Summer Reading List

I’m a reading addict.  It’s an affliction that became evident early in my life (I spent virtually all of my childhood summers camped on the couch for hoooooooours with a three-foot stack of library books beside me) and has culminated in the inevitable career of English teacher, in which I scrape out words, chapters, and imaginary worlds like lines of crack trying to addict a new generation of readers.

My friend Kara, a fellow reading-addict, is cruel.  She sent me a text that caused me to lose sleep:

I was totally super duper helpful in narrowing her selection to 7 options.  7 out of 8.  Because I love all those books (except for one I haven’t read), and it’s just cruel to ask–like picking a favorite child.  They’re all favorites all the time for all different reasons.    We’re in the weeds together, Kara and I.  #bookaddictproblems

Something about the long light of summer days makes me want to expand, not shrink, my reading list.  While I miss the coffee-blanket-snowstorm-fireplace reading moments of winter, my reading capacity truly blooms in the sun-sand-napping-grass stains-sweating-sunset months.

I won’t play favorites, but I will share some kid and grown-up favorite books we’ve discovered this year.  I’ll also give you a peek at my “to-read” stack for the summer.  Can I ask you to return the favor?  Because if you’re a fellow reader, you know there’s no such thing as a stack of books high enough.  The addiction is ravenous and must be fed.

8 Children’s Favorites

• The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
• I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• One Red Dot by David A. Carter
• Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
• The Animal Family by Randell Jarrell
• Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
• Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins
• Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer

THE best list for children’s book recommendations is Dinner, A Love Story’s 121 Books.  One book at a time, I’m collecting all 121 books to create a childhood library of favorites for my girls.

8 of the Best Books I’ve Read Recently

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
• Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
• Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel
• Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kid by Kara E. Powell

8 Books I’m Reading Now

• South of Broad by Pat Conroy
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
• Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood by Jim Fay and Charles Fay
• Tinker Lab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors by Rachelle Doorley
• Artful Parent by Jean Van’t Hul
• Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood by Jamie C. Martin
• Savor by Shauna Niequist

8 Books to Read in Summer 2015

• Date Night In by Ashley Rodriguez
• Salt: A World History by Nayyirah Waheed
• Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
• Midnight in Peking by Paul French
• Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
• The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
• For the Love by Jen Hatmaker