summer reading
This summer, one of my goals is to read more. Like a lot more. On quilts in the backyard. With glasses of pink lemonade and happy straws. And I want to read more books for pleasure along with a few books that fall under my "I'll use this for teaching and other business things" category too.
And then I thought of you and how you might be longing to read some new things too (both for pleasure and for "education") and thought it might be fun to compile a HUGE list of books we'd recommend to others for summer reading.
how to play along
In the comments: Share a book or two that you really recommend. Meaning you loved it! Meaning you would tell your best friend to ger her hands on it right now! Meaning you couldn't put it down and carried it around for days (or didn't move until you finished it).
Then in early June, I'll create a blog post with a big long reference list of recommended summer reading that we can all turn to again and again this summer (even on our phones when we are browsing the library or in the bookstore). Can't wait!
Updated: I'm so excited about all the suggestions already!!!! When you leave a comment, it would be great if you would include the author and maybe even the general genre of you book, so the big list can include those details. For example, teen lit, sci-fi, self-help, poetry, and so on. Thank you!
liz lamoreux
Reader Comments (73)
Such a great idea ! Can't wait to see the list.
So one book that really got me in in the past few months was «Mrs Peregrine's home for peculiar children» by Ransom Riggs, it's a YA novel but I usually love that genre.
Another one I want my daughters to read once they'll be pre-teens/teens is «13 reasons why» by Jay Asher.
The Proper Order of Things by Tara Benwell! Not a terribly well-known book, but a great one nonetheless!
There are 2 that I throughly enjoyed and fit in this category of "cannot put it down"….
40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
Many Lives Many Masters by Brian Weiss
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb This is a fiction book but has some many lessons. It's my all time favorite.
The Drifters by James A. Michener is probably my favorite book of all time. It follows 6 young characters from different walks of life who all meet and end up traveling together through Spain, Africa, and Morocco among other places. It deals with the culture surrounding the Vietnam War and the conflicts of near adulthood convictions and tragedy.
Secondly, anything by JD Salinger. He's my favorite author, and if you liked Cather in the Rye, you won't be disappointed with his other works. Raise High the Roof Beams Carpenters and Seymore: An Introduction, Franny and Zooey, and his collections of short stories, titled Nine Stories, all deal in some way with different members of a family only Salinger could've concocted.
Ugh, there are so many books I want to share. But for time's sake here is two of my many favorites.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and For one more day by Mitch Albom
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali was excellent! Also, Small Island by Andrea Levy; Kindred by Octavia Butler; Half A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; The Grace of Silence by Michele Norris; Homemade Love or A Piece of Mine by J. California Cooper.
My Favorite Murder Mysteries: Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear, Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood, Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo, Deborah Knott series by Margaret Maron, Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny
Laugh Until you Cry: memoirs by Jen Lancaster, Laurie Notaro and Jennifer Lawson (stick with the memoirs, not the fiction)
Teaching Reading: Mosaic of Thought by Keene and Zimmerman, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - a novel set in Alaska. It is so atmospheric that all your daily cares are forgotten and you have to read and read. PLEASE read it :-)
Nearer than the Sky, Breathing Water and the Hungry Season all by T. Greenwood. I would also add, This I Know by Susannah Conway. And finally maybe not summer reading but Clean Food by Terry Walters. I get that book for almost everyone I know.
I have been a reader of yours for many, many years, but I don't think I've commented before. But if I see a discussion on books, then I must jump in. I have 3 suggestions of books I adore (and will re-read again and again!):
1. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold - a brave and (for the time) revolutionary look at man's place in the ecology of the world. A beautifully-written, heart-rending look at what we do to the world around us and how we could (and should) do it diffferently.
2. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. I studied this on my English Lit. degree and adore it. I find that the author manages to write people and their lives and mistakes and loves and trivialities better than any I've read.
3. Poetry. A really good anthology of it is by my side at all times. I recommend the weighty (but exceptionally put-together) Norton Anthology of Poetry Vol 5. It is, again, what we used at university and has collections from Beowulf to Larkin and everything in between. It goes with me whenever I go away because I find poetry one of the most affecting things to read. It changes me when I read poetry.
YA Paranormal: Angelfall by Susan Ee
Adult Urban Fantasy: Written in Red by Anne Bishop.
Both of these books took me by surprise by how great they are. Unputdownable :) Dying for the sequels!
