Summer is the time when you grab a book and relax by the pool. But
summer reads are sometimes a little different from what we read the rest
of the year, so we have compiled a list of books that make great books for
those hot summer days.
Trish Hull, a librarian with the Salt Lake County Libraries reveals her list of
top 10 books.
1. Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell- According to Maya
legend, December 21, 2012, will mark the end of the world as we know it.
Is it myth . . . or will their prediction become reality?
Archaeologist Lina Taylor has devoted her life to studying ancient Maya
artifacts, splitting her time between digs in South America and the
classroom teaching college students. But the professor’s structured,
academic life is about to spin out of control. Some extremely valuable and
important Maya artifacts have gone missing. Are the culprits fanatics
determined to create chaos and usher in annihilation?
2. Falling for Eli by Nancy Shulins- Nancy Shulins had a great
career, a loving husband, and was looking forward to having a family.
Cheering as her friends got pregnant and dutifully bringing gaily wrapped
gifts to every baby shower, she suffered bout after bout of unsuccessful
infertility treatment. Devastated, she slowly heals through the most
unexpected route: the love of a good (if cranky) horse named Eli.
Everyone knows a woman who loves horses. Maybe she rides whenever she
can find the time, maybe she rode as a young girl, or maybe she just
devoured the Black Stallion books. Twenty years ago, Nancy Shulins let go
of one dream–having a child–and worked toward another one: learning
to ride and, eventually, having her own horse. In the process, she learned
what it means to love another being so much you can’t imagine life without
them. Falling for Eli is about learning to break a sweat rather than break
down, to try your best even if you’ll never be the best; it’s about learning to
stand on your own six feet.
3. Matched by Ally Condie -Cassia has always trusted the
Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what
to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching
ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate .
. . until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen
fades to black.
The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should
focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t
stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to
doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice:
between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that
no one else has dared to follow
4. Rather Outspoken by Dan Rather – This memoir by Dan
Rather — one of the most pre-eminent journalists of our time — is told in
a straightforward and conversational manner so that you hear his
distinctive voice on every page. Rather, — who has won every prestigious
journalism award in his distinguished career — discusses all the big stories
from his decades of reporting. This very personal accounting includes (but
is certainly not limited to) his dismissal from CBS, the Abu Ghraib story, the
George W. Bush Air National Guard controversy, his coverage of the JFK
assassination, the origin of “Hurricane Dan” as well as inside stories about
all the top personalities Dan has either interviewed or worked with over his
remarkable career
5. Triggers by Robert J Sawyer – On the eve of a secret
military operation, an assassin’s bullet strikes President Seth Jerrison. He is
rushed to the hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life.
At the same hospital, researcher Dr. Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a
device that can erase traumatic memories.
Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president
suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience-but the memories
that flash through Jerrison’s mind are not his memories.
It quickly becomes clear that the electromagnetic pulse generated by the
bomb amplified and scrambled Dr. Singh’s equipment, allowing a random
group of people to access one another’s minds.
And now one of those people has access to the president’s memories-
including classified information regarding the upcoming military mission,
which, if revealed, could cost countless lives. But the task of determining
who has switched memories with whom is a daunting one- particularly
when some of the people involved have reason to lie…
6. Escape by Barbara Delinsky – Emily Aulenbach is an
idealistic young lawyer who once dreamed of representing victims of
corporate abuse. Instead, she now spends her days in a cubicle arguing
victims of corporate greed out of their rightful claims. She no longer
connects with much in her life, period, with the exception of three things—
her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch. One day, she snaps. Without
telling anyone where she is going, she heads north to Bell Valley, New
Hampshire, the small town where she spent a life-altering summer during
her college years. There, she will set out to forge new relationships with
lovers, long-lost friends and the person she once wanted to become.
7. Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg-He is a man
with no past— a wanderer without memory of his origins. He calls himself
Valentine. As a member of a motley group of entertainers, he travels across
the magical planet of Majipoor, always hoping he will meet someone who
can give him back what he has lost.
And then, he begins to dream–and to receive messages in those dreams.
Messages that tell him that he is far more than a common vagabond—he is
a lord, a king turned out of his castle. Now his travels have a purpose—to
return to his home, discover what enemy took his memory, and claim the
destiny that awaits him…
8.Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner- Jules Strauss is a Princeton
senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a
family she’s ashamed to invite to Parents’ Weekend. With the income she’ll
receive from donating her “pedigree” eggs, she believes she can save her
father from addiction.
Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother
to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four
people on her husband’s salary, she thinks she’s found a way to recover a
sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.
India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about
herself: her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a
wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy
ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and
Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.
9. The Borgia Mistress by Sara Poole- Mistress of death
Francesca Giordano—court poisoner to the House of Borgia—returns to
confront an ancient atrocity that threatens to extinguish the light of the
Renaissance and plunge the world into eternal darkness. As the enemies of
Pope Alexander VI close in and the papal court is forced to flee from Rome,
Francesca joins forces with her lover, the brilliant and ruthless Cesare
Borgia to unravel a conspiracy that strikes at the heart of Christendom. But
when a shattering secret from her past imperils her precarious hold on
sanity, only Francesca’s own courage and resolve can draw her back from
the brink of madness to save all she values most.
10. Reverse Innovation by Indra Nooyi- is the new business
idea everyone is talking about. Why? Because it presents the blueprint for
scaling growth in emerging markets, and importing low-cost and high
impact innovations to mature ones.
Innovation is no longer the exclusive domain of the Silicon Valley elite.
Reverse Innovation will open your eyes to the fact that the dynamics of
global innovation are changing—and if you want your firm to survive, you’d
better pay attention. The gap between rich nations and emerging
economies is closing. No longer will innovations travel the globe in only
one direction, from developed to developing nations. They will also flow in
reverse. CEOs of the world’s most influential companies agree and have
cited Reverse Innovation as their playbook for the next generation of global
growth.
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