I did make a significant dent in my to-be-read pile. I feel accomplished but as always lament not reading more, but I like living life as well. As I transition back into school library life, I’m pausing this Labor Day to share my six favorite books from this summer.

As a disclaimer, these books weren’t necessarily published this summer nor are they summer themed.

1. Seafire by Natalie Parker– A daring group of lady pirates led by the fantastically illustrated Caledonia who is out for revenge against an evil man whose army killed her brother year ago. I wrote a full post here.
2. The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King by Holly Black– I couldn’t have picked a more opportune time to start the first book, during my 24-hour readathon in July where I slowly indulged in Black’s world and language and characters then quickly jumped to the second book after much praise from students and colleagues alike. Jude has been stolen away to fairy after her parents were murdered and now as dangerous liaisons are threatening her and her sister, she needs all of her own weapons and power to either ascend to the throne or put people there she can control.
3. Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner– We need more funny in books and this has a campy element with serious undertones when Rayne and Delilah aka Josie and Delia run a late-night public access show adding skits and commentary for old-style horror classic flicks. It was delightful but still mad me cry. Read about it here.
4. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling– Yes, I waited nearly twenty years to actually read the series but I do not regret it. Reading alongside my rising fourth graders as they both completed the series between spring and last week, I have an epic appreciation for the world that Rowling built. Here were my reflections. 
5. The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee– Notice a theme with some of the others? It was the summer of the woman. This was a late night read like Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee where I laughed and fought alongside Felicity where she rages against the patriarchy while saving another on her quest to be a licensed medical doctor way back in the 18th century.
6. (A tie between these two adult novels) An American Marriage by Tayari Jones and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi– I always make some time to read adult novels and because of my participation in an adult summer reading program through a local public library, both of these were on my long list to be read and then appeared on the challenges, so I threw caution to the wind and adored both for their intricate storytelling that was atmospheric and languid for all of the right reasons. A slow unfolding of generations or the passage of time and its affects on the character’s lives. In the former, it was imprisonment and whether a marriage could survive and the second, a historical novel about the passage of time and the connection of families from 18th century Ghana to contemporary America.

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