Posted by Anne M on Thursday, Jul 21, 2016
On KCJJ with Captain Steve and Tommy Lang this morning, Melody and I had a great time discussing what ICPL staff are reading this summer. Here are some of the books we talked about if you are looking for your next read:
My favorite book of the summer is Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett. Our narrator and hero, Mary Davidson is looking back to the 1908 whaling season in New South Wales. That year her father, a whaler was having a very bad year—there just doesn’t seem to be any whales to catch. She was also in charge of the Davidson brood (and they are a brood!) as her mother has passed away and Mary was falling in love with a new member of her father’s crew, who doesn’t seem to be what he says he is. All of these things, although seem extremely important at the time, distract Mary from something vastly more significant. It is a lovely book. Such a fun read—very whimsical—wonderfully funny scenes. But also sad. I couldn’t wait to read it every day.
Love books with unreliable narrators, intricate plot twists, Melody turned to some incredibly popular books from past summers, listening to the audio versions of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. These are great distractions to get you through those long vacation drives or your banishment to the gym equipment because of the dangerous heat this week. Melody particularly enjoyed the narration of The Girl on the Train. Best of all? No one has these audiobooks on hold--so no wait!
If you were enthralled with Making a Murderer and American Crime Story, Candice recommends True Crime Addict by James Renner. Renner recounts how he dove deep into trying to find out what happened to Maura Murray, who disappeared in 2004 after she had a car accident in New Hampshire. You get to follow his research, disappointing leads, but also what happens to his own life when becoming so obsessed with this mystery. Candice has an excellent review on our blog.
Thrillers seem to be the genre of choice for summer reading. Larry recommends The Travelers by Chris Pavone. Travel writer Will Rhodes is on assignment in Argentina and he is blackmailed into becoming a spy for the CIA. And through working as a spy, he finds out that his own mundane life wasn’t what he thought it was. Larry also recommends Dodgers by Bill Beverly and The Regional Office is Under Attack by Manuel Gonzales.
If you are looking for more great reads, we share our favorites on our blog, which you can find at blog.icpl.org.
About the Author
Anne Mangano has worked for the Iowa City Public Library since 2007, serving as the Collection Services Coordinator since 2013. In this position, she oversees the Library’s collection, including the selection, cataloging, processing, repair, and removal of materials. She also plans and directs ICPL’s digital collections, including the Local...
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