July 18, 2023 — If ever there was a time to sit facing a sea breeze, or to curl up on a couch feeling grateful for AC, it seems this would be the week! So we thought it high time for our summer suggested reading issue.
Last Saturday morning, my great photographer friend Sammy Sasson called to report on her amazing annual trip to the cool woods of her beloved Oregon and, before ending the call, asked if I’d read anything good lately. I suggested a couple of recent favorites — including The Echo of Old Books that you see above — and we went about our day.
That evening, I sent her a text from the shore here on Miami Beach. “At water now and so gorgeous. Hey, started reading The Last Flight. I’m only 10% in, but intrigued so far and think you might be, too.” Her reply was, “Good for you. I just returned from our building’s pool. So refreshing in this heat. I’ll check out the book. Thanks. Enjoy! 👍🏻🌹🌞”
Sunday morning, another text arrived from Sammy saying, “Excessive heat warning today. Heat index 112! On your recommendation, I downloaded The Last Flight on my Kindle. Staying cool by reading it now.” I wrote back, “Excessive Reading Warning ⚠️ I couldn’t put that book down and finally finished it at four in the morn. 😳🤪 Enjoy.”
So, Cardies, what keep-cool summer reads are you suggesting lately?! And while you’re at it, can any wise one share how you keep track of which books you’ve loved and which you’d not recommend? Comment below >>>
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
25 Reads that Cardies Recommended Last December
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
Can You Hear the Trees Talking by Peter Wohlleben
The Clover Girls by Viola Shipman
Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston
Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg
Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Immigrant Transformed by Ammini Moorthy, PHD
The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
October, October by Katya Balen
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Libbie Hawker
The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
The Push by Audrey Audrain
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
The Royal Governess by Wendy Holden
The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe
Successful Aging by Daniel Levitin
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
True Biz by Sara Novic
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
July 18, 2023 — If ever there was a time to sit facing a sea breeze, or to curl up on a couch feeling grateful for AC, it seems this would be the week! So we thought it high time for our summer suggested reading issue.
Last Saturday morning, my great photographer friend Sammy Sasson called to report on her amazing annual trip to the cool woods of her beloved Oregon and, before ending the call, asked if I’d read anything good lately. I suggested a couple of recent favorites — including The Echo of Old Books that you see above — and we went about our day.
That evening, I sent her a text from the shore here on Miami Beach. “At water now and so gorgeous. Hey, started reading The Last Flight. I’m only 10% in, but intrigued so far and think you might be, too.” Her reply was, “Good for you. I just returned from our building’s pool. So refreshing in this heat. I’ll check out the book. Thanks. Enjoy! 👍🏻🌹🌞”
Sunday morning, another text arrived from Sammy saying, “Excessive heat warning today. Heat index 112! On your recommendation, I downloaded The Last Flight on my Kindle. Staying cool by reading it now.” I wrote back, “Excessive Reading Warning ⚠️ I couldn’t put that book down and finally finished it at four in the morn. 😳🤪 Enjoy.”
So, Cardies, what keep-cool summer reads are you suggesting lately?! And while you’re at it, can any wise one share how you keep track of which books you’ve loved and which you’d not recommend? Comment below >>>
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Founder & Chief Creative
25 Reads that Cardies Recommended Last December
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
Can You Hear the Trees Talking by Peter Wohlleben
The Clover Girls by Viola Shipman
Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston
Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg
Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Immigrant Transformed by Ammini Moorthy, PHD
The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
October, October by Katya Balen
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Libbie Hawker
The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
The Push by Audrey Audrain
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
The Royal Governess by Wendy Holden
The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe
Successful Aging by Daniel Levitin
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
True Biz by Sara Novic
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
The Rachel Incident: Caroline O’Donoghue I tore through this in one day last week. A mix of humor and drama.
Anything by S.A. Cosby, just read his most recent. Maybe start with Razorblade Tears.
You Can Make this Place Beautiful: Maggie Smith, non-fiction (poet who wrote Good Bones)
If you like Jane Smiley her recent book of essays: The Questions That Matter Most
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemna by Claire Dederer An interesting look at reconciling liking the writings of authors we know to have been pretty horrible human beings.
I guess this is where you leave recommended reading for this summer.
I’m reading “Life on the Mississippi” by Rinker Buck. It’s an interesting account of travels down the tributaries to the Mississippi and woven into it are intersting historical facts. Oddly enough it carries the same title as the Mark Twain classic. I recommend this book. It was purchased in a book store in Traverse City, Michigan, this store handles Cardthartic cards.
Best book I’ve read so far this summer is Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, but I’ve already enjoyed several of the other recommended titles too. Now to print out this list…. thank you!
the best of the best that I’ve read so far this year:
an older one that I missed when it came out, Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
and No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister ( her earlier titles are also very good)
I’d also recommend:
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
The Thursday Murder Club mystery series by Richard Osman – – very funny – best read in order
The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader (her earlier titles are very good, too)
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
The Immeasurable Depth of You by Maria Ingrande Mora
I love non-fiction, so I’m enjoying “Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America’s Future” by Jean M. Twenge PhD.
And Goodreads.com is a wonderful aggregator of your personal reading lists and rankings . . . as well as a great book-reading community!
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I am reading this slowly, discussing three or four chapters at a time with my far flung sisters, over zoom.
I am an unapologetic book pusher! I get my friends and acquaintaces to turn of the TV and read. I read 6 of the books on your list. Oh I also run a book club and belong to a book club at our library (they furnish the books) I keep a log, by the month, of what I have read, am averaging about 10 books a month.
I also keep a card file by author in an effort to not double up on books I have already read. So, a few recommendations, Olivia Hawker wrote another book and our book club really liked it also, “The Ragged Edge of Night.” Just bought a book at Powells (Portland, Or premier independent book store!) “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” by Satoshi Yagisawa, read it literally in one sitting. It had won a prize in Japan and was then translated to English. Exposes the reader to a whole different culture. “Lessons in Chemistry” has been on the best seller list for many months, and it is worth it, I laughed out loud a lot. “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande should be required reading for all adults, in fact it would be the perfect 40th birthday present. (I was reading it while waiting for the DR. to appear and he saw the title and I asked him if he had read it and he said, “Oh yes, all people should and the Medical school pretty much insisted”. It is written by a Dr. who was on his way to tell the patient that the surgery was not successful and the Dr. realized he didn’t really know how to tell the patient that his time was limited, and the patient said “What is the quality of my final days going to be like.”
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver