this. Below you'll find some of the books I still plan to shove into what's left of my summer vacation.