Between the Lines - Summer Reading List

Summer is upon us! I can feel it in the way that Angie lingers in bed an extra few minutes before getting up for school these final days of 10th grade; I see it on our family calendar filled with end of school year ceremonies, banquets and graduations; I live it as dinners get later as the days get longer. I love Summer.  I love letting go of  (if just for a few months) our hectic school year schedule, that with 7 children, has defined our routine for nearly 30 years. When the kids were little, trips to the library kicked off summer reading and fun - stacks of books and weekly library runs were the norm.  Today that has all changed, but the fun in making a summer reading list hasn't.  I have put together a short list of books that I plan on reading by the pool or on the beach or just simply at home.  Look for my thoughts on these selections in the coming months. Let the lazy days of summer reading begin.

  1. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens. I know I am a little late to the party as this book has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 40 weeks and currently sits at #1 in Fiction. I have read that it is a part coming of age, part crime drama story told in language that is thoughtful and full of beautiful poetic imagery. Plus, my sweet sister gave me her personal recommendation so how could I not read this one.

  2. Anything is Possible, by Elizabeth Strout. Angie, knowing how much I loved Olive Kitteridge, gave me this collection of short stories for Mother’s Day. All of the stories are drawn from ordinary people from a small Midwestern town. I am looking forward to meeting Strout’s latest cast of characters.

  3. The Marriage of Opposites, by Alice Hoffman. Set in Charlotte Amalie on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, this historical fiction book tells the story of the family of Camille Pissarro, the impressionist painter, starting with his mother, Rachel. I am excited for this vicarious getaway to a Caribbean island.

  4. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start-up, by John Carreyrou. My husband received this as a gift and couldn’t put it down.The story of the rise and fall of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes is apparently crazier than one could ever imagine. Described as a true crime piece of investigative journalism this may be the most detailed account of the scandal, and it makes a nice companion to The Dropout podcast (April’s Six pick) which includes exclusive interviews with employees, patients, and investors. And if you haven’t had enough yet, there’s the HBO documentary, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, a movie in production titled Bad Blood, after the book, with Jennifer Lawrence playing Holmes and last, but certainly not least, there’s a real life trial waiting to unfold.

Kathryn