My summer vacation is over, but here in our little slice of paradise, it should still feel like summer for another month or more.
Therefore, I have decided to go ahead and offer up my summer reading list. Even if you are back in the workaday world, sitting by an open window in the cool of the evening, with a book and a root beer float, can stretch that summer feeling rather effectively.
For us grownups, I discovered Jennifer Weiner, and I devoured “Good in Bed” (not what you think it’s about) and “In Her Shoes.” Just as I finished “Good in Bed,” I noticed it had been edited by Liza Nelligan. To me, Liza was just another cool mom volunteer at our La Costa elementary school, but also a brilliant English literature professor who taught poetry to my son’s fifth-grade class. We lost Liza to breast cancer in 2003, and seeing her name in the credits was a bittersweet moment for me.
I forced myself to finish “The Mad Monk of Gidleigh” by Michael Jecks, which was a murder mystery set in England in the time of serfs and knights. I was drawn to it because it reminded me of the Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters.
Peters has written a series of brilliant murder mysteries solved by Brother Cadfael, a monk and apothecary of medieval times. They are a perfect mix of historical fiction and mystery.
I also happily gave up some sleep to read another favorite author, Elizabeth Berg. At the Dove library, I stumbled upon “True to Form,” one of hers I hadn’t read before. It was like finding a $50 bill in my pocket. Author of “Joy School” and “Talk Before Sleep,” Berg is just a beautiful writer.
Again this year, I sneaked home a handful of novels from my elementary school library to sample, in an ongoing effort to keep up with things to recommend to the students. This year I read two by Margaret Haddix, “Among the Hidden” and “Running Out of Time.” Both have futuristic themes. “Among the Hidden” addresses the possibility of a time when the number of children will be regulated. “Running Out of Time” tells a suspenseful tale of sociological experiments gone out of control.
Both are for fifth-graders and above. I also read “House of the Scorpion,” by Nancy Farmer, which suspensefully takes up the subject of cloning for parts and creates a terrific science-fiction novel for fifth grade and up.
I am about to launch into “Eats, Shoots and Leaves,” by Lynne Truss, a classic book on the proper use of the English language. As an editor and writer, I expect to be entertained, enlightened and chastised in equal parts.
Don’t let summer depart without a struggle – and time for at least one more good book. In the meanwhile, I will apply myself to developing good excuses for taking time to curl up with a book in the fall.
Jean Gillette is a freelance writer who’d rather be reading but is actually glad to be back in her school library. Contact her at [email protected]
