That Happy Place: It's Time for Summer Reading

School's out, and it's reading time for me. I've dived in and I'm neck deep in books. Not only did I finish and review fifteen books, but I also got another fifteen books in, either from publishers or from the library. I'm in a happy place.

What I Finished Last Week E Is for Enchantment: A New Mexico Alphabet James, Helen Foster We're off to New Mexico next week. How best to learn about the wonders of this place? How about taking a look at the wonders a child might seek out?...more  The Summer Before the War Simonson, Helen  Simonson starts slow, but, boy-oh-boy, can she ever plot out a story. This book is the tale of a woman who comes to teach Latin in an English town just ...more  Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal Rosenthal, Amy Krouse Funny. I tell people I read just about anything but horror and textbooks. Well, if this is a textbook, you can scratch textbooks from my do-not-read list ...more  The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life Guillebeau, Chris  Happiness. I'm fascinated with happiness. Which led me to this book. I knew, of course, about Chris Guillebeau and his quest to visit every country in ...more  Imagine Me Gone Haslett, Adam  What if you knew the person you were marrying wasn't well...wasn't emotionally well? Would you go ahead and marry him? How would it go? What would you ...more Waiting for Augusta Lawson, Jessica  I know nothing about golf. Who would have guessed that I would read a book about golf? And...believe it or not...love it. There is just something about ...more Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road Schmitz, Rob Take a street in Shanghai. Zoom in. Closer. Closer. Closer still. Let's meet the people who live here. What are their lives really like? Where did they ...more  Side Effects May Vary Murphy, Julie  She's got cancer. He never had a chance before; he was just a friend. But now things have changed. And then she doesn't have cancer. And things change...more  Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat Paulsen, Gary If Gary Paulsen wants to write a play, I say he should write a play. He wanted to write a play. He did. I read it. It's quite nice, actually. Six kids ...more Diana's White House Garden Carbone, Elisa Victory Gardens were big in World War II. But did you ever hear the story of how the White House got involved in the Victory Garden business? Who got i ...more  Every Exquisite Thing Quick, Matthew  How many times have I had someone's first novel wow me only to find that the second novel was simply ho-hum? I don't know, but it has happened many, m ...more Your Idea Starts Here: 75 Ways to Find and Build More Creative Ideas Eckert, Carolyn Need ways to come up with ideas? Here's a great place to start. Seventy-five ideas. With illustrations. The Tale of a No-Name Squirrel Dhariwal, Radhika R.  Squirrel is a slave, and when he receives an unexpected invitation to a wedding, he learns there is a way to become free. This sends Squirrel off on a ...more Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White Sweet, Melissa I love Melissa Sweet's writing, but it's the illustrations she makes to accompany her text that wows me. Sweet's technique is unique; she uses a colla ...more Vinegar Girl Tyler, Anne Anne Tyler. You know what you get when you get Anne Tyler. You get difficult people. Antisocial people. People who don't get along well with others. I ...more

We are headed to New Mexico next week. I love to read books set in the place I'm visiting. Anything New Mexico-ish to recommend to me, friends? I always get my best books from you.

           

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.