Cheers to the long 4th of July weekend! I plan on taking it easy, working on my tan, sipping strawberry lemonade, reading a book or two, and getting some projects done around our place. Although with my luck I may get sick again. Who gets sick in the summer by the way?! Apparently I do, and let me tell you it is the WORST. I usually go five years without getting sick and then, bam – happens at the most inconvenient of times. Ah well, c’est la vie, am I right? However, if I do come down with something then I suppose I’ve got some good books to keep me company.
With this post, my year of seasonal reading lists will be complete. Holy cow guys, time sure flies! Meanwhile, I am living for these long days and warm nights. I never know what my favorite season is because I feel like it changes depending on the time of year. Most of the time I am positive it’s the cozy, sweater wearing, fall days; but after a long winter I am convinced spring is my favorite – with all its green buds and blooming flowers. However, now my heart is saying that summer is the best season ever. When it doesn’t get dark until 9:00 pm, and you can sleep with your window open and listen to the nightingales and crickets serenading each other. Reese’s s’mores over a crackling bonfire, afternoons spent lounging by the pool, and fresh apricot and berry picking. Basically summer is pure magic, and I am 100% here for it.
Anyways, I digress. Here’s some great summer books for you to dive into!
CLASSICS
The Scarlet Pimpernel
By Baroness Orczy
The setting for this book is the bloody streets of Paris in 1792, during the early period of the Revolution. It is the Reign of Terror, and hundreds of French aristocrats are being sent to the guillotine. Against this backdrop, one unknown and seemingly insignificant Englishman and his brave band of followers leave their pampered lives behind to smuggle the French royals safely to England. His wife, Marguerite, is approached by the French Envoy and threatened with her brother’s capture and potential execution into finding the Scarlet Pimpernel. Oh, and of course she has absolutely no clue that her husband is the infamous Scarlet Pimpernel. So, you can imagine the chaos that ensues. After a couple chapters, the book takes off on an intense game of cat and mouse. Orczy also has a wicked sense of humor, so it’s an entertaining ride for sure. There is nothing slow moving or boring about it, and I highly recommend this classic.
Set the mood:
“When
will you give up these mad adventures, and leave others to fight their own
battles and to save their own lives as best they may?’
When your ladyship has ceased to be the most
admired woman in Europe, namely, when I am in my grave.”
Read if: There’s espionage, swashbuckling adventures, humor, and romance. So, I really don’t see what’s not to love.
Rilla of Ingleside
By L. M. Montgomery
Ok, so by this point you all realize how much I love Anne. This one is about her youngest daughter, Bertha Marilla – Rilla for short. This is the last book in the beloved Anne series, and it’s such a poignant and beautiful read. Rilla’s life has thus far been untouched by war; highlighted by childhood adventures and parties. Her parents, Anne and Gilbert, worry for her as she has no ambitions for her life other than pleasure. However, she has to grow up quick when her brothers go off to fight, and, by rather unexpected circumstances, she brings home an orphaned baby in a soup tureen. Rilla is then swept into an adventure that tests her courage and changes her life forever.
Set the mood: “I didn’t really remember that the sea was so blue and the roads so red and the wood nooks so wild and fairy haunted. Yes, the fairies still abide here. I vow I could find scores of them under the violets in Rainbow Valley.”
Read if: I laughed, I cried. If you love the Anne Series, then you must give this last book a try.
“There are none so distant that fate cannot bring them together.” {Anthony Doerr, All the Light we Cannot See}
FANTASY
Lord of the Rings
By J. R. R. Tolkien
I was first introduced to this amazing world by my Jr. High English teacher. The Lord of the Rings is such an epic trilogy and J. R. R. Tolkien is a literary genius (he literally invented the elvish language used in the books, and it is so concise that people have actually learned to speak fluently). If you like the fantasy genre, then you have to give this book a try. There’s elves, hobbits, orcs, wizards, and a daring adventure to destroy the evil threatening to smother the land that is Middle Earth.
A small hobbit, Frodo Baggins, joins a fellowship of nine other characters led by the wizard Gandalf on a quest to destroy the one ring of power. It’s a story of hope in the face of overwhelming odds and the belief that good will always conquer evil. Another thing I love about this story is that it is the underdogs and the “unimportant” people who end up saving the day. As Gandalf says, “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”
Set the mood: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Read if: You fancy a magical read to disappear into during the long days of summer.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
By J.K. Rowling
“I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there.” – me rereading the Harry Potter series for the 10th time.
