Ahhh, the joys of summer. Lazy days by the pool, lake or at the beach. What makes them even more relaxing & fun is diving into a great book. Here are some favorites to add to your summer experience! These are easy reads that should hold your attention long enough before you dive back into the water.
Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston
This book is great for adventurists and soul seekers.
This book is super hard to put down. Pam Houston takes us through her colorful life as a writer and rancher in the Rocky Mountains in Creede, Colorado. When she bought the ranch a number of years ago she had no idea what was in store for her. As you flip the pages you take the journey with her, learning about the land and love for all the animals she cares for. She faces struggles and great achievements as well. It’s on the ranch and through her travels that Houston heals after a childhood of horrific parental abuse and neglect.
Woman’s Best Friend: Women Writers on the Dogs in Their Lives
This book is great for gals who love dogs.
As many of you already know, I’m completely obsessed with my hounds Moose and Bo. They even have their own Instagram if you want to follow along on their adventures here in Telluride and beyond. With my love of dogs means I love to read about them too. This book is a compilation of short stories about dogs and their female humans. These stories are all compelling, some are funny and others will tug at your heart strings.
Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand
This book is great for historians and those curious about the 1960’s in the USA.
In this historical novel we follow four siblings in the Levin family as they experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of a summer when everything changed. For various reasons the family is split apart and instead of everyone being together at their grandmother’s home on Nantucket they each have lives to lead and many dramatic upheavals that echo what’s going on in the country at that time.
That Month in Tuscany by Inglath Cooper
Looking for a romantic, wild ride travelogue? Here you go!
All you need to know to spark interest: “If you had told me I would be heading off to Italy to celebrate my twenty-year anniversary without my workaholic husband, or that I would end up getting drunk on the plane ride over and falling on the lap of the rock star my daughter has a poster of hanging in her dorm room, I would have said oh, sure, right.” Feeling alone? This book might just set you straight, or at least give you some inspiration along the way.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Watch the human heart as it goes through all emotions in this stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, hope and the ultimate fight for survival.
This novel takes us on a journey with Ernt Allbright and his family. He is a former POW who comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision to move his family north, to Alaska, where they live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. This page turner will take you from great promise to ultimate darkness as his wife and daughter need to learn how to survive on their own in the wilderness.
The Wife Between Us by Sarah Pekkanen
If you love thrillers…
Assume nothing or try to and be completely surprised with outcomes. This book will keep you guessing with a tangled love triangle. Two women who both love the same man and all kinds of drama stems from that. Hold onto your beach hat for this wild ride!
Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop
Self help with brutal honesty!
Summer wouldn’t be summer unless we learned lots of new things. In this self help book we dive straight into a BS-free, self-empowerment guide. It offers an honest, no-nonsense, tough-love approach to help you move past self-imposed limitations. We all have those self imposed limits, so lets make a vow to change them and make our lives and the those of the ones we love that much better!
The Bucket List: 1000 Adventures Big & Small by Kath Swathers
Looking to explore the world and try new things?
Dreaming about what to do or where to go next? This book will give you 1000 new ideas to inspire you to book that next “best ever” trip. Organized by location this guide will help you find fun and life-affirming activities. It features an eclectic range of ideas such as self-improvement, sports-related endeavors, natural wonders, cultural experiences, culinary delights, and more. There is something for everyone!
The Storytellers Secret by Sejal Badani
From heartbreak to strength, this book inspires!
When the main character Jaya decides to leave NY and go back to her roots in India she becomes an eager student of this robust culture. Leaving behind her life as a journalist who just had her 3rd miscarriage and a failing marriage, she is the willing participant for change and enlightenment. It’s in India that she learns resilience from her grandmother’s former servant and confidant. She learns about her powerful legacy that helps to build a strength she never knew was possible.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals…
This book will take you on a journey that spans decades. Learn about Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country. Taking place in two time periods 1939 in Memphis and present day Aiken, South Carolina. Two very different stories share similar paths with deep heart wrenching truths.
~ Marla Meridith
