Summer is definitely here considering the temperatures and let me recommend a stack of new books in hardback or paperback that you might want to consider for your summer reading. 

           

J. Courtney Sullivan’s “Saints for All Occasions” follows two sisters age 21 and 17 who leave their small village in Ireland to come to America.  When one of the sisters becomes pregnant, it is the oldest that must come up with a plan, one that has long-lasting repercussions.  Fifty years later, one sister, the matriarch of a big Catholic family, and the other, a cloistered nun, must finally confront the decisions they made.

           

“The Light We Lost” by Jill Santopolo finds two seniors at Columbia University whose chance meeting affects their future.  Even though they love each other they must decide if their dreams and betrayals will mean a life together or a life apart.

           

“Mr. Rochester” by Sarah Shoemaker takes the famous story of Jane Eyre and shifts the attention to the dynamic hero.  Now readers can follow his tale from a motherless boy rampaging through Thornfield Hall to the fatal mistakes of his marriage and the redemption in his love for his precious Jane.

           

The title alone should attract readers to pick up Gail Honeyman’s new book, “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.”  Its lead character lacks social skills and says exactly what she thinks.  Her life is carefully scheduled, but all of that falls apart when she meets Raymond, the IT guy from the office.  And when the two of them rescue an elderly gentleman from a fall, Raymond, Eleanor and Sammy get a chance at a new life.

           

“House of Names” by Colm Toibin retells the tragic saga from Homer’s “Iliad” from Clytemnestra’s point of view.  Left back in Greece to rule in his place, she plots revenge and Agamemnon’s murder when he returns from the war nine years later. 

           

“Ginny Moon” by Benjamin Ludwig concerns an autistic teenager who finally finds her forever home after years in foster care, but Ginny has different plans for her future, astonishingly different plans.

           

“The Four Legendary Kingdoms” by Matthew Reilly is an action-packed novel about a family man who has been chosen along with a dozen other elite soldiers to compete in a deadly game designed to fulfil an ancient ritual.

           

“The Baker’s Secret” by Stephen P. Kiernan is set in World War II Normandy where Emma uses her role in the local bakery to help out the hungry villagers while “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” by Mark Sullivan follows Italian Pino Lella who is forced to enlist in the German army by his parents and uses his position as the driver for Hitler’s commander, General Hans Leyers, to spy for the Allies.

           

This is a rich summer for readers since the selections are especially good.  So take advantage of the summer heat to relax with a cool drink and enjoy adventures from Ancient Greece to World War II Italy to modern America.