Whether you're able to make it somewhere near the ocean, or you're simply lounging in PJs under a blanket in the air conditioning, reading a page-turning book is one of the many fun activities people can enjoy this summer.
From mysteries you can toss in a canvas tote to young adult favorites, KDL's Programming Specialist, Amber Elder, shares some books to pick up and read this summer.
- Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca: A light, fun summer read in which an attorney ditches the pressures of her job and family and joins a traveling Renaissance Faire for the summer, finding love and figuring out what actually makes her happy, starting by chucking her phone in a tub of water and being forced off the grid for the summer as a result. This is book four in a loosely connected series; you don't have to read the other books, and it is my favorite of the four
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: a slim novel in a world where robots once existed to serve humans before they put down their tools and left for the wilderness centuries ago, never to be seen again. A monk who serves tea and helps others work through their woes is wondering whether their life is fulfilling when a robot appears asking what people need. The journey they embark on together is a soft, comforting glimpse into a gentle world.
- The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell: a murder mystery meets a Great British Baking Show style competition show, as each chapter explores the different contestants as well as the hosts, their reasons for being on the show, the crumbling mansion they are filming in, and how all of these led to murder.
- The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix: a teen fantasy novel set in 1980s Britain, in which the supernatural is very close to our regular world. When a young woman goes to London to attend art school and learn more about the father she never met, she finds herself unexpectedly part of the supernatural world, which includes magic, ancient powers, supernatural creatures, and the booksellers who are tasked with keeping order.
- Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson: On a hot, hazy, boring summer in 1996, two teens entertain themselves by making an art poster—something that makes them feel, something that is weird, and something that they anonymously and widely distribute. It is the weirdness and the anonymity, though, that causes problems, as their small town panics in response to this unknown, and things quickly spiral wildly out of control.
- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett: this book isn't out until August so I haven't read it yet, but I am so excited for it and borrowed a copy from our collection services department just so I could bring it with me tomorrow. Three adult daughters return home to their parent's cherry farm in northern Michigan during the summer of 2020, and as adults, they are finally interested in hearing their mother's stories, including her summer romance with a man who would become a wildly popular movie star. As their mother's story unfolds, the daughters reexamine their relationships with each other and their mom and reconsider how their own lives, choices, and the world that they know unfold.
Discover all of these books and more at kdl.org.
