Smart Summer Reads for Older Teens and Adults

Are you looking for a great read this summer that is not pure fluff, but not so heavy that you wonder why you are reading it for fun? Here are some books with great insights about life, different cultures, history, and society. They also happen to be fantastic reads, although not necessarily fun reads. These books would be good choices for a curious high school student, the college bound, and for adults that are just looking to expand their knowledge and reading while not afraid to cross the threshold of the teen room doors.

1. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The great-granddaughter of Iran’s last emperor and the daughter of ardent Marxists describes growing up in Tehran in a country plagued by political upheaval and vast contradictions between public and private life.

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

3.  The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. An account of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 relates the stories of two men who shaped the history of the event–architect Daniel H. Burnham, who coordinated its construction, and serial killer Herman Mudgett.

4. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. In an action-packed modern fable about the problems young Chinese Americans face when trying to participate in American popular culture, the lives of three apparently unrelated characters–Jin Wang, Monkey King, and Chin-Kee–come together with an unexpected twist.

5. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan. Presents an oral history of the dust storms that devastated the Great Plains during the Depression, following several families and their communities in their struggle to persevere despite the devastation.

Looking for even more books that are smart and fascinating read? Here are a few more reading suggestions. If I missed one you would like to recommend please leave a comment and let us know so other readers can add it to their list as well!  Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Maus and  Maus II  by Art Spiegelman, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, Persepolis 2: the Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed
Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
by Allie Brosh, or The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures  by Anne Fadiman.

Romantic Beach Reads

hotMake sure you have plenty of your favorite cold drink on hand!  These books are sizzling!

in the moodIn The Mood For Love by Beth Ciotta – Sugar Creek, Vermont, is a world away from Los Angeles for high-powered, media-obsessed Harper Day. When she took the job doing publicity for the Cupcake Lovers, she never expected to be won over by the town’s old-fashioned charms. But that was before she moved into the Victorian vacation home of her dreams and fell in with a man whose good looks and irresistible ways are anything but small-town.  Sam McCloud is a widowed father of two. He and bossy, big-city Harper appear to have nothing in common… though the attraction they feel toward one another cannot be denied. But will their romance last longer than the day’s headlines?betrayed

Betrayed by Rebecca York -Rockfort Security operative Shane Gallagher has been brought into S&D Systems to find a security leak. Confidential information has been stolen, and Shane suspects Elena Reyes, a systems analyst with the access and know-how to pull it off. As he finds excuses to get close to her, their attraction is too strong to ignore, but how can Shane trust the very woman he’s investigating?  Elena has spent her life proving herself, but now she’s risking it all: everything she’s worked for, and her growing feelings for Shane. Much as she wants to trust the devastatingly sexy, hard-as-nails investigator, she can’t let herself fall for him…the stakes are too high.

never been kissedNever Been Kissed by Molly O’Keefe – As the daughter of a wealthy politician, Ashley Montgomery has had enough of her parents’ expectations for her future and is going her own way, volunteering to work at a refugee camp in Africa. But her act of charity turns dangerous when she takes a boat trip and is abducted by Somali pirates. Enter Brody Baxter, who was a bodyguard for the Montgomery family ten years ago and doesn’t think twice about coming to Ashley’s rescue.then came you

Then Came You by Jill Shalvis – Veterinary intern Emily can’t believe she wound up in the small town of Sunshine, Idaho, instead of the Los Angeles clinic she had always imagined. Now she has to put her plans to move to L.A. on hold for a whole year while she fulfills the obligation of her vet school scholarship.  Then Wyatt, her gorgeous one-night stand from a Reno vet conference, introduces himself as her new boss.

longest nightThe Longest Night by Kara Braden – Years ago, former Marine Captain Cecily Knight fled her dark past and the nightmares forever haunting her nights. Alone in the remote Canadian wilderness, she survives day to day…until Ian Fairchild comes storming into her life and shatters her protective seclusion.  Aloof but intriguing, defensive but undeniable, Ian is everything Cecily shouldn’t want but can’t ignore. He watches her with shrewd blue eyes, as if determined to decipher her secrets…and for the first time in years, she finds herself coming alive beneath the hands of a man with too many scars to count.something sweet

Something Sweeter by Candis Terry – Seattle event planner Allison Lane is an expert at delivering the perfect wedding—even if she might not exactly believe in the whole “’til death do us part” thing. When her father decides to tie the knot with a woman he barely knows, Allison heads to Sweet, Texas, to make sure his new honey is the real deal. What she didn’t expect to find at the local honky-tonk was a sexy Southern man as bent on charming her pants off as he is on blowing her “true love doesn’t exist” theory all to hell.Veterinarian, former Marine, and Sweet’s favorite playboy Jesse Wilder takes one look at Allison and knows she’s a handful of trouble he can’t deny. But even after a sizzling kiss and obvious mutual attraction, it seems Allison has no such problem. When Jesse uncovers her sweet side, can he crush his playboy image, melt her cynical heart, and change her mind about taking a trip down the aisle?

