In response to our recent Instapoll, some of you shared your favorites for casual summer reading. With two avid readers suggesting Lessons in Chemistry, I’ve already put that one on my list! Here's some of what you suggested:
- So many I could list, but one I recently read and loved was Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus (2022). It's a funny look at a woman in the 1950s, limited by society's norms. I laughed out loud reading this!
- Impossible to pick one but loved Lessons in Chemistry. Humor, social commentary, and wonderful character development in this story about a brilliant scientist Elizabeth Zott whose career goals are constrained by societal norms in the 1950s. She refuses to accept the limits placed on her and carves her own path.
- Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman (2020) "is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times."
- The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse, by Charlie Mackesy (2019), also adapted into an Academy Award® winning animated short film) It's a short, illustrated gift book for readers of all ages about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love.
- Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver (2022), offers an eye-opening and heart-felt first-person look into the life of a resilient boy growing up in Appalachia, in a community besot by poverty, drug abuse and loss. The allusion to David Copperfield brings that story into the 21st century.
- All Jojo Moyes. These books hit all the emotions.
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Schaffer and Annie Barrows (2007). The writing is witty and compassionate, and the story reminds me of the value of caring relationships with people during hard times and the power of books to connect us.
- Anything by Ruth Ware
Have another recommendation? Add it in the comments below!
Don't Miss This! Next Tuesday, join the ROW Initiative for a special public live event featuring 11 of the 12 authors of Stories of Resistance. Learn more.
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