I love this project!
Tan Twan Eng "The garden of the evening mists" - Canongate Books. The second novel by malaysian Tan Twang Eng. Beautifully written, a novel on art, love, war and gardens, set in Malaya in the 1950's, during the emergency. Tea plantations, mountains, war camps, japanese gardens... the characters are complex, human and so well depicted that reading the book was like living there with them.
Philip Pullman's trilogy "His dark Materials" : Northern lights - The Subtle knife - The Amber Spyglass, Scholastic and other various editions (the movie The Golden Compass was based on the first volume): a novel that to me ranks high up there with Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and C.S. Lewis "Cosmic trilogy" - an all age book, from early teens to late nineties, it's adventure, fantasy, about coming of age and fighting for a cause, with very interesting underlying theories on our world(s) and universe(s). Just a warning: this is not one for religious fundamentalists.
I love mysteries for a light summer read (and I love a series). I loved Louise Penny and Julia Spencer-Fleming (the last one was not my favorite, but she has a new one coming out soon).
Erica Bauermeister: Joy for Beginners, School of Essential Ingredients, Lost Art of Mixing (loved all of these, but wished I had spaced out the reading a little bit)
Somebody else suggested Mary Oliver who I love.
For writer-mama's Kate Hopper's Use Your Words is fabulous
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse was wonderful (YA about the dustbowl—I read it after The Worst Hard Time)
Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior and Prodigal Summer is always good for a summer reread
An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer (took me a little while to get into it, but glad I stuck with it)
State of Wonder by Anne Patchett
Grow Cook Eat—gardening/cook book, pretty pictures, good recipes
Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne. This book is an affirmation for gentle parenting and reminded me to take better care of myself too. 5 stars!
Blind Obsession - Ella Frank ... erotic and hauntingly beautiful at the same time
I just finished Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple and loved it. I thought it was just going to be a light-hearted read to make me laugh, which it did, but it was so much more. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.
I LOVE reading lists. I've already filled my library hold slots with everybody's suggestions.
Here are mine:
Memoir:
Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment by Katrina Kenison. (You can't go wrong with her Mitten Strings for God or Gift of an Ordinary Day either!)
She Got Up Off the Couch and Other Heroic Acts from Moreland Indiana by Haven Kimmel
Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist
YA Fiction:
Small Damages and The Heart is Not a Size by Beth Kephart
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Fiction:
Bess Crawford mysteries by Charles Todd (set in WWI about an nurse in England and France)
Jennifer Niven's series beginning with Velva Jean Learns to Drive-- begins in pre-WWII Appalachia-- could not put them down-- three in the series so far. Velva Jean captured my heart completely.
The Art Forger by BA Shapiro
The Secret Keeper (and really anything else by Kate Morton)
Mrs/ Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn
Admission by Jean Haniff Korelitz
Shelter by Frances Greenslade
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
And for a generous-hearted guide to get the words flowing: Writing Poetry from the Inside Out: finding your voice through the craft of poetry by Sandford Lyne
I finished reading "the Night Circus" a few months ago and I just loved it, it was truly magical! just the perfect balance, Now I want to read Brene's book "Daring greatly" for the summer, but I am always more drawn to fiction than non-fiction. We'll see. Can't wait to see the list we compile here
Genius. The 2 I loved from last summer were Wild Comfort by Kathleen Dean Moore and Fire Season by Philip Connors. Both are philosophical autobiographies.
If you haven't read them already:
Looking for Alaska: John Green - YA Novel, but adult themes and exploration on what it is to grow up.
The Art of Racing in the Rain: Garth Stein - Fiction
Both will tug at your heart strings and completely worth finishing. Refreshing tales told from interesting perspectives and dynamic characters.
Since I am from Sweden I would like to recommend a book written by a Swede; The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared: I laughed my way through this book. I hope you will enjoy!
The Inheritance Cycle : Christopher Paolini : Fantacy: Teen
I would recommend reading everything by Charles De Lint. to dip into his work, try the short stories. Two of his short story collections are "Moonlight & Vines" & "Muse & Reverie." [urban fantasy.]
Also, a true classic, "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series by Douglas Adams. [comedic sci-fi]
what a GREAT idea. just finished reading the obituary writer-- loved it. recently listened to cutting for stone-- great book & narration.