Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Librarians' Line-Up: Favorite Reads of the Summer

We're back! After a summer hiatus, your MPL librarians are back to tell you what we're reading and why we love it. Check out some of our favorites from our summer reading! 



The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

I got into reading a lot of romantic comedies this summer and this was by far the best. Two executive assistants, Lucy and Joshua, work in close proximity to each other and cannot stand one another. When a job opens up that they both want, they're forced to face each other head to head. But as tensions rise between them, they both discover they may not hate each other at all. 

I really liked this one because Lucy and Josh spent a lot of time together and actually talked (although a lot of the 'talking' was thinly veiled hate-flirting). It was funny, romantic, and I couldn't put it down. 
~Meredith

Fans of art, animation and women's history will love this coffee-table sized book dedicated to exploring the role women played during Walt Disney Studio's formative and golden years. Though limited because of the culture in the types of jobs they were allowed to receive, the women detailed in this book were talented artists and trailblazers for their time. I loved this as a summer read because the sheer size of the book required that I disconnect from everything else in order to read and soak in the beautiful full page photographs found on every other page. A great book to take your time with, and also be inspired by.  
~Meg

Whisper by Lynette Noni
They say that words have power and silence is golden, but Jane Doe hasn't spoken for the two years she has been institutionalized and experimented on. Because, her words really do have power - the power to change the world, the power to create, and the power to kill. Then, suddenly, Jane finds out that she may not be only one... This is one of my favorite books of the summer/year.  

~Mary



It’s Your Universe: You Have the Power to Make It Happen by Ashley Eckstein
Anyone who knows me knows that I have no problem proclaiming my admiration for Ashley Eckstein, actress and founder of the Her Universe fashion line. Her Universe was founded as an inclusionary brand for fangirl fashion, and Ashley’s vision for a positive pop culture community is evident in all of her work. Last year I was overjoyed to hear that she was writing her own book called It’s Your Universe: You Have the Power to Make It Happen. After waiting patiently for a year, it finally arrived! And it was everything I hoped it would be. I actually picked up the book at a singing, and it was overwhelming to see all of the young girls who came out in their Ashoka t-shirts, clutching onto their books, waiting to meet their hero. Ashley’s book was a bright spot in my summer reading, with its positive message acting as a brief reprieve from more gruesome titles like I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. In It’s Your Universe, Ashley goes over her journey from fan girl to CEO, with workbook sections for the reader to set their own goals. My favorite part of the book had to be the illustrations from Her Universe veteran artist Ashley Taylor. I look forward to sharing this book with my nieces when the get a little bit older, and encouraging them to work hard and do their best.
~Marilyn

The best thing I’ve read this summer is Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw. Bourdain was a brilliant writer and his essays are a lot of fun to read. There’s less apocalyptic stuff about what goes on in kitchens (although there is some), and more about food and the food business in general. Bourdain could write beautifully in a lot of registers: sardonic, funny, humane, and brutally honest about his own failings. His essay about Alice Waters (founder of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse) is one of the very best pieces of writing that I have ever read.
 ~John

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

My favorite book read this summer was probably The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan. It was such a sweet and cozy read. A comfortable story to slip into about a woman who gives up everything she knows to start her life over in a new country, where she wants to run a bookmobile. Adorable and picturesque, too! (I also loved The Hating Game.) 
~Cailey

What was your favorite read this summer? 

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