Ahh, another book that transports me back to my childhood – the hot summer days that seem to fly and all too soon everyone is gearing up for the school year to start again. I can totally relate to Harry here at the bittersweet end of a blissful summer. However, I never had a house elf visit me and try to convince me NOT to return to school – I have a feeling my childhood would’ve been much more interesting had that happened. Needless to say, Harry doesn’t heed the elf’s advice and disaster strikes upon his return to Hogwarts. There’s a new teacher who is ridiculously full of himself and causes mayhem in the classroom, a ghost in the girl’s bathroom, and a deadly creature that haunts the school corridors and is putting the students in perilous danger.
Set the mood: “The end of the summer holidays came too quickly for Harry’s liking. He was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but his month at The Burrow had been the happiest of his life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when he thought of the Dursleys and the sort of welcome he could expect next time he turned up in Privet Drive.”
Read if: If you have never read the Harry Potter series, then I recommend you start with the first book (this is the second one).
HISTORICAL FICTION
Between Shades of Gray
By Ruta Sepetys
It’s 1941, and Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl. She loves to draw, entertains her little brother, and lives a comfortably naïve life. Until one night, some Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family apart and destroying the quiet life they had. Her father is sent out into a different part of the country and Lina, her mother, and brother are forced onto a crowded train car and shipped off to northern Siberia.
This is the story of the displaced Europeans of WWII – a story that I hadn’t really heard before. Before they were separated, Lina’s father told her to draw pictures for him; pictures that would help him find them again. So Lina draws – at a great risk to herself and others – and documents the unfolding events and people they meet along the way. This book covers a long and dangerous journey, spanning years and covering over 6,500 miles. In my opinion, Lina’s mother is the ultimate heroine of this story. Her love, kindness, and strength powers her family and keeps the other captives alive.
I found the title of this book very fitting – Shades of Gray. Throughout the book we are introduced to characters who we think are despicable do incredibly kind things, and character we consider friends do terrible ones. It is a powerful story of the love, strength, sacrifice of the people – sometimes strangers to each other, and the hope that some good still exists and it is worth fighting for.
Set the mood: “We’d been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we’d get a little closer.”
Read if: There are so many lessons to be learned from the selflessness acts of kindness found in this story. It’s a heavier read because of the content and time period, but very rewarding.
All the Light We Cannot See
By Anthony Doerr
I should start off by saying that this is probably one of the most beautiful written work I have ever read. First of all, Doerr’s prose is beautiful but not overly complex. He is stunningly illustrative and descriptive without going overboard, and his writing is deep and evocative. Seriously, I cannot say enough good things – it makes me want to go out and buy everything he has ever written.
The story takes place during World War II in occupied France, a blind French girl and a German boy’s paths collide as they both try to survive the aftermath of chaos around them. Marie and Werner are two children on opposite sides of the war. Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father, a locksmith, who forces her to run errands in the city and become fully independent despite her blindness. He knows this will one day save her life. Werner is an orphan in Germany with a knack for fixing radios. His talent unfortunately catches the eye of a Nazi leader and he is sent away to train at a special school. Their lives are thrown together in an unexpected way – just in time for Werner to save Marie-Laure’s life.
Set the mood: “What I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads. It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.”
Read if: You need to read this. Period.
FICTION
I Capture the Castle
By Dodie Smith
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it. The rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog’s blanket and the tea-cosy.” From the opening few sentences, I was hooked. Our heroine, seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives in a castle with her father, older sister Rose, younger brother Thomas, and her slightly eccentric stepmother, Topaz. A picture perfect castle with majestic towers and a moat, situated in the pastoral English countryside. Sounds pretty romantic and ideal, right? That is, until you realize that the castle leaks, the tapestries are riddled with moth holes, and Cassandra’s family is practically starving to death because her father (who is/was a writer) hasn’t written anything in over twelve years. The family’s life gets shaken up a bit with the arrival of two Americans, and it is quite safe to say their life is never the same after that. Smith has a hilarious sense of humor that comes out quite a bit – especially where Topaz is concerned. There are some hints of a Pride and Prejudice mirrored story line in the beginning. Dodie Smith does a great job creating a charismatic and witty narrative through Cassandra, an aspiring writer. Fun fact: Smith later became famous for writing 101 Dalmatians. It’s a sweet read with an open-ended yet satisfying ending.
Set the mood: “A mist is rolling over the fields. Why is a summer mist romantic and autumn mist just sad?”
Read if: You’re in the mood for a light-hearted coming of age read.
“How I wish I lived in a Jane Austen novel!” {Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle}
If you have any great reads that I should check out on my next library run (because let’s be honest, I practically live there) drop me a comment. Meanwhile I’ll be out here, making the best of the long weekend. Hope everyone has a lovely Independence Day weekend!
