Tell Me What to Read: Summer 2014 Edition
Last year, I asked for book recommendations for summer reading (in the spirit of my old series, Tell Me What to Read), and I picked three of them and read one a month throughout the summer.
It was fantastic.
Which means, of course, that I want to do it again this year. I would LOVE your recommendations.
Suggest something fun (although that doesn’t have to mean chick-lit – I’m up for fascinating non-fiction, memoirs, YA, middle grade, AND chick-lit), and I’ll pick three from the comments to read over the next three months of summer.
In review:
- Comment with the title of one fun book you think I should read. One title only, please, lest my brain explode.
- I’ll choose three from the list and announce them next week.
I’ll read one a month – June, July, and August. Feel free to read along. - I’ll write a review of each one here.
- Even if I hate the book, I will not hate you.
And . . . go!
Pretend to be as excited as I am.
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, unputdownable. I whipped through it in less than two days. It's such an interesting story and the narration is done in such a unique way that it's hard to explain, but just trust me, excellent novel (plus, I really want to hear your thoughts on it).
I second "Life After Life!"
Dear mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (Or Garden Spells by her if you have already read Lost Lake…) Both are perfect summer reads. – Did I break the one book rule? It's the same author! 🙂
I read Molly Wizenberg's Delancey in almost 1 sitting last week, and I really loved it. It's a great dip-in-dip-out book for summer.
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James is my favorite summer read!
Hi Janette,
I loved that book, too! I also loved her "The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen." I should check out her other books. Thanks for the reminder!
Weight by Jeanette Winterson.
I recently found your blog and started following you, so I don't know if this book will be your "thing". It is a very short story, I read it in a couple of hours, but it's not typical summer read. =)
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. I really, really enjoyed this book.
This comes with a back story….while at the library one day, I noticed that our crafty librarians had made a book display called "Save Me." Our library's policy is to remove from circulation any book that hasn't been checked out in one year and to send it to its used book store*. The librarian tried to talk me into saving "Remarkable Creatures." I was game, as it was by Tracy Chevalier, who wrote "Girl With a Pearl Earring," which I enjoyed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It's historical fiction, and the two main characters were real people. The 'remarkable creatures' are dinosaur fossils. It was a fascinating, quirky, enjoyable story.
*This isn't as harsh as it might seem. Our library is a teeny, tiny branch of a gigantic library system. It doesn't have room to shelve many books, so if a book isn't of interest, it gets shipped to the used book store (a library fundraiser). We can still get a copy of the book through the larger library system.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
I don't think you've read this book yet? It's one of my very favorite memoirs.
I just finished this book last night ~ I really enjoyed it too…..so sweet.
I love this choice too! Such a fantastic read:)
Love that book!
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer. Definitely a quick, engrossing read!
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I've read it twice, actually! Heartbreaker.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. Very long, but very good.
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Super quick read but pretty interesting. It is fantasy…not sure if that is your thing, but I loved it.
I just finished the audio version of Calling me home by Julie Kibler. I enjoyed it
Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay. A fun mix of Jane Austen and Daddy Long Legs. 🙂
Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace. Cute novel about a high school girl in small town Minnesota in early 1900s. If you haven't read it, it's a must!
One of my favorites! It's actually a series of ten books (following Betsy 6 years old – marriage) but Heaven to Betsy is her start of high school and would be a good one to start with.
I love the Betsy books!
The Betsy (/Betsy Tacy) books are all so great! (The Betsy Tacy Tib books are cute too!)
I love this because it turns into me adding lots and lots of books to my summer list and that makes me happy. Please read 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It is absolutely charming. I loved it.
This one is lovely! I'd second it 🙂
Anything by Barbara Michaels (she wrote most of her books in the 70s and 80s) is what I read when I want an entertaining story and don't want to have to expend too much brain power. Which lately is . . . all the time. Good thing I own almost all her books.
It's hard to pick a favorite, but "Here I Stay" is a good one. Romantic suspense.
Oh, and that reminds me . . . I meant to mention to you that Barbara Michaels also wrote some books in the pure Gothic tradition. Some are actually modern Gothics (meaning Gothic story elements, but modern characters and setting) but a few are actually set at the same time period as the Brontes and so forth. I thought you might like these because of your appreciation of "Edenbrooke" (which, okay, is Regency romance, but somehow the two seem related to me). One of my favorites is "Sons of the Wolf."
I know that's more than one title. I didn't mean to make your brain explode–so messy–but this was something I thought of mentioning awhile ago and I knew if I didn't do it now, I would forget.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a fun and unique series! The third (and last) in this series just came out. It's engrossing. 🙂
I second this! Such a great series.
Yes! I'm just finishing up the third book right now. The best!
I really enjoyed A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken- it's a good love story. 🙂