Best book of the summer? Readers respond

The subscribers to my newsletter were asked to let me know what their “best book of the summer” was, and here are the responses:

Karen: My favorite book this summer was Chasing Someday by Lindzee Armstrong.  It is a story about 4 couples and issues they faced involving fertility issues.  This book is different from the books the author usually writes (and they are great, too!), but this one tugged at my heart and a few tears fell.  I highly recommend it.

Mike: She Can Run by Melinda Leigh. It is a mystery book loaded with suspense. The character development was excellent. You really got to know the key characters and wanted to help the main character stay safe. You feared for her not just like it was all real – but more like it was all real and involved you own sister. It had a few nice twists and turns just to keep you guessing. And, best of all, in the end all turned out A-OK! I hate books with a bad ending or an ending that leaves you wondering exactly how things all turned out.

Mike: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It is really just like a memoir of Jannette telling about her childhood. But at the same time, it is a profound and deep look at life and what it is all about. It has many messages inside its pages that I still think about and that have made a great impression upon me. While entertaining, it is also so much more – it is philosophy at its best. Food for thought.

Ian: My favourite this summer has been The Day That Never Comes by Caimh McDonnell. It is about a retired cop who was a law unto himself on the job and is now a P.I. and just a roguish. He is investigating corruption in the local council. Funny and gripping.

Bob: 4 Years Trapped in My Mind Palace by Johan Twiss. It was not what I was expecting it to be, but it was so good.  It was hard to believe that a book about a boy who cannot move, talk or anything else but think could be so good. 

Jan: My favorite book of the summer is Just Follow the Money by Jinx Schwartz.   It is the 9th book in a. series about a wise-cracking Hetta Coffey, who, along with her sidekicks Jan and PoThang (a dog), get into and hopefully out of trouble.  It is entertaining and keeps you guessing until the very end.  I have enjoyed every one of the nine books and cannot wait for number ten.

Linda: The best book I read this summer was Unsub by Meg Gardiner. It is about a serial killer. The heroine had this killer in her and her dad’s past life. He comes back to disrupt their lives again. She and her dad are cops. The serial killer is killing people , with the theme is Dante’s Inferno and the descent into hell. There will be a sequel out in January. Can’t wait to read it.

Nancy: Alex And Me by Irene Pepperberg. While most of my summer reading consists of fiction, mostly mysteries, this was a study of non-human animal communication. You see, Alex was an African Gray parrot! Over the course of 30 years, Dr. Pepperberg was able to show that we humans aren’t the only species that can learn and communicate. He died at the relatively young age of 31, (African Grays can live to be 50) but not before proving that other animals are more intelligent than we first believed. The book was sad, because Alex died, but also highly entertaining, because of his antics. He exhibited quite a personality besides being able to recognize colors, identify objects, count and even add! I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary.

Julie: Andrew Barrett, The Note. It was about police, murder, a disillusioned officer and a murderer who taunts them with notes left behind to certain people.

Becky: The Thief’s Mistake, Traitors & Lies, and The Gangster’s Son, all three written by Joseph Mark Brewer. These are Shig Sato mysteries that take place in Tokyo. The cultural differences bear witness to the fact that crime is crime, no matter in what country it takes place. The twists and turns make this all the more enjoyable. Even though the perpetrator is disclosed early on, the character development kept the story going for me. Also the ways in which the criminal is caught and punished kept me interested to the bitter end.

Jackie: My favorite book this summer was Sapphire Ice, part of the Jewel Series, by Hallee Bridgeman. I loved her way of letting you know the characters are flawed and how time and love can help anyone deal with anything. It was open and stay until finished. I recommend it to everyone.

Catriona: My best read of the summer was The Crimson Meniscus, by Jason Werbeloff. I got an ARC (advanced reader copy). It’s the collected stories about the Bubble.

My best book was The Book of Judith, part of the Biblical Apocrypha that I had never read before. It’s an extraordinary tale of cunning and courage that you can read within an hour. I had never heard of it and came across it accidentally not long ago. I highly recommend it. I’ll be saying more about it later.

Tags: 4 Years Trapped in My Mind Palace, Alex and Me, Andrew Barrett, Caimh McDonnell, Hallee Bridgeman, Irene Pepperberg, Jason Werbeloff, Jeannette Walls, Jinx chwartz, Johan Twiss, Just Follow the Money, Lindzee Armstrong, Meg Gardiner, Melinda Leigh, Sapphire Ice, She Can Run, The Book of Judith, The Crimson Meniscus, The Day That Never Comes, The Gangster's Son, The Glass Castle, The Note, The Thief's Mistake, Traitors & Lies, Unsub, Vhasing Someday