Summer Reading 2013

Hello, all, how is Tuesday treating you? We had the welcome surprise of a little rain shower after lunch, very much appreciated.

I thought today might be a good time to offer a few suggestions for summer reading, so here goes.

There are plenty for children and teens. Here are some golden oldies:

 

Magic by the Lake is by Edward Eager of Half Magic fame. Lots of fun adventures for the children spending the summer in a cabin fifty miles from home.

 

Beany and the Beckoning Road is a great road trip novel by Lenora Mattingly Weber about Beany and other members of the unruly Malone family, with a hint of mystery.

Part of The Dark is Rising series, magic on holiday in Cornwall.

Summer fun in the 1950s with Fripsey Summer by Mayde Lee Chastain. 

 

Second in the series following The House at World's End finds the Fielding children largely on their own, trying to avoid meddling grownups and having adventures with animals.

There's non-fiction too, like:

 

part of the Crosswicks Journals by the by the celebrated author of A Wrinkle in Time

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I love this book. It is about the experiences of a woman with five children. After she was widowed in 1926 she spent the summers with them on a boat exploring the wild coast of British Columbia.

 

Of course, we have to eat year round, and what better place to glean ideas than from Louise Andrews Kent in Vermont? If you aren't familiar with her Mrs. Appleyard books, you're in for a treat.

These are all perfectly fine, but most people think about fiction during the summer, so here are a few titles to think about.

 

I'm reading this right now, set in the South Carolina Low Country, plenty of good escapist fodder here.

If you're more interested in distant parts you might try:

 

Some families always go on holiday together, but this particular summer there are complications galore.

Also British, but set in the period before WWII, this is a comedy of manners which no one does better than Angela Thirkell.

Beverley Nichols was a writer who wrote several books about his home and gardens at Merry Hall, as well as the other residents of the village and his animals, a special delight for gardeners.

 

Summer in Provence for Anna and her teenage children with the complications of a marriage gone wrong back in the UK and a captivating stranger brought to visit by her brother.

Three sisters open a bed and breakfast in Nantucket. 

An affluent wife finds new direction and meaning when she spends the summer with two old Quaker sisters and an acerbic nun.

I loved Nancy Clark's first book, The Hills at Home, and this one is every bit as good. You won't want it to end and be forced to leave the Hills after this tumultuous summer. 

Do you have a particular author or genre you gravitate towards reading during the summer months, or re-read old favorites? 

Till next time,

Michele