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Great Summer Reads from Minerva!

As you are packing for your vacation, or heading out to camp, don’t forget to take a stack of books with you! Summer is a great time to relax with a good book. Following are some great summer reads you may want to take with you! They can be reserved through via Inter-Library Loan through the Minerva catalog system.

The Salt House by Lisa Duffy

A beautifully written novel set during a Maine summer, about a family finding their way through grief, love, and hope after an unforgettable accident.

Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer

A young woman who works at the Nantucket library during the day gets some unexpected new neighbors for the summer. As she is drawn into their lives over the course of the summer, she has a dilemma and must decide what she truly wants.


Gone Gull by Donna Andrews

A young woman spending the summer at the Biscuit Mountain Craft Center is helping her grandmother run the studios. But someone is committing acts of vandalism, threatening to ruin the newly-opened centers reputation.

Magic by Danielle Steel

Each year the “White Dinner” takes place on a summer evening. The stories of seven people are interwoven, lives will be forever changed on an unforgettable night of possibilities.

Spring Reads!

While you’re waiting for WARM weather to arrive, hang out with these!

Paris Spring by James Naughtie

This novel takes place in Paris, in April of 1968. The cafes are alive with talk of revolution, but for a Scottish-American spy working in the British Embassy–the crisis is personal. A few words from a stranger on the Metro change his life.

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews

Another great novel by Mary Kay Andrews! A woman truly believes she is over her ex-husband, so she has no problem attending his wedding. But when fate intervenes, she begins to wonder if she’s been given a second chance.

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

New York Times bestselling author LISA KLEYPAS delivers the unforgettable tale of a strong-willed beauty who encounters her match in London.

The Coming by David Osborne

A novel of native-white relations in North America, intimately told through the life of Daytime Smoke–the real-life red-haired son of William Clark and a Nez Perce woman.

10 Books That Stayed With Me (That Maybe You Haven’t Read)

Recently I noticed a social media post making the rounds in which you are supposed to list ten books that have stayed with you in some way.  The goal is not to overthink it, but simply take a few minutes and answer.  They don’t have to be great books or the “right” books, just books that have stayed with you, impacting you in some way.  So, in no particular order, here are ten books that have stayed with me:

1.     Nine Stories~ JD Salinger:  A collection of stories that is sometimes disturbing, but always full of melancholy.  My favorites are “For Esme–With Love and Squalor”, “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes”, and “De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period”.
2.    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret~ Judy Blume:  This emotionally intense and angst-filled novel has a storyline that is issue-oriented and character-driven.  It grabbed my attention in the 4th grade, and has stuck with me ever since!
3.    Big Russ & Me~ Tim Russert:  This biography is truly heartwarming and quite candid.  The beloved television journalist writes about the relationship between him and his father and offers valuable lessons in life.
4.    The Catcher in the Rye~ J.D. Salinger:  If I was stranded on an island and could only take one book, this is the one I would take! Salinger’s classic coming-of-age story is darkly humorous, reflective, and moving.
5.    The Body in the Library~ Agatha Christie:  This is the first Agatha Christie book I ever read, and it had me at the title!  Christie’s writing style is engaging and the storyline is intricately plotted in this Miss Marple case.
6.    Ethan Frome~ Edith Wharton: Admittedly, the tone is quite bleak and melancholic, but Wharton’s writing style is so descriptive and lyrical that I was sucked in on the first page and never put it down until I finished.  I shan’t spoil the story for you!
7.    On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft~ Stephen King:  A practical view of the writer’s craft, King‘s advice is grounded in memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer.  The style is conversational, and the tone is reflective and darkly humorous.
8.    The Murder of Roger Ackroyd~ Agatha Christie:  Not your conventional Agatha Christie story!  It is one of her best known and most controversial novels, with an innovative twist ending, and is considered her masterpiece.
9.    The Notebook~ Nicholas Sparks:  This was Nicholas Sparks’ first published novel, and I think it’s his best work.  The poignant love story was inspired by his wife’s grandparents and is told through scenes from the past and a collection of intensely personal letters.
10.  Wrecked~ Maria Padian:  I just read this YA novel recently.  It’s a multi-faceted interpretation of a sexual assault on a college campus that will leave you thinking how memory and identity, what’s at stake, and who sits in judgment, all shape what we believe.
It’s always nice to see people celebrating books, but my favorite part of book lists is learning about books that I haven’t heard of before or that I haven’t read yet. So with that in mind, what books have stayed with you?