longest timeThe Longest Time by Kendra Leigh Castle – After a perfect storm of events leaves Sam high, dry, and jobless, she has to head home to Harvest Cove to regroup. Growing up, she was the town misfit, and a brief high school romance that resulted in heartbreak made her realize she was never going to fit in. But now with the support of her mother and an unexpected circle of allies, Sam starts to wonder if she’s misjudged the town all these years.  Life’s been good to Jake Smith. He transitioned from popular jock to town veterinarian without any trouble. But Sam’s homecoming makes him question his choices. The sharp-tongued beauty was never a good fit for the small community, but he’s never forgotten her—or how good they were together. While she makes it clear she’s not about to repeat the past, Jake’s determined to convince her to give him—and Harvest Cove—a second chance.sunset beach

On Sunset Beach by Mariah Stewart – Carly Summit’s name couldn’t be more fitting, since in life she always lands on top. She grew up wealthy and privileged in a tony Connecticut town, opened her own gallery in New York City, and is about to make art world history displaying previously unknown works by a prominent twentieth-century painter. No wonder she possesses a can-do attitude that can’t be soured. Ford Sinclair is another story. A military career in war-torn Africa, where he witnessed unspeakable violence and suffering, has left him haunted and deeply cynical. Now he’s looking for a way to forget and a place to belong. He hopes to find both back home in St. Dennis.
red bikiniThe Red Bikini by Lauren Christopher – For the last five years, Giselle McCabe’s life has been about sippy cups and playdates. But when her husband suddenly leaves her, Giselle flees to her sister’s California beach house for a two-week getaway. Out of her element, she’s surprised to receive such a warm welcome—especially from gorgeous celebrity athlete Fin Hensen.

Riding the Wave by Lorelie Brown – With a make-or-break world championship on the line, riding the waveprofessional surfer Tanner Wright has come back to the coastal California hometown he left a decade ago, carrying only his board and the painful knowledge of his father’s infidelity. Now that Hank Wright is dead, Tanner intends to keep the secret buried to spare his mother and sister the burden. The last time Avalon Knox saw her best friend’s brother, she was fourteen and he was a twenty-year-old surfer god. She’s never understood or respected the way Tanner distanced himself from the family that has embraced her. But now she has the professional chance of a lifetime: to photograph Tanner for the competition—if he’ll agree.

where the horsesWhere The Horses Run by Kaki Warner – Wounded in body and spirit after a shootout, Rayford Jessup leaves his career as a lawman and uses his gift with damaged horses to bring meaning to his solitary life. Hired by a Scotsman in Heartbreak Creek to purchase thoroughbreds, he travels to England, unaware that a traumatized horse and a beautiful Englishwoman will change his life forever.

At the Library: Online Language Courses

Hola, amigos! Comment allez-vous? Rydw i’n iawn diolch.

Wait a minute! Rydw i’n iawn diolch? Yes. That’s Welsh for “I am fine.”

Welcome to Transparent Language Online, a language-learning service with over 80 language options including English for speakers of other languages.French

Accessed via the Cheshire Public Library website, library (“la bibliothèque” in French) cardholders can learn everything from Afrikaans to Zulu. Transparent Language Online features listening, reading, speaking, and writing exercises, as well as pronunciation analysis, vocabulary exercises, conversational language courses, and video grammar lessons. C’est vrai!

It has great features like Quick Start. Here, you’ll find a series of 10 simple lessons that will teach you 100 of the most useful words and phrases that form the foundation of your chosen language. The program will automatically track your progress, so you can start and stop any time without losing your place. This section is really useful. Kan du hjälpa mig? (“Can you help me?” in Swedish.) Molim te. (“Please” in Croatian.) An bheori. (“Beer” in Irish.)

And then there’s Vocabulary. The list in the sidebar shows the many subjects you have to choose from such as Asking for Directions, At the Hotel, and the all-important Bathroom. One of my favorite vocab lists? Dessert! Ah, what I wouldn’t give for some il cioccolato right now!

Reference. This is an assortment of useful tools to help you learn more about your language of choice: Grammar Tips, a Quick-Help Grammar Reference list, and History, which has interesting tidbits about the language. If you are studying Latin, you will discover that much of English vocabulary comes from ancient Rome, and our everyday communications are peppered with Latin phrases like et cetera and per capita.

