Summer Reading Recommendations

The following recommendations were assembled from several sources, including The New York Times "Best Books of 2006" list, www.salon.com, "Good Morning, America," and - most appreciated of all - our members. We hope you enjoy a wonderfully literary summer in 2007!

Fiction (Novels, Mysteries, Thrillers, etc.)

Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart – an exuberant comic novel about the American-educated son of the 1238^th richest man in Russia, stuck in Saint Petersburg while trying to obtain an American visa

Body of Lies by David Ignatius – spy novel about a CIA attempt to fool Iraqi terrorists into believing that their ringleader is actually a US agent

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber – in the “DaVinci Code” genre; about the search for a long-lost Shakespearean manuscript

The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud – a comedy of manners about the privileged class in Manhattan prior to 9/11

The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid – called a “grown-up version of a Nancy Drew adventure, especially designed for English majors.” The heroine, a Ph.D. with a special interest in William Wordsworth, discovers a well-preserved 19^th century murder victim in a peat bog and tries to discover whodunit

Mr. Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom – amusing mystery about an English librarian falsely accused of kidnapping

Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams – a sculptor recently diagnosed with cancer hacks into the New York Times obituary database to see what his obituary will say, and discovers some troubling discrepancies about his late wife

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl – a literary murder mystery narrated by the daughter of a charismatic professor

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini –  by the author of The Kite Runner, this book tells the story of two Afghan women married to the same abusive man

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann – a murder mystery solved by a flock of sheep (really!)

Up in Honey’s Room by Elmore Leonard – the hunt for an escaped Nazi POW in post WWII Detroit

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman – Two sisters vanish from a shopping mall in 1975; thirty years later, a disturbed woman accused of a crime claims to be one of the girls

Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy - In this well-loved author's most recent book, a highway project threatens to destroy a shrine in a small Irish town

Zemindar  by Valerie Fitzgerald - a tale of India during the British colonial period

Non-Fiction/Memoirs

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver – noted novelist’s true story of her family’s decision to spend a year growing their own food

Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America by Cullen Murphy – the many similarities between 21^st century America and the Roman Empire before its fall

The Cure for Anything Is Salt Water by Mary South – memoir of a middle-aged woman who quit her job, sold her belongings, bought a boat, and sailed from Florida to Maine

The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown - the compelling, sad story of the life of the Princess of Wales

Dog Days: Dispatches from Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz (sequel to A Dog Year) – adventures of an atypical farmer in West Hebron, New York with his border collies, donkey, and trained cow

Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman’s Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney – the journey of a woman who rows herself down the Nile in a small boat

Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr – the adventures of a young family in Rome around the time of the funeral pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls - this memoir humorously captures the author's childhood of poverty, as she was raised by neglectful, nonconformist parents

The Hive: The Honeybee and Us by Bee Wilson - the fascinating history of humans and honeybees

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson - fast-paced recounting of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin - the true story of a poor Chinese boy taken from his home to study ballet during the Cultural Revolution

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan – how what we eat affects our bodies and the planet as well

The Places In Between by Rory Stewart – adventures of a young Scottish tourist walking across Afghanistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban

Thunderstruck by Eric Larson - the follow-up to The Devil in the White City, this book juxtaposes the growing popularity of radio in the early 1900s with a fascinating murder case

Laugh a Little

"I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: 'Not good in a bed, but fine against the wall.' " - Eleanor Roosevelt

The Four Stages of Life

A. You believe in Santa Claus.    

B. You don't believe in Santa Claus.   

C. You are Santa Claus. 

D. You look like Santa Claus.