Summer Reading

Summer is almost over and I am hunting for a few final great summer reads. Here is some of what I have enjoyed this summer. Any suggestions for a final, fabulous book to end summer with a bang?

First--two books from the World War II era--

What comes after surviving? In 22 Britannia Road, a Polish family is shattered by World War II and tries to find their way back together again. I enjoyed this book of three tales--the Mother's experience in Poland, the Father's experience in battle, and the family's experience trying to find its way back together again.

I have a friend whose family escaped the Holocaust to Shanghai and thus I have become interested in reading more. I particularly enjoyed the first part of this book as the author described the bustle of 1930s Shanghai beautifully.

But then, a few books that take place in Oxford. Perfect companions for a  trip to England.

This might have been my favorite read of the summer. A Discovery of Witches is about a historian who discovers an enchanted manuscript in the Bodleian libary. Part love story, part adventure, all tied up with history. One reviewer describes it as "Twilight meets the Da Vinci Code", but I still really liked it.

I tend to not be a mystery reader, but a friend suggested Laurie King's Mary Russell series and I'm hooked. Mary Russell, aged 15, meets Sherlock Holmes in the English countryside where he has retired to raise bees. They immediately strike up a friendship and he takes her one as his apprentice.  English countryside, Sherlock Holmes, Oxford? Just the right reading mix for my summer.

I also really like the covers of these mysteries :)

Finally, I read massive amounts of Civil War books for work including Uncle Tom's Cabin which is pushing me towards compiling a list of unread classics to consider this fall.