Midsummer Reads

It’s the middle of summer and, for me, that means lazy days with a glass of lemonade and a book. I’ve been reading a lot lately. Currently, I’m about halfway into Beneficence by Meredith Hall and am anxious to see how this moving story about a family will end. I recently read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, a historical novel set in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, and highly recommend it. 

Here’s what some other Friends’ members are reading:

• Bindy - The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan by Rick Perlstein

•  Cindy - Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins and The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

•  Ginger - Beyond Order: Twelve More Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson and Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

• Jane - Lorna Mott Comes Home by Diane Johnson

• Joanna – Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter’s Spiritual Quest to Thailand by Cindy Rasicot (BTW – Cindy is one of our guest authors for our September program, Seeking Sanctuary)

• John – The Whiteness of Wealth by Dorothy A. Brown and Plunder by Menachem Kaiser

• Lauren – The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

• Michele E. – Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom 

• Nan - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 

My book selections come from different sources such as recommendations by friends, those who attend The No Book Club, Chicago Public Library’s Staff Picks, or its recommendations when I reserve a book online. I also read book reviews and book lists in newspapers, magazines, and bookstore websites. Here are just a few sources:

• Women & Children First

• Bookends & Beginnings

• The New York Times

• Barak Obama’s summer reading list

• Good Reads

• Literary Hub – The Ultimate Summer Reading Book List

I hope you have a stack of books to read this summer … or can find some ideas in these midsummer reading suggestions.

- by Joanne Kitsos, member of Friends of the Edgewater Library