Good Summer Reads - 2005

Good Summer Reads - 2005

recommended by Beth Girshman, Adult Services Librarian

To check on the status of the book, click on either the title or the book jacket.

.	How I Paid for College: a novel of sex, theft, friendship and musical theater by Marc Acito
	Funny and quick, the title says it all.
.	In the Garden of Iden: a novel of the company by Kage Baker
	The first in the sci-fi series of "the company." Time travel with one of the most original heroines you will ever meet - wisecracking, misanthropic Mendoza wants nothing to do with historical humans, but her first assignment is to travel to England in 1553, on a botanical expedition.
.	Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
	Heartbreaking, affirmative and lyrical. With this novel of farm life during the 20th century Berry reaches his peak as a writer.
.	Birds without Wings by Louis De Bernieres
	The harmony of life in an Anatolian village, a mix of Greek, Turkish and Armenian, is shattered by 1900 nationalist politics.
.	Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga
	If you can't travel to Italy this novel may be the next best thing. Love and art in Florence set among the floods of 1966.
.	Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
	Kabul under the Taliban provides the backdrop for a riveting, intimate novel of human fraility.
.	Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
	Inventive and vivid, this fantasy will forever alter your opinion of the Wizard of Oz! Incredible thought-provoking fun. Read it before you see the musical.
.	End of an Error by Mameve Medwed
	Witty, diverting, enchanting portrait of middle age. Medwed should be widely known.
.	Runaway: Stories by Alice Munro
	Flawless prose. An involving collection of short stories by a master storyteller.
.	Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toer
	Atypical coming of age story, set in a Canadian Mennonite community. Wonderfully rendered portrait of an unusual adolescence.
.	Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
	We first meet Maisie Dobbs in 1929 when she is moving into her first office in London. A private detective, Maisie has been tutored and apprenticed by a Dr. Maurice Blanche who is highly regarded in London's social circles. Her first case seems rather ordinary when a man suspects his wife of cheating on him, but much will come to light, including Maisie's own complex story.
.	Old School by Tobias Wolff
	A scholarship student with literary ambitions and a shameful secret experiences an unforgettable year when his prep school is visited by Robert Frost and Ayn Rand.
.	Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Gilman
	Acerbic, often side-splitting memoir that chronicles her bohemian youth in New York City's Upper West Side and her first years of adult life. Gilman's wisecracking, raw narrative about universal experiences--defeating bullies, weathering parental divorce, trying to find meaningful work--is reminiscent of David Sedaris' writing.
.	A Gentle Plea for Chaos: Enchantment of Gardening by Mirabel Oster
	Relax in the hammock and read this lovely book to rediscover why gardening is a pleasure rather than a chore.
.	Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery by Nathaniel Philbrick
	Dramatic account chronicling the little known story of a six vessel, 346 man U.S. exploring expedition that took four years, covered more than 84,000 miles and expanded the role of science in the United States. Impress your fellow beach-combers.
.	The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the boys of Crenshaw by Michael Sokolove
	The individual stories of a vastly talented 1979 L.A. high-school baseball team come to life in this wonderful account of the players' last season and the difficulties they face in the years following. Read it for both the baseball and the social history.
.	On the Wing: to the edge of the earth with the peregrine falcon by Alan Tennant
	Renegade naturalist Tennant tells the wildly dramatic story of his risky adventures tracking migrating peregrine falcons from Alaska to Mexico. Inspired readers will marvel at and treasure this splendid story.
.	The Mapmaker's Wife by Robert Whitaker
	Filled with intellectual controversy, romantic passion, and harrowing danger, this biography recreates the life of Peruvian-born Isabel Grameson, who accompanied her cartographer husband on an eighteenth-century expedition to the uncharted Amazon jungle and emerged from the ordeal as the only survivor.