Summertime reading. What are your favorites?

Our Hot Summer Reads are on the bookshelves and I just finished one of last year's favorites "Stillhouse Lake" by Rachel Caine. It is a "don't want to put it down" suspense and at 286 pages a
perfect size to take with you for a quick read.

What are your perfect summer read selections? Past favorite summer authors of mine include Charles Martin, Elizabeth Berg, and Kristen Hannah. Summertime vacations gave me enough time to read some of my all time favorites like "Water for Elephants" or "The Help".  Duxbury readers enjoy local authors Elin Hildebrand and Nancy Thayer whose summer themed novels fly off the shelves.

Don't forget some of the YA (young adult) series or even adolescent series for a great escape. Two different summers at my daughter's urging I read through the "Twilight" series and "The Hunger Games". When your children recommend book take them up on it, they are often great escapes. The familiar theme of people with special gifts, considered misfits in society, becoming heroes defeating "evil" is a story that resonates.  Along this theme, I just enjoyed "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs. Published in 2011 it was on the best seller list for 70 weeks. The first of a trilogy, it can be found in our YA and Adult Fiction shelves. As with all of these recommendations, the books are better than the movies. Enjoy a family summer read and end the summer with an outdoor movie night where you borrow our projector and watch the movie(s) based on the book series you read.

My perfect summer read selection has a little mystery, completely absorbs me into their characters and setting, I perhaps shed a tear, then end feeling good and wishing perhaps the story didn't have to end.

Check out our Hot Summer Fiction, Hot Summer Non-Fiction selections or my Favorite Summer Reads for suggestions. You will find variety of genres and interests based on recommendations Hot Summer Fiction and Hot Summer Non-Fiction selections.  We purchase 12 copies of each book so there is usually not a wait for favorites. We have a two NYT bestsellers:  "Born a Crime" by Trever Noah, and "There There" by Tommy Orange. 

My "go to" recommendations off the list are: for thriller/mysteries "The Good Daughter" by Karen Slaughter and "Stillhouse Lake" (mentioned above), the books that just make you feel good "One in a Million Boy" by Monica Wood, and an historical fiction "America's First Daughter" by Stephanie Dray. However, there are many more that the Duxbury library staff have enjoyed, so feel free to ask us for recommendations based on your interests. If you like non-fiction, we also have a lot of great selections. Ask us at the front desk what we've read and would recommend.

What will I read next from the new books added to the 2019 list? Stay tuned.

For more summer reading and activity ideas the library has to offer check out my previous "summer themed" blog posts.