Blogger: Rachel Kent
In the midst of my intense preparation for the International Christian Retail Show (not that other ICRS), I can’t help but dream about relaxing in the sun. Do you have a vacation planned for this summer? I don’t yet, but I’m hoping to get away for a few days to go camping with my family. I’m also going to put my daughter into swimming lessons for the first time, so I’ll have some poolside reading time, too!
I have two books in my reading stack that I’ve been looking forward to for awhile and I think they will be perfect summer reads. The first is Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay and the other is The Most Eligible Bachelor Romance Collection.
I think The Most Eligible Bachelor Romance Collection will be a great companion for my pool time because it contains nine brief stories by nine different authors–I might be able to read a story per lesson. And I’ll likely be bringing Lizzy & Jane camping with me. We always go camping with extended family and one of my best friends, so it will be easy for me to find time to read (in a hammock under a canopy of trees) while other people get to enjoy time with my daughter. I’m sure she’ll want to join me in the hammock for some of the time, too!
Do you have books you are looking forward to reading this summer? Where do you imagine you will read them?
What is next in your reading stack?
I’m planning two train trips from the Northeast to the Midwest, heading back for a class reunion and a family reunion. I haven’t given a thought to what to read during the trip (I’ve been focused on what to write). Thank you, Rachel, for what will surely be an interesting list culled from my Books & Such soul mates.
I hope you find some interesting books to put on your list! It sounds like you have a fun summer planned. A long train trip is something I want to try one of these days.
On the back patio, which overlooks the field that stretches to the woods, I hope to spend a few sunsets a week catching up on a well written theology book. 🙂 I might have to snag a copy of “Lizzy & Jane” though, the reviews were compelling. Thanks for sharing, Rachel, and have fun poolside and camping!
That sounds heavenly! Enjoy your peaceful reading time.
I tried to read outside yesterday, but because of all the rain, I was instantly attacked by mosquitoes! 🙂 But just yesterday, my cousin invited me and my girls to join her and another family for a beach trip in July. Yay! I have a few books on my summer list … starting with The Wood’s Edge, Lori Benton; Until the Harvest, Sarah Loudin Thomas; As Waters Gone By, Cynthia Ruchti; and Love’s Awakening by Laura Frantz.
What a great list!
The mosquitos aren’t too bad here yet, but I’m sure they are coming soon!
Next on my list is John McManus’ “The Dead And Those About To Die”, a narrative of the Omaha Beach landings. John’s a good writer and a first-class nice guy. I’ll be here on my high desert mesa, probably sitting on the kitchen floor when I read – sitting upright in a chair’s too painful these days. No vacations…I mean, with all these wonderful dogs around every day, why would I want to be anywhere else?
It would be hard to take all of the dogs with you! Your location sounds like a vacation already. A high desert mesa. Wow.
Sorry the pain is forcing you to sit on the kitchen floor, but I bet you will get lots of love from the fur babies while you are reading there! 🙂 My dog can’t leave me alone when I’m on the floor.
Actually, I sometimes read aloud to them. They like it – they do listen.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte is next on my list, as recommended by my little sister. I enjoyed Jane Eyre and found Wuthering Heights interesting, but I’m not so sure about this one!
I’ve already enjoyed Lizzy and Jane, so today I’m picking up from the library Erik Larson’s Dead Wake about the sinking of the Lusitania.
Trust Andrew and me to be in the war camp . . .
Yeah, we’re there. That one’s on my summer list, too.
I still have Erik Larson’s first book to read, too! The one you loaned me. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
I took Lizzy & Jane on our family vacation to Washington, D.C., last week, but we were so busy that I didn’t find much time to read. Once I recover from scaling the mountain of laundry, I’m getting back to it. So far, it’s a most excellent read. Enjoy your vacation time, Rachel!
Thank you! Still don’t have firm plans for that camping trip, but I hope it happens.
Hmmm…next in my stack: “The Double Fudge Brownie Murder”, “Life of Pi”, “Etiquette and Espionage” “A Thousand Perfect Things”, and “Heir of Hope”. Where will I read them: On the bank of the frog pond while the boys catch frogs and giant gold fish, at the tire swings, by the volleyball court while they dig rivers in the sand, (we live at a Bible Camp) at the sports court while they ride bikes, and of course inside in my overstuffed corduroy chair after they go to bed.
Sounds lovely! Enjoy. 🙂
After hemming and hawwing all day about this, I’ve decided to re-read Jeanette Windle’s The DMZ, Crossfire, and Firestorm.
She does storyworld like nobody’s business!
The books are in our church library, but NEVER there when I want them, so I bought them on Amazon.
If you want to go to the jungle, but not go to the jungle? Read The DMZ.
I have heard great things about her books. I shall try one someday!
Don’t know if I’m weird or what, but when I used to travel on business I always made sure to buy a book or five, to remind me of the trip. Always Googled the closest Barnes and Nobles and (then) Borders to where I was working.
I usually buy a book at the airport. You are not weird! Visiting bookstores across the country sounds amazing.
And I found my Borders rewards card the other day. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. lol.
What great suggestions! I’m a what-am-I-in-the-mood-for reader, so I don’t have a list so much as a stack. But my book club is reading Irene Hannon’s Trapped and Karen Barnett’s Beyond the Ashes this summer, and I’m excited about both those!
Two great reads for summer!
I want to read Robin Jones Gunn’s “Waterfalls” because it’s been so well liked here on the blog. I’ve never read any of her books so am looking forward to it.
I don’t understand how anyone can plan ahead about what they’ll read. I go to the library once a week and usually read five or six middle grade and YA novels every week and maybe one non-fiction book a month. I also get books at our area’s monthly free book swap and sometimes re-read some I already own. I spend about an hour or two every day reading and don’t watch TV except for the news during dinner.
OOOH! I love your choice of reading material! I’m reading Murder I Wrote by Katherine Casey. True crime at it’s best.
I’m about to start a re-read of The Last Unicorn. Likely in bed before I fall asleep or out on the porch swing if I get a chance.
The only thing I am sure of this summer is that we will be heading out to North Carolina at the end of this month. I usually bring about ten books with me, plus both my eReaders. I don’t have any particular book in mind, but I am definitely looking forward to some reading time, since I haven’t had much since going back to work.
I started re-reading Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. Years ago I borrowed it from a local library and liked it. The other day I was at a Goodwill store and saw it, so I bought it. While there I bought The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Those two are on my summer reading list. I hope to be able to read them either upstairs on the porch facing the woods, or in the back yard, with a glass of iced tea close by. 🙂
Peggy, I bought The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for $10,000 one summer. It was worth every Jamiacan dollar I spent on it! 🙂 That was a great read and while I don’t remember every detail of the book, I remember that ending! Enjoy.
So funny! I’m reading both those two books right now (I think I’m currently reading 8 books – yes, I am that kind of reader). “Lizzy & Jane” b/c I loved “Dear Mr. Knightley” and “The Most Eligible Bachelor” b/c my friend’s first published novella is in it. Enjoying both!
For camping this summer, though, I think I’m going to revisit some old favorites. Some Robin McKinley, some Megan Whalen Turner, maybe some Ellis Peters . . .
I’m hoping to go back and re-read some of the books I enjoyed during the school year, including _View from the Sixth Floor_ by Elizabeth Newton. It’s about the Kennedy assassination and Lee Harvey Oswald.