Happy Independence Day, readers! The holiday weekend is almost upon us, which means you may be planning your long weekend summer reading (or your pilgrimages to independent bookstores during your days off).
Independent bookstores around the country have put together unique and tantalizing summer reading recommendations for your reading pleasure.
Check out this photo of the tempting display at Grass Roots Books & Music in Corvallis, OR:
At my bookstore, each staff member got to choose five titles to add to our summer reading table (but we may try to sneak a few more on…). We’re compiling the list on our website, but I can’t resist sharing my five with you here, too.
Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson
For the main characters of this true story, history and scuba diving have saving powers, but these obsessions might also be their undoing. This quest for the pirate ship of badass Joseph Bannister is a follow-up to Shadow Divers, and Kurson delivers again, including some Patrick O’Brian-worthy sea battle descriptions.
The Passenger by Lisa Lutz
From the first page, you know the narrator is in deep trouble. But you’ll spend the rest of the racing pages wondering what else you– and the main character– can really trust. Great suspense– my Girl on the Train for 2016.
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Here’s rich fantasy unlike any I’ve read, with a murder mystery and governmental conflict at its core but woven through with miracles, monsters, and maybe even gods thought to be long-dead. Now I want to read the sequel, City of Blades, all in one gulp. It’s coming with me this weekend.
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Jahren, a botanist, writes with astonishing love and wonder about science, nature, and friendship. Her relationship with her lab partner, Bill, is one for the ages. The result is a memoir that is funny, sweet, wacky, and brilliant.
Hugo & Rose by Bridget Foley
Rose is deep in the “sweatpant years” raising three children, but every night, she returns to the same empowering island of adventure she’s visited since she was six years old, where she’s a heroine and she’s always with her dream friend, Hugo. Then she meets Hugo in real life. Foley’s writing zings with vivid details in both worlds and stretches reality in a most natural way. I found this absolutely delightful, and it helped me appreciate the magic of the everyday. [You may have already read this recommendation as a Face Out, but Bridget is local, her book is spectacular, and I don’t want you to miss this paperback!]
My store also loves helping our local middle school choose their required summer reading, and we’re having a blast helping customers of all ages find books for Seattle Public Library’s Book Bingo program.
What are YOU reading this summer?