July Reads

Librarians as Readers

Librarians like to read. I usually experience instantaneous literary bonding with my colleagues at library workshops and conferences. Our tastes span every imaginable genre. I’m always amazed at the wide range of books embraced by my fellow librarians. School libraries have distinct personalities, based largely on their curated collections. The challenge is to reach beyond our personal favorites to satisfy our eclectic group of patrons.

Stretching Our Reading Muscles

I often try to push myself past my preferred reading genre, which is literary fiction. As a high school librarian, one of my main goals is to motivate teenagers to read books for pleasure. I’ve found that the most successful way to achieve this is to appeal to their personal tastes. If a student shares his passion for lacrosse, I may find him a book that involves sports. If another reader is obsessed with fantasy, I make sure to recommend the latest in that area. We don’t have to read all books to be able to recommend them. But if we at least are familiar with each of the genres, we’ll be able to relate more to our students and staff.

August Reads

My Summer Reading

With extra reading hours over the summer, I have the leisure to sample books I may not pick up during the school year. While March is when I catch up on young adult titles for our book tournament, during summer I focus on adult ones that will appeal to readers. I think of the intellectually curious student who loves science; the one who loves a quick page-turner; the music enthusiast; the science fiction buff; the teacher’s assistant who is into history and politics; ELLs who need lower level books but want engaging stories; mystery readers. . .I could never read enough books to cover every individual’s tastes but I do my best. Below is a list of my summer reading:

Fiction

Letters From Cuba by Ruth Behar

A Novel Summer by Jamie Brenner

Gilt by Jamie Brenner

Mismatched by Anne Camlin (young adult graphic novel)

Sybelia Drive by Karin Cecile Davidson

James by Percival Everett

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

The Possibilities by Yael Goldstein-Love

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

I Want You More by Swan Huntley

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Go as a River by Shelley Read

Carie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio (young adult)

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Nonfiction

Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

Leonard Cohen by Harry Freedman

The Bookshop by Evan Friss

The Genius of Israel by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

American Made by Farah Stockman

Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

June Reads