Summer Book Recommendations For All Readers

If you're looking for a summer read and don’t know what to pick up, then your local librarian is a great place to start.

Helping people find books is Jessica Breslin’s favorite part of the job as manager of the Bay Village branch of the Cuyahoga County Library.

Breslin said that James Patterson novels are currently the most-popular picks in the system, and she offered a few suggestions for summer reads.

Jessica Breslin, manager of Bay Village branch of the Cuyahoga County Library

What she’s reading

“The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna” by Juliet Grames

“We meet two sisters that are 100 years old, Stella and Tina Fortuna, in Hartford, but the story goes well back almost 100 years to a small village in Calabria in the south of Italy. It is intensely beautiful, intensely complicated and really introduces us to a very dark family secret,” she said.

“The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead (out in July)

“It’s set in the Jim Crow South in Tallahassee in the early 1960s, and we’ve met Elwood Curtis, who is really on the right path,” she said. “One night he makes an awful mistake that really changes the trajectory of his whole life. He ends up in a reformatory called the Nickel Academy and its mission is to… turn boys with troubles into honest, hardworking men, but really in actuality it’s a horrific place.”

Books for families to read together

“Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid” by Jeff Kinney

“Anyone with a kid in their life might remember the 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid,' which introduces us to Greg Heffley. Now, this is actually told by his best friend,” Breslin said. “It’s really hilarious, and Jeff Kinney’s illustrations will just be total laugh-out-loud moments for families.

“Saving Winslow” by Sharon Creech

"'Saving Winslow' is a truly timeless tale," she said. "We meet Louie, who's a young guy, who sometimes is down on his luck, especially when it comes to animals. But this time he's super sure that he can save little Winslow. It's this teeny-tiny donkey that his dad has brought home, who's really weak and really sick." 

Authors coming to Cuyahoga County Library

“The New Girl” by Daniel Silva

Silva speaks at the Parma-Snow branch July 17.

“Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir” by Kwame Onwuachi

Onwuachi visits the Parma-Snow branch on July 29.