Michele’s Summer Reading List

Summer is always, in our minds, a more relaxing time of year. If we are lucky to be on vacation we have the leisure time to pick up that book we’ve been wanting to read. Summer must-read lists are everywhere, tantalizing us with the latest new stories.

As a writer, most of my leisure time gets filled with my own projects or going to the tried and true places that inspire me. And, of course, there’s my teaching, which demands constant attention. So to be honest, I haven’t picked up as many books as I usually would have by now.

Within the span of one week this summer I found three emails in my inbox from three different friends announcing their recently published work. Knowing what a long road it can be from writing to publication, I couldn’t be happier for their success. So I’ve created my own summer reading list here. There’s something for everyone, so check out their websites and books today!

If you like memoirs and riveting personal stories, Jaguar Man by Lara Naughton should be your next read. The imagery and mythical devices work beautifully in telling this life-changing story. It will make you think. It will make you feel. It’s definitely a book club read, one you’ll want to talk about with all your friends.

If you are like me and need a little beauty for the senses at the end of a long day, Heart on a Fence by Marcia Meier is for you. It is a photography poetry treasure. Treat yourself to one of her amazing photographs and one of her rich poems each day and your world will be so much better for it.

Fiction lovers get ready for Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel. Highly acclaimed and on many top summer reading lists, this tale of one family’s life and loss, will hold you in its grip until the final pages.

Enjoy!