Got Books? Pine-Richland Librarian, Patch Editor Suggest Summer Reads

The warm weather is finally here to stay (at least we think), which means it’s time to start thinking about fun summer reads.

Patch editor Jessica Sinichak has teamed up with Pine-Richland High School Librarian Lauren Super to bring you their picks to browse on the beach, or the back deck… or whenever you get a free moment.

Don’t forget to add your summer reading suggestions to the comment section below.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Super's Summer Reading Suggestions

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

After her mother's early death following a short, but painful, battle with lung cancer, former homecoming queen and small town girl Cheryl Strayed turns to heroin and adultery to ease her pain.   

When she happens upon a a brochure for the Pacific Coast Trail, Strayed embarks upon a journey that will break her body but repair her spirit.   

Love Walked In and Belong to Me by Marissa de los Santos

Somehow these two novels seem to have passed under the radar of most the women who delight in a beautifully written story of love, friendship and motherhood. If this is you, rush to your local library and pick up both!   

Love Walked In begins with the story of Cornelia Brown, an intelligent and quirky grad school dropout who spends her days whipping up culinary perfection in a Philadelphia coffee shop until 11-year-old Clare Hobbs walks through the doors and changes her life forever.    

Belong to Me picks up Cornelia's story several years later as Cornelia finds herself not-so-happily settled in suburbia.    

The prose of de los Santos is melodic and full of insight and her characters will stay with you long after you finish reading.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

I've never met an Ann Patchett novel that I didn't love, but State of Wonder remains my favorite!   

Set in the hot and sultry Amazon rainforest, a destination rarely tackled in popular fiction, State of Wonder follows a young medical researcher on an errand for her American pharmaceutical company employer as she discovers much more at the remote jungle research site than she could have ever imagined. 

Beautifully flawed characters, an exotic setting, universal themes and a surprise ending make this a must read!  

(For anyone interested, Patchett will be in Pittsburgh participating in the Drue Heinz Lecture series this season!)

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

If you have found yourself distracted while skimming through the preceding book reviews, you are not alone, and you may be interested in understanding why.

Carr pairs narrative about technologies that have changed human thinking through the ages with current neuroscience research to explain what we are losing, and gaining, as we continue to engage with the Internet.   

I appreciate that The Shallows renders the complexities of neuroscience understandable, offering a true window into how my own wandering mind functions.  

A great book for those who prefer non-fiction, or anyone who checks their iPhone like it's a batch of cookies about to burn in the oven!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

As a high school librarian, let me recommend a young adult title you may have missed after the Stephanie Meyer rise and fall that left the teen book market flooded with gag-worthy Twilight wannabes.  

Until recently, I was barely willing to lay eyes on paranormal fiction title, but the beautiful blue feathered cover of Daughter of Smoke and Bone drew me in, and I fell with abandon into the the world of young art student, Karou, and her family of mythological monsters and tortured angels.   

Karou's search for her own identity winds through the gothic streets of modern-day Prague, the bazaars of Marrakesh, and the magical underworld of the Chimera to a heart-wrenching conclusion that will leave you racing to the library for the next installment, Days of Blood and Starlight.

Jessica’s Summer Reading Suggestions

Being an avid reader usually comes with the territory of being a writer, and I'm no exception. I'm hoping to enjoy these books again, preferably by the poolside. 

Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax

Oh, how I love improvement projects—and this book has plenty of them, of the personal and the home variety.

Three very different women, Madeline, Avery and Nicole, have nothing in common, except the fact that they’re all on the brink of financial ruin after investing their life savings in a ponzi scheme.

As part of a settlement, the strangers are left co-ownership of a dilapidated beachfront mansion in Florida. The women are determined to fix up the manse, with unexpected results. Lively, light writing at its best!

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand

No one does summer better than Elin Hilderbrand. Set in picturesque Nantucket, Beautiful Day follows the Carmichaels and the Grahams as they plan a wedding to the specific wishes of the bride’s late mother. Sounds perfect, right? Expect plenty of drama and intrigue instead. After all, that’s Hilderbrand’s specialty.

Beautiful Day won’t be released until June 25, but I’m going to go out on a limb and recommend it. In all my years of reading Hilderbrand, she hasn’t had a misfire yet!

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

With The Great Gatsby currently on the big screen, this is the perfect time to get familiar with literary legend F. Scott Fitzgerald’s equally creative wife.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald peels away the some of the mystery behind the life of the boisterous (and sometimes scandalous) “original flapper,” who died in a metal institution at age 47.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

This is no typical love story. Louisa Clark takes a job as caretaker to Will Traynor, a wealthy former adventurer whose body—and spirit—was crushed in an accident, leaving him a quadriplegic. 

The bubbly Louisa sets out to show Will life is still worth living. I admit, the premise originally had me thinking this book would be too much of a downer to enjoy, but Me Before You is uplifting and fun, although I can’t promise you won’t shed a few tears.

A Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I’m a sucker for young adult fiction—at least if it’s well written. 

Following the Shadowhunters, a human race of warriors descended from angel’s blood and sworn to hunt demons, A Clockwork Princess is the third (and last) novel in Cassandra Clare’s excellent The Infernal Devices series.