Walking into a cool library on a hot summer day is like stepping back in time. I often took my two young daughters when it was too hot to go to the pool or maybe it was raining. We went to children’s storytime hour every once in a while, but mostly I took them on the spur of the moment and they played with the puppets after choosing the books with the best covers to take home. I’d browse a little longer in the children’s section – until moods started degenerating. Most likely we’d struggle through checkout while I tried to keep one daughter from harming the other. Happy days!
I never remember making it to the adult section – but I’ve got time for it now. I asked several girlfriends to think back on summer reads they’ve enjoyed in years past, and here’s what we came up with for ten fantastic summer reads available at your local library.
2. Ken Follett, Edge of Eternity (2014), “which I LOVED!” exclaims Daphne Butler. Weighing in at 1,100 pages, the final installment of his Century Trilogy is a commitment. If you like a broad, sweeping historical novel, try this – but you might even start at the beginning, with Fall of Giants. The trilogy covers global events from 1961 to 1989 through the interlinked stories of characters on both sides of the Atlantic.
3. Graham Joyce, Smoking Poppy (2005). Monica McDougall tells me that “this cerebral summer read rewards greatly! A father traveling to Thailand to save his drug addled daughter from the culture she now loves. Joyce weaves hallucinations and reality brilliantly.”
5. Lisa Miller, The Spiritual Child (2015). Speaking of parenting decisions, Daphne Butler is crazy about this recent read, “an outstanding book on the importance of incorporating spirituality into parenting. Sounds drab but I read a review in The Economist on it and it’s fab!”
6. Sena Jeter Naslund, Ahab’s Wife (2005). Karlen Garrard calls this “an imaginatively written tale of a certain whaler’s wife that reads like poetry. But don’t worry, you don’t have to reread Moby Dick to enjoy this book.”
8. Margaret Atwood, the Oryx and Crake series (2004 and beyond). Oryx and Crake was on the leading edge of the dystopian craze, and it remains in my mind the one to beat. I also agree with Caroline Shockley: “I love a good series for the summer so that I don’t have to think about what to read next!”
9. Lev Grossman, The Magicians Trilogy (2009 and beyond). If you ever wished that Narnia or Hogwarts were real, try this fantasy series for grownups. I’ve just finished the last book, The Magicians Land, and I could cry that it’s over.
After I finished this novel, I read everything else Egan had ever written. Enough said.
The Secret History has long been one of my favorite books, albeit strange. So glad to find others who found it so engaging!
I have got to pick up The Secret History! Thank you for giving me another reason to! xo
Her second book, The Little Friend, is also very good. It’s actually my favorite. It’s a sad story, but there’s a lot of humor in her character descriptions. Growing up in the South, I can totally relate to the older Aunts. And the end of the book is a real page-turner!
Oh goodness, it sounds like I need to add The Little Friend to my stack as well! If you don’t see any posts on Bacon for a 2 or 3 week stretch, you’ll know what I’m doing!! Thank you so much for this recommendation. xo