ItalianLearned Items. Here, you can keep track of the vocabulary terms you’ve mastered and refresh your memory of learned items that you have not recently practiced. Each learned item is classified as “fresh” (meaning that you have practiced it recently or mastered it through repeated practice) or “stale” (meaning that it may be at risk of being forgotten). And let me tell you, being fluent in a language beats carrying around a kamusi (“dictionary” in Swahili).

Ciao.

Linda Reads: Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage by Molly Wizenberg

It’s rare for me to read a memoir,  but the title of this memoir intrigue me enough to give it a try.   I’m so glad I did!  The author is a blogger (Orangette) and the book tends to lend itself to a blogging format, but I found it to be a poignant and funny account of a marriage that takes an unexpected career path.

delanceyDelancey tells the story of Molly Wizenberg and Brandon Pettit –  a trained composer with a handful of offbeat interests: espresso machines, wooden boats, violin-building, and ice cream–making. So when Brandon decided to open a pizza restaurant, Molly was supportive—not because she wanted him to do it, but because the idea was so far-fetched that she didn’t think he would. Before she knew it, he’d signed a lease on a space. The restaurant, Delancey, was going to be a reality, and all of Molly’s assumptions about her marriage were about to change.

Together they built Delancey: gutting and renovating the space on a cobbled-together budget, developing a menu, hiring staff, and passing inspections. Delancey became a success, and Molly tried to convince herself that she was happy in their new life until—in the heat and pressure of the restaurant kitchen—she realized that she hadn’t been honest with herself or Brandon.

With evocative photos by Molly and twenty new recipes for the kind of simple, delicious food that chefs eat at home, Delancey is a moving and honest account of two young people learning to give in and let go in order to grow together.

About the author:molly

Molly Wizenberg is the voice behind Orangette, named the best food blog in the world by the London Times. Her first book, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, was a New York Times bestseller, and her work has appeared in Bon Appétit, The Washington Post, The Art of Eating, and The Guardian, and on Saveur.com and Gourmet.com. She also co-hosts the hit podcast Spilled Milk. She lives in Seattle with her husband Brandon Pettit, their daughter June, and two dogs named Jack and Alice. She and Brandon own and run the restaurants Delancey and Essex.
Source:  Amazon

Tooth Fairy Books for First Time Donors

Do you have a child that has lost their first tooth, is celebrating their first wiggly tooth, or has questions about the Tooth Fairy and other related mythology? Parents of all generations have faced the dilemma of how to deal with it, and just what stories to share in their families. Well, here are a selection of picturebooks for you and your child to peruse to see what best fits your family.

1. Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions From Around the World by Selby B. Beeler; illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Consists of brief statements relating what children from around the world do with a tooth that has fallen out. Includes facts about teeth.

2. Tooth Tales From Around the World by Marlene Targ Brill; illustrated by Katya Krenina. Explores how different cultures have viewed losing teeth and how the idea of the Tooth Fairy originated.

3. The Tooth Mouse by Susan Hood; illustrated by Janice Nadeau. Introduces readers to the Tooth Mouse, France’s version of the tooth fairy, and to Sophie, a sweet young mouse who must prove she is brave, honest and wise enough to take over this important job.

4. Madlenka by Peter Sis
Madlenka, whose New York City neighbors include the French baker, the Indian news vendor, the Italian ice-cream man, the South American grocer, and the Chinese shopkeeper, goes around the block to show her friends her loose tooth and finds that it is like taking a trip around the world.

5. Amanda Pig and the Wiggly Tooth by Jean Van Leeuwen; pictures by Ann Schweninger.
Amanda Pig has her first ever wiggly tooth and she can not wait for the Tooth Fairy to come. But her loose tooth will not fall out. Father offers to pull it out for her, but Amanda thinks that might hurt too much. Instead, she decides to ignore it and one day discovers that her tooth has fallen out on its own. But where is it. Will the Tooth Fairy still come if Amanda has lost her tooth.

6. Tabitha’s Terrifically Tough Tooth by Charlotte Middleton. A young girl tries everything she can think of to make her loose tooth fall out in time to leave it for the Tooth Fairy.

There are plenty of other books that feature both new and well-known characters dealing with the first loose tooth. Here are some more books you might want to check out: Dear Tooth Fairy by Karen Gray Ruelle,  Silverlicious  by Victoria Kann, I Want My Tooth by Tony Ross, Franklin and the Tooth Fairy by Paulette Bourgeois, Fancy Nancy and the Too-Loose Tooth by Jane O’Connor, The Berenstain Bears and the Tooth Fairy by Jan & Mike Berenstain, The Very Beary Tooth Fairy by Arthur A. Levine; illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen, A Visit from the Tooth Fairy by Sarah Albee; illustrated by Karen Craig,
I Lost my Tooth! by Hans Wilhelm, Bear’s Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson; illustrations by Jane Chapman, and Gilbert and the Lost Tooth by Diane deGroat.