It’s officially summer. No, we haven’t yet passed the solstice, but we’ve broken 90 degrees even here on “cool” Cape Cod, so that makes it summer in my book.

And, speaking of books, summer brings … summer reading!

What are you reading this summer? Something light and filled with fluff? Or are you buckling down to that “important” book you’ve had on your TBR (to be read) pile for months and months? I’d love to hear your recommendations for a great read, be it to take to the beach or just to relax with at the end of a hot day!

In the meantime, here are mine:

• Strapless by Deborah Davis: the subtitle is “John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X.” The author explores the scandal that surrounded the artist and Virginie Amelie Gautreau, the “it” girl of the early 1880s Belle Epoque Paris, through the portrait that he did of her — and explores, also, the concepts of beauty, infatuation, and conformity. This is a nonfiction account that reads like a novel and manages to be both fun and profound.
• Creating a Life Worth Living by Carol Lloyd. Those of us who live for our art, whatever that may be, often chafe at the need to “make a living” in a way that pulls us away from that art — and may well pull us apart in the process. Lloyd gives us a crash course in career survival by encouraging us to articulate our dreams and then invent the means to support them.
• Travel That Can Change Your Life by Jeffrey Kottler. It’s not about the destination in this book, but rather about how you can make every trip the best trip of your life. The author, a psychologist, urges the reader to “discover how you can make the most of your vacation, business trip, or getaway by seizing the moment to create a profound personal transformation.”
• The Remains of an Altar by Phil Rickman. Anyone who has read by book knows how much I adore and admire this author, and this latest paperback addition to his Merrily Watkins series does not disappoint. Rickman’s ability to give the place in which his novels are situated equal billing as characters in the stories is legend, and here the Melverns play a prominent role. If you haven’t read any of his books, you may want to start with earlier ones, though that’s not necessary: one of the finest novels you’ll read this summer!
• All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot. I recently revisited this old series of books about a Yorkshire country vet and found it as wonderful as it was when I first read it years ago. Amusing, hilarious, tragic, and filled with anecdotes that stay with the reader long after the book is closed: check out your local used-book shop for this one and rejoice that you don’t need to put your arm into a cow to make a living!

So there it is: my summer list. What’s on yours?

Jeannette Cézanne
Open Your Heart with Reading