My Summer Reading List

here's what I'll be reading while lounging at the pool or on the patio this summer

Summer! It's here! And it's hoooot! Perfect excuse to lounge by the pool, get a little vitamin D, and immerse yourself in a good book. Here's what I'm hoping to read this summer. (Note: Descriptions borrowed from Goodreads.)

1. The Forgotten Garden - by Kate Morton

Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

2. Bright Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Autism - by Diane M. Kennedy and Rebecca S. Banks, with Temple Grandin (A work-related read for the summer.) 

Twice exceptional kids are both gifted and diagnosed with a disability--often ADHD or an Autism Spectrum Disorder--leading teachers and parents to overlook the child's talents and focus solely on his weaknesses. Too often, these children get lost in an endless cycle of chasing diagnostic labels and are never given the tools to fully realize their own potential. Bright Not Broken sheds new light on this vibrant population by identifying who twice exceptional children are and taking an unflinching look at why they're stuck. The first work to boldly examine the widespread misdiagnosis and controversies that arise from our current diagnostic system, it serves as a wake-up call for parents and professionals to question why our mental health and education systems are failing our brightest children.  

3. Hollow City - by Ransom Riggs (The first book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was so unique. Unlike any other book I have read. I have high hopes for this one.)

The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner.

4. This is Where I Leave You - by Jonathan Tropper

Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch’s dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.

5. Dad is Fat - by Jim Gaffigan (I laughed until I cried watching his Mr. Universe comedy special on Netflix. Hopefully this book is just as funny.)

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”).

6. Until I Say Goodbye - by Susan Spencer-Wendel

Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) and no longer able to walk or even to lift her arms, Susan wrote this book letter by letter on her iPhone using only her right thumb, the last finger still working. Until I Say Good-Bye is not only Susan Spencer-Wendel's unforgettable gift to her loved ones--a heartfelt record of their final experiences together--but an offering to all of us: a reminder that "every day is better when it is lived with joy."

7. East of Eden - by John Steinbeck

Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

8. The Light Between Oceans - by M.L. Stedman

Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island a half-day's boat journey from the coast of Western Australia. When a baby washes up in a rowboat, he and his young wife, Isabel, decide to raise the child as their own. The baby seems like a gift from God, and the couple's reasoning for keeping her seduces the reader into entering the waters of treacherous morality even as Tom--whose moral code withstood the horrors of World War I--begins to waver.

9. The Death Cure - by James Dashner (The first two books in The Maze Runner series were so great, easy to read, and hard to put down. I hope this one is just as good as it wraps up the trilogy.)

Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test. What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says. The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.

10. Unbroken: A WWII Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - by Laura Hillenbrand (I don't read many books based on true stories. This one came highly recommended by my Dad, and sounds thrilling.)

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

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Have you read any of these? What's on your summer reading list?