Take Advantage of Those Rainy, Summer Days

We're well into June and most of us probably have our hearts set on enjoying the beautiful days of summer, but not all summer days fit the traditional definition of a beautiful day. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're a reader, there's much to be said for a rainy day.

If you're looking for suggestions to help fill those rainy days, here's a sampling of some the Bucks County Library Center's new acquisitions:

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann (National Book Award winner) At the center of the novel are the stories of Lily Duggan, a young servant who flees the potato famine for America, and three of her female descendants who bring the story to the present day. With admirable stoicism, these women endure the loss of sons in violent conflict from the American Civil War to Northern Ireland's "Troubles," and somehow they persevere. "We seldom know what echo our actions will find," one of these women writes in a letter that links their four lives, "but our stories will most certainly outlast us."

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Disclafani  A debut novel that chronicles a teenage girl's year at a boarding school in the mountains of North Caroline. Thea has been exiled from her home in Florida for a mysterious offense. She bitterly resents her exile from the isolated rural existence where she, her twin brother and her beloved horses roamed free. Set during the Depression, this is the story of a rebellious young heroine who finds a chance to grow and ultimately finds the measure of her own strength.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown  This sweeping saga relates how, in 1936, nine working-class rowers from the University of Washington captured the Gold Medal in the Berlin Olympics. They overcame the hopelessness so common in the Great Depression by learning to trust in themselves and each other and shocked the sporting world with their victory. The story's depth comes from the memories that rower Joe Rantz shared with Brown shortly before his death as well as Brown's interviews with crewmates' friends and family and their archives.

Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach A psychological thriller about social networking and what it's doing to our relationships, about the lies we tell ourselves and others, for good and for ill.  When Leila discovers the website Red Pill, she feels she has finally found people who understand her. A sheltered young woman, Leila comes into her own on this website for ethical debate and attracts the attention of the site's founder, a charismatic and elusive man named Adrian. He enlists her help in "Project Tess", requiring Leila to learn everything she can about Tess because soon she will have to become her.

A Chain of Thunder: a Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg by Jeff Shaara  Latest entry into Shaara's Civil War saga. Analyzing what historians call the "brilliant and innmovative" campaign to secure the Mississippi River for the Union, Shaara spends time in both the camps of Grant and Sherman and delves into the life of Pemberton, the general charged with the Confederate defense. In addition to the generals, Shaara also follows Lucy Spence, a resident of besieged Vicksburg, who evolves from a sheltered young woman to a blood-stained, dedicated nurse and Fritz Bauer, a veteran of Shiloh, who holds onto his fragile courage and grows in confidence and courage to become a deadly sharpshooter.

As usual, it's a varied list, with something to please almost reading palate.

On a personal note, I'd like to share what I, a lifelong lover of books and rainy days, am reading this June. I decided to do something a little different and devote the month to a single author - Willa Cather. So far I've read two of her novellas, A Lost Lady and The Professor's House and am well into Death Comes for the Archbishop. It's been a treat and a nice change of pace to step back into the more stately and nuanced prose of an earlier time.

How about you? Anyone have any recommendations for summer reading?