Summer is here – blessedly cooler today than earlier this week – so the weather is perfectly perfect for diving into a good book. I’ve been dipping into plenty, though you’d never know it from the dearth of book reviews posts lately. To catch up, I’d need to write a review a day for several weeks, and that’s not gonna happen when the weather’s this nice.
Instead, today’s post will be a summer book exchange. I share my list, with a pithy comment or two, and you share your list. Then we can feel warm and fuzzy about the fabulous reads we agree upon. Of course, we may also feel hopelessly overwhelmed by the books we don’t have time to read. But I’m not going to be a Debbie Downer and mention the thought because who needs a Debbie Downer on a cool. pleasant day like today?
Anyway, here goes. Here are 10 of my recent reads – some still in progress:
- One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde – I’m 4/5 of the way through the audio version of #6 in the Thursday Next Series. It is fabulous, as good as books 1 – 4, and much easier to follow than was #5.
- The Scared Child by Barbara Brooks – Only read this book if you like to punish yourself or are researching a book on post-traumatic stress disorder in kids.
- Gentling: A Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abused Children by William E. Krill – Ditto The Scared Child.
- Clinical Work with Traumatized Young Children edited by Joy D. Osofsky – Ditto The Scared Child again, and this book proves that most social workers should not become writers.
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller – My “let’s dip into a modern classics” choice this summer. I’m about 2/3 through with it, not sure I have the fortitude to finish it, though it is funny in a MASH kind of way.
- The Ape House by Sara Gruen – Not nearly as good as Water for Elephants. If you’re short on time, don’t read this one.
- House Rules by Jodi Picoult – Awesome portrait of a teen with autism. Read it!
- Cider House Rules by John Irving – Read it because A Prayer for Owen Meany is a fave of mine. This book has the same kind of compelling, quirky, complex characters and dilemmas. But the message isn’t nearly as good.
- Doc by Mary Doria Russell – A retelling of the Doc Holliday story that shows Doc and the gang in a kindly light. The audiobook performance is superb. The book is excellent until near the end, when the author seemed to run out of steam.
- Bossypants by Tina Fey – She narrates the audio version, which made it worth my time. Not sure I would read the book otherwise.
Now, leave a comment about what you’re reading this summer and which books were worth your time. If you say it’s good, I’ll give it a whirl!
