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Cool Reads for Hot Days

by Daria Sockey in Reviews on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 6:00 AM

Summer reading!

Just the sound of those words makes me exhale, relax my shoulders, and remember those pleasant afternoons spent in a lounge chair in the backyard, with a tall glass of ice tea in one hand and a book in the other, while the little ones napped or splashed in a wading pool.

Now the kids are big and I work full time. My reading time is the long, light evenings after dinner, and sometimes a glass of wine stands in for the ice tea.

What qualifies as summer reading? Obviously, anything you really enjoy. And given the invariable interruptions in a mother’s life, and the tendency of the summer sun to make one a tad drowsy, it seems that summer titles should be not too complex. They should be books you can read while keeping half an eye and a bit of your brain tuned in to that wading pool. They should be easy to get right back into after refereeing a toddler squabble or dashing in for a potty session. What follows are a few books from various genres that to me fit that template. 

Fiction First!

The Loser Letters: A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism
by Mary Eberstadt, Ignatius Press. 2010

A twenty-something young woman and convert from Christianity to the “New Atheism” is full of advice for her favorite authors. Wanting to help them tweak their message to gain even more followers, our heroine writes a series of letters to Dawkins, Hitchens, & Co. In her own words to her mentors, “Just think of me as your own private Project Runway or What Not to Wear—someone who just wants us atheists to be all that we can be.”  The result is a delightful satire and a backhanded apologetic for Christianity. In addition, as this earnest protagonist slowly reveals bits of her past and hints at her present, the reader will have an intriguing time trying to figure out where Ms. A.F. Christian and her laptop are located. My college age daughter and I both enjoyed The Loser Letters immensely.

The Choice (Lancaster County Secrets, Book 1)
by Suzanne Woods Fisher, Revell Press

A mere glance at the “Christian Fiction” shelf in any bookstore is all it takes to see that Amish romances are big sellers. As a rural Pennsylvanian, I regularly come across buggies and bonnets at the local Walmart and feel a mix of admiration and curiousity. Hence, my initial foray into this particular genre of Christian chick lit. The result? An entertaining, informative, and heart warming beach read. The Choice involves not one but several young women struggling with decisions about love and marriage that may include leaving the Amish life behind. Particularly interesting is one relationship that involves a young man who had spent part of his life with an Amish family but is now a “born again” evangelical Christian. It’s probably the only setting where one of these folks would come across as a liberal. Then throw in some medical emergencies, suspicious barn fires, and a tattooed ex-con biker. So grab a slice of shoo fly pie and enjoy the fun.

The Enchanted April
by Elizabeth von Arnim, (various print and download editions)

I’ve loved the movie based on this 1922 classic for many years, and had always wanted to try the book. After downloading Kindle software to my netbook, this was one of my first purchases — a bargain at 99 cents. You will laugh and sigh and cry with Lottie and Rose, two English women who temporarily escape from dull, predictable lives and unhappy marriages by doing something absolutely shocking: leasing a seaside Italian castle for a month’s vacation. They recruit two more unhappy females to share the rather pricey rent. As the month unfolds, the four become friends. They find healing in the beauty of their surroundings (the castle is significantly named San Salvatore - “Holy Savior”), that enables each of them to re-discover the meaning of love. A thoroughly satisfying story that will leave you yearning to be a little more creative with next year’s vacation plans.

Next week: non-fiction picks!

—Senior writer Daria Sockey writes from her home in Pennsylvania.

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