Summer Reading List

Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer. The hot summer days are perfect for putting your feet up and soaking in some great stories. This is a list of books I think would make some great summer reads. Some are old, some are new. Some I’ve read, some I plan to read. Hope you find a great read. If you find a great book not shared on this list, please post it in the comments. I am always hungry for recommendations.

Middle Grade

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning, by Danette Haworth. If I ever heard a book mentioned more often in my critique group, this is the one. I’d love to spend some time enjoying fish fries and brain freezes with Violet Raines while she learns about growing up and peer pressure.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger – This book was universally liked by my critique group book club and all three of my kids. You don’t have to be a Star Wars geek to enjoy it.

The Schwa Was Here, by Neal Shusterman – If you think you are overlooked, the teachers don’t even notice the Schwa, until Antsy discovers him and does some experiments to see just how invisible this kid is. I was in a child/parent book club and read this book twice. It was still fun the second time around. Kids love it.

Destiny, Rewritten, by Kathryn Fitzmaurice – A little girl named after Emily Dickinson who doesn’t like poetry is destined to be a poet. The premise of this book is enough to draw me in. I read the author’s debut, “The Year the Swallows Came Early” and was charmed by her storytelling. Can’t wait to read her newest novel.

Young Adult

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer – Cinder is a cyborg. This isn’t my style of read, but its popularity makes it interesting enough to check it out. The last time I wanted to see what the fuss was about, I read the Hunger Games. Fun fact: this book was written during National Novel Writing Month.

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater – This is another case of checking out what the buzz is all about. I hear great things about this author.

Private Peaceful, by Michael Morpurgo – This is a period novel about WWI and a boy on the front lines. I chose this because my teen stayed home from a party to read this book. He likes to read, but he usually likes to socialize more. This one has to be good.

Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere is where 15 year old Liz Hall ends up after she dies. Here, she will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn 16, not 14 again. Now that she is dead, she is forced to live a live she doesn’t want with a grandmother she just met.

Adult Fiction

The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach - If you haven’t read it yet, this would be a great summer read. What is better in summer than a story about baseball? It has resonance to “A Prayer for Owen Meany” in some scenarios, others are more modern. Oh, and it is set at a fictitious college in Wisconsin. That makes it special. 

Room, by Emma Donoghue - This is an old one, but I decided to add it in case someone hasn’t read it yet. It is written from the point of view of a child born to a woman being held captive in an 11x11 room. I read this book ages ago, but it lingers in my mind constantly, especially with high profile media cases about women in captivity.

Bared to You, by Sylvia Day – If you loved Fifty Shades of Grey last summer, this one is said to be a great beginning to a series like that. Hmmm, I seem to have something HOT on my mind this summer.

Nanny Returns, by Emma McLaughlin – Remember the buzz of The Nanny Diaries? She is back!

The Paris Wife, Paula McLain – Get away to Paris in the roaring 20s in this tale of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife.