We’re in the thick of summer and you know what that means–it’s time to grab an unputdownable book, find some shade, and beat the heat with a good story! Not sure what to read this month? Our staff have excellent suggestions for you to browse through:
Madi's Picks
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake
This sapphic adult romance is brimming with emotion and humor. It will leave you feeling simultaneously giddy and raw.
Montica's Pick
Emma's Pick
Taste of Home Grand Prize Winners
The Songweaver's Vow by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Toni's Picks
The 355
This action thriller is full of advanced technologies and powerfully smart women who are caught in a game of espionage with a band of mercenaries. I was taken by the performance of these well-known experienced actresses. This movie is packed with high speed chases, shoot outs, and bigtime stunts across international borders. I found it refreshing to see roles that have been traditionally given to men played by diverse and fascinating women.
Uncharted
If you are interested in action-packed adventures, this movie is for you! Tom Holland delivers intensive high-action stunts and stellar performance as the honorable character who leads his co-star, Mark Wallberg, on an epic treasure hunt. This movie is packed with several well-known stars, stunning locations around the world, and great theatrical compositions.
There Is No Right Way to Meditate
A gentle read with deep thought. The author guides you through numerous ways to think about how and why you should attempt to find time to take control and just relax; true relaxation and not the “expectation of relaxation” in the terms of an exhausting vacation. The book begins with a short statement about Sakugawa’s journey to inner silence and the best possible opening line, “Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you did today was breathe, breathing lets your family know that you are still alive.”
Rachel D.'s Pick
Mary's Pick
Death Note
Night Road by Kristin Hannah
Shelbi's Picks
All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown
A super plague has wiped out the vast majority of the world’s population. Alone in the wilderness and injured, a teenage boy named Andrew stumbles across a house where another boy lives alone and takes a chance, hoping he’s found a brief place to rest and recover. A strong friendship begins to grow from there as they make decisions about their next steps in the post-apocalyptic landscape.
I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook experience and enjoyed the narrators quite a bit… listening to the story was the only thing that got me through multiple mornings of commuting for a 4am shift.
Honestly I would pay so much to see this exact idea but in like a full-length adult trilogy someday. Thanks, universe! More of this please!
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
Two boys awaken on a spaceship, without much memory of the details leading to their awakening, and with the vague goal that they’re heading to a planetary outpost to rescue a previous spacefarer who has experienced a disaster. But then small details begin to not add up–why are they both missing large periods of their memories? Why are there things they keep encountering around the spaceship (like unaccounted-for patches of dried blood) that can’t be explained properly? Slowly, low levels of dread build up within the characters (and us readers) as they explore these mysteries.
This was a really unexpected meditation on loneliness and isolation, how connections to others help us define ourselves, and (reaching a little but not really) what the point of existence is. Even though this is NOT a time loop story, there are moments that *feel* like it’s a time loop, if that’s your kind of thing. The audiobook was highly listenable and I recommend it!
Dawn's Picks
View from a Sketchbook by Marjolein Bastin
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
Dennis' Pick
Crystal's Pick
The Very Best of Santana
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