Off My Rocker:

Recommendations from a Book Nut

Summer Comfort
(June 2008)

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, or reading a good book, is hardly a waste of time."

The quote is from John Lubbock, and yes, I added the part about reading.

Enjoy these gentle summer reads and don’t forget to join Adult Summer Reading Program and "Catch the Reading Bug!"

SUMMER IN THE CITY, by Robyn Sisman

Suze and Lloyd are highly creative people who work for a top-notch ad agency; Suze works for the London branch and Lloyd for the New York branch. The opportunity arises for them to swap jobs, apartments, and countries.

Lloyd, the stable romantic moves to London with his prim-and-proper SO, Betsy, who, in addition to working on her thesis (and finding feminist protest everywhere in the works of Jane Austen) is doing her best to mold Lloyd into the man she wants to marry.

Suze impetuous, big-hearted wild child removes to New York, is taken under the wing of the wily Sheri, and seduced by the luscious Nick.

Though Suze and Lloyd have only ever "met" via telephone, they take a liking to one another so Suze is shocked and disappointed when she first hears the news that Lloyd has been fired for selling company secrets to a rival. When doubt of his disloyalty begins to creep in, Suze encourages Lloyd to fight back.

This is literate, enjoyable chick lit at it’s best.

SUMMER AT FAIRACRE, by Miss Read

When the world has been too much with me, I often retreat to Fairacre where comfort and solace are to found.

In this entry in the Fairacre novels teacher, Miss Read (I don’t think we ever discover her first name), narrates events and deeds of the characters (and I do mean characters) in this English village from the end of a particularly difficult winter through the end of a golden summer.

Joseph Coggs, a child who lives with his feckless parents in miserable conditions and who could touch the hardest heart, finds a temporary home in the schoolhouse while his mother is in hospital.

Miss Read's friend Amy, who suspects her husband of philandering, mysteriously disappears.

Mrs. Pringle, the grumpy school cleaner who continually tries Miss Read’s super-human patience, is unable to work because the pain in her bad leg flares up.

As all this takes place the reader can almost hear the background sounds of bees humming and gardens blooming as Miss Read and the other villagers work out their difficulties.

If you like Jan Karon, you will like Miss Read to whom Karon pays homage.

Other summer titles for your reading enjoyment are Summer Of The Big Bachi, by Naomi Hirahara , Summers at Castle Auburn, by Sharon Shinn, and The Summer Garden Murder : A Gardening Mystery, by Ann Ripley.