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.
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell. Middle grade historical that my kids and I found too charming for words.
Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier — one of my all-time favorites. Watch out for the deceptive cover (on the mass market paperback version) that makes it kind of look like a harlequin romance novel. 🙂
one of my favorites too! And I always have to make that cover disclaimer too 🙂
you said FUN, right?
Have you read the Flavia de Luce books?
Start with Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
Eleven year old aspiring chemist/detective Flavia is clever, wicked and VERY witty.
Who can't love a girl who names her bicycle?
Who isn't drawn to a plot that involves the dying words of a man in the cucumber patch?
LOVED this fun book–read it a few summers ago.
Oh my, yes! I second this book series! I'm all caught up, and I just love flavia!
Yes! So fun.
Well, if you are going to Spain, you MUST read a novel set in that beautiful country. I recommend The Perfume Garden, by Kate Lord Brown. You will love it!
The middle grade novel A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. It's the perfect book for word lovers. I reread it to savor the language.
This is my vote too. One of the best written children's books I have read in a couple of years. Love her writing!!!
Okay. After a bit of thought (and checking goodreads to see if you had already read this book), I'm going to suggest A Song for the Summer by Eva Ibbotson. I'm suggesting it because it is my favorite Eva Ibbotson book and because (duh) it has summer in the title.
I just started Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer and I can't put it down! It's a fun YA epistolary novel following two cousins in an alternate Georgian England where magic is part of everyday life. It's a little bit Georgette Heyer and a little bit Harry Potter!
Oh, I love this book!
Seconding Sorcery and Cecelia!
There are three books in that series, and they're all a lot of fun! Or, really, anything by Patricia C. Wrede.
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman – very engrossing and thought-provoking; wonderful writing!
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Recommendation based on your love of Richard Peck and Gary Schmidt, which are also some of my favorites:)
Idea of what it's about that is way better than what I could give:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/287315651202242602/
I loved this series! I couldn't keep it on the shelf in my libraries!
I really loved All Good Children by Catherine Austen when I read it last summer!
The Intern's Handbook by Shane Kuhn. Fun thriller!
Have you read The Night Circus yet? by Erin Morgenstern. Such a fun, whimsical read. I loved it.
Yes! I listened to it last fall (and then I happened to meet the author's sister at a random event!)
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell was a really fun read. It was quick and pretty entertaining!
Oh, this is one of my favorite books (and authors!)
Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall
I definitely recommend Ghostbread by Sonja Livingston. It's a short and captivating literary nonfiction that will keep you completely absorbed while reading and keep you thinking long after you've finished the last page. I wish more people knew about this book, it really is fascinating. To finish my pitch, I'll leave you with my favorite quote from the book: "Ideals and opportunities and social theorizing are just fine, but if you must understand only one thing, it is this: a warm hand and words whispered into the ear are what we want. Paths that can be seen and followed and walked upon are what we most need. …And in the end, the thing that feeds us, no matter how tenuous, is what we will reach for." I highly recommend it!
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
I'm currently reading this for my bookclub. I've heard a lot of good things about it.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is one of the best, most thought-provoking books I have read in a long time. I LOVED it!!!
I second this! Really different read!
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I read 3-5 books a week, so it's impressive when something stands out to me.
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and A Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall.
I love this one too!