One of my favorite parts of each summer is planning out my summer reading list! I’m sure that makes me a nerd, but I will happily embrace the nerd in me if it means I get to read great books. 🙂
I have decided to be a bit more intentional this year about the books that I place on My Summer Reading List. I want to have a good mixture of fiction, nonfiction, adult, and young adult books. Because I am a middle school reading teacher, I try to read quite a bit of young adult literature so that I can make recommendations to my students. However, I also just really love young adult lit! If you haven’t read any recently, you might give it a try! Some of the best literature out there right now is being written for teens.
My 2016 Summer Reading List
Spiritual Books
Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination by Vigen Guorian
This book combines all of my passions: children’s literature, teaching, parenting, and Orthodoxy. It is also written by my husband’s adviser and mentor, so it is a must-read this summer!
Guide for the Domestic Church by Diocese of Newton
Guide for the Domestic Church is listed as a “how-to manual” of sorts for creating an Orthodox home. Since that is precisely the type of writing that I do here on the blog (as well as in an upcoming e-book!), I wanted to be sure to check it out.
Nonfiction Books
Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth
I haven’t watched the television series yet, but my husband and I are in search of another good series since Downton Abbey ended. I’ve heard good things about both the book and the television series, so I thought I would try out the book this summer.
My Life in France by Julia Child
I feel a little embarrassed mentioning this, but I am sort of a Francophile–especially when it comes to cooking, fashion, and parenting. I seriously haven’t met a book about French cuisine, parenting styles, or fashion tips that I didn’t enjoy. Plus, I enjoyed watching the movie Julie and Julia, so I thought this book was a natural fit!
Adult Fiction
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle came highly recommended by Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy as a book you can read in a day and think about for weeks afterward. It looks deliciously creepy as well. I have only read Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” and am excited to sample more of her work.
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Sophie Kinsella’s books are my definition of a “beach read”–light, funny, easy-to-read, and entertaining. I read Twenties Girl last year and really enjoyed it. I look forward to devouring this romantic comedy on our vacation in July.
Young Adult Fiction
All of the books on my young adult fiction list are from the 2016-2017 Virginia Reader’s Choice books. Our school encourages students to read these books in order to have discussions, build common experiences, and be introduced to great literature. I read all of them so that I can do the same.
The Thickety: A Path Begins by J.A. White
The first in a series that combines magic, an enchanted forest, brave and talented children, and a question–The Thickety has all of the elements of a classic fantasy with a modern twist. Since I could happily read young adult fantasies for hours at a time, I am really excited about this one!
Fort by Cynthia DeFelice
Fort looks like a book that my middle school boys will love. The story centers around two boys who play in the woods and build a fort one summer, take on some bullies, and learn a bit about friendship.
Brotherhood by A.B. Westrick
Set in Richmond, Virginia during the Reconstruction, Brotherhood tells the story of two brothers, their relationship, and their struggle to find their place in the new South. Highlighting racial tension and the beginnings of the Ku Klux Klan, this coming-of-age novel looks like a powerful story for both kids and adults.
So, there is my list for 2016. What books are on yours?
What books are you excited about reading this summer?
(Linked to Quick Lit.)
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Call the Midwife was SO good…maybe they have changed the format? I read them a few years ago, and there were three in the series. I read them all, and savored them to the very last word…a lot of history, devastation, and hope.
I love Sophie Kinsella. Have you read any of Hester Browne’s books. The Little Lady Agency series is funny. Her style reminds me of Kinsella’s style. Browne’s newest book is on my summer list.
One more. Have you read The Lunar Chronicles? First book is Cinder, I found the fractured fairy tale/sci fi/dystopian mash up fascinating.
I love reading your lists! Do you follow the Read Aloud Revival? It’s SO good!
Sarah, you are a woman after my own heart! I loved the Lunar Chronicles and have been recommending them to my students. I will need to check out The Little Lady Agency series–is it a mystery series? Thank you for the recommendations!
No, the Hester Browne books aren’t mysteries. The main character opens an agency to help all of her bachelor friends manage their lives by helping them shop and decorate. I love how classy it is. I started reading it thinking it was a mystery or something, and I’m glad I didn’t read the description. I may have gone past it without giving it a chance thinking it was something else. She is funny and astute about everyone’s life but her own. I thought it was well done for its genre…definitely a breezy beach read. 🙂
Thanks for the clarification. The books sound really fun!
Oh, I loved Call the Midwife! Both the book series and the show. The first book is my favorite but all three were an intriguing look into English history. I’m working my way through the hundreds of books on my Kindle this summer. That’s my reading goal. To put a dent in those! Ha.
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed them! I am really hoping the series will be a fun one for my husband and I to watch together. One of our favorite in-home date nights is watching a show like Downton Abbey or The Astronaut Wives Club and making up our own cheese and charcuterie tray. So fun and inexpensive!
I love the idea of all the kids in a school being encouraged to read the same books so that they can talk about them and so that it becomes part of their common experience! There are so many things right about that! It could encourage thoughtfulness, the roots of real “conversation-making,” and all the ways that your human perspective gets expanded from comparing different people’s perspectives on the same thing.
I definitely agree, Melinda. The Virginia Readers Choice books are selected by teachers and librarians across the state as some of the best books for students in that particular grade level of that year. Our school participates in the program, so we purchase the books (in multiple copies), encourage the kids to read, and have a party at the end of the year for any student who has read 4 out of the 10 books. Those students can then vote on their favorite book. All of those results are sent to the Virginia Reader’s Choice committee, which then announces the Book of the Year as selected by the students of Virginia. It’s a fun program! I have students from past years come back to talk with me about the books they are reading, what they think about them, etc. So, I try to read all of the VRC books over the summer. Very fun!
The Undomestic Goddess is one of my favorites by Sophie Kinsella! Hope you enjoy it : )
Thanks, Rachel! It’s always nice to know that others with good taste think a book is good. 🙂
Call the Midwife is a great series although be warned, there are a lot of pretty graphic birth scenes. It’s not gratuitous, but there are a lot of bloody newborns appearing just out of sight of the business end of the baby-maker if you catch my drift 😉 The characters are wonderful and the show is very well-done so as long as you don’t have a squeamish husband, you should both enjoy it!
Thanks for the heads up, Samantha!