That Perfect Summer Book… Wherever You Are This Season!

Are you heading out on a long-awaited road trip, or on a flight to somewhere fun and new this summer? Or maybe you’re simply planning pleasant and relaxing afternoons at home. Whatever your plans, here are some great book titles we suggest for adults and for families to try this summer.

Enchanting Nonfiction

The Great Outdoors: A User’s Guide: Everything You Need to Know Before Heading into the Wild by Brendan Leonard – Are you on a road trip? Are you ready to venture into the wild? This is an easy guide on everything you need to know and some things you didn’t realize you needed to know. Print 

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris – Maybe you’ve always wanted to move to Paris, but you have some reservations. Follow David Sedaris as he bravely and humorously embraces life in a foreign country. Print |eBook |Audiobook |CD/Play

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach – Ever wonder what its like traveling through space? Roach takes you on this entertaining journey answering some questions you might have and others you never even considered! Print |eBook |CD/Play

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell – A great non-fiction read about how we interact with strangers. Gladwell goes in-depth, analyzing specific examples of interacting strangers that have had some dire consequences. Print |eBook |Audiobook |CD/Play 

Fascinating Fiction

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – A house viewing in a small town interrupted by a bank robber. This humorous tale not only transports you to Sweden, but it leaves you guessing about what connections the characters have to each other. Print| LP |eBook |Audiobook 

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin – First book in the series, the tag line says it all: “This is the way the world ends…for the last time.” Murder, mayhem, and magic mix together to leave you on the edge of your seat. Print |eBook |Audiobook

The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews – Professionally disgraced, Dempsey is forced to return home to the small Georgia town she thought she would never see again, and to transform a worn-out Victorian house into a showplace. Will she succeed? A charming, funny, Southern summer read. Print |eBook |CD/Play 

Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart – Barry Cohen and his wife Seema embark on separate but parallel paths to find happiness. Shteyngart’s wit brings these character to life in not just humor but also in catharsis. Print  |Audiobook

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli – A family starts their road trip from NY to AZ. On this trip, their own personal lives collide with the past and present. Beautifully written book about how we remember. One of NY Times’ ten best books of 2019. Print |eBook |Audiobook 

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen – All that’s left at Lost Lake is a once-charming collection of lakeside cabins succumbing to the Southern Georgia heat and damp, and an assortment of faithful friends drawn back there year after year by their own unspoken dreams and desires. What will happen to all of them in this last summer on the lake? Print | LP 

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff – What could possibly go wrong on a road trip in the US in 1954? More than you can imagine! This story follows Atticus Turner, a his uncle and his childhood friend, Letitia as they try to find his missing father. Print |eBook |Audiobook

Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon – Pynchon reimagines the journeys of Charles Mason (1728-1786) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733-1779) from the Cape of Good Hope to Pre-revolutionary America. Print 

Murder in an Irish Bookshop by Carlene O’Connor – The most recent title in the mystery series, Irish Village Mysteries, that takes place in Ireland. Print 

NOS4A2  by Joe Hill – If you’ve watched IT and want more, buckle up for this ride! Our villain rides around  in a Rolls Royce with pretty distinctive vanity plates and abducts children to another world called “Christmasland.” A touch of chilly horror, for a hot summer day… Print |eBook |Audiobook

On the Road by Jack Kerouac – Mostly autobiographical, this classic novel of the Beat Generation takes you on a memorable journey across the USA. Print |CD/Play 

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach – Ever wonder what its like traveling through space? Roach takes you on this entertaining journey answering some questions you might have and others you never even considered! Print |eBook |CD/Play 

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith – From the author that brought you The Talented Mr. Ripley, comes a tale of two lonely women on a physical and emotional journey together. Print |eBook

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews – As you might expect, the perfect beach read! Print 

Family Fun

Children’s classics for everyone on the road!

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – Milo is a bored ten year old.  He comes home to find a mysterious tollbooth in his room. Join Milo on his adventures when he drives through the tollbooth to the Land Beyond. Audio CD 

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan – Anna and Caleb’s Papa has put an ad for a new wife in the paper. Sarah Wheaten answers and promises to visit for a month. Anna and Caleb Witting wait and wonder what Sarah will be like. Will Sarah make their Papa sing again? This is the first book in a series about the Witting family. Audio CD| e-Audiobook 

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – The ultimate adventure story. Treasure Island is filled with larger than life characters. Join Jim Hawkins as he recounts his adventures in piracy and treasure hunting. Audio CD

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame – Stories of animal friends who live alongside a river in the bucolic English countryside. Led by Toad of Toad Hollow, the band of friends experience many misadventures. Audio CD| e-Audiobook