'Ice Cream Books' is your delicious Instagram for summer reading

If this is what summer reading looks like, sign us up.
 By 
MJ Franklin
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If this is what summer reading looks like, sign us up.

Instagram account Ice Cream Books has a new way to get you to read this summer -- by pairing book recommendations with ice cream and then letting the desserts get all melty. 

"In the summertime, the two best things in the world are ice cream and books," Ice Cream Books told Mashable. "Why not have them together."


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The users behind the account, who happily answered our questions, said they preferred to remain anonymous, offering only "We are enthusiasts of great reads and delicious desserts" by way of introduction.


The project is more than just a way to reimagine summer treats. Each photo also offers readers a tasty sneak peek into the featured book.

"Each pairing has some sort of connection, some more direct than others," explains Ice Cream Books. "For example: Gerrard Conley’s Boy Erased, a memoir about surviving a conversion therapy program that promised to 'cure' him of homosexuality, is paired with a cone of 'Salty Pimp,' from New York’s Big Gay Ice Cream Shop; Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies, a novel of a marriage told from two perspectives, is paired with a banana split; and Errol Morris’ Believing Is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography is paired with two scoops, one Mint Chocolate Chip and one Pistachio."


And in case you were wondering, yes, that's real ice cream in each photo.

"It is real ice cream on real books," they said shamelessly. "Book jackets and covers are surprisingly ice cream resistant."


You can check out more of Ice Cream Books' work here. And if you were looking for books to start your own summer reading, Ice Cream Books has some book recommendations.

"So far we have loved Mark Beauregard’s The Whale: A Love Story, Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers, and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing," they said. "But whatever you read this summer, make sure you enjoy it with a nice scoop of your favorite ice cream!" 

That is the best recommendation we have ever heard. 

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.


Topics Books

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MJ Franklin

MJ Franklin was an Assistant Editor at Mashable and a host of the MashReads Podcast.

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