Editor note: I first received this article from Mary Jackson near the end of July, but I was unable to publish it to the blog until now. Apologies Mary! The content is still relevant, however, and we are very excited about providing a Bestsellers Bookshelf for our users. It’s a bit later now. But there’s still enough summer left to get some official summer reading done.
How was your summer? Many people will be asking that in a few short weeks. But summer is still here and for many of you that includes summer reading. Meredith Sommers announced in a May 25th blog post, that the library is now purchasing a small rotating collection of bestsellers. I have read four of these bestsellers and hope a brief review might encourage you to read them.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand—From the author of Seabiscuit, an amazing, uplifting, spiritual, and true story of Louis Zamperini. In places his real life is so unbelievable that it reads like fiction. Hillenbrand, who has an interesting life story herself, writes a compelling tale with extensive research and interviews with many of the participants.
Bossypants by Tina Fey—Funny books are hard to write, but this book made me laugh out loud. Fey is a comedy writer first and foremost; it shows in her writing. The final 1/3 is the weakest part of the book, but the first 1/3 more than makes up for the weakness in the ending. I knew of her, but certainly do not consider myself a huge Tina Fey fan and I still enjoyed this book.
Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid into College by Andrew Ferguson—A funny and engaging account of a writer dad’s efforts at getting his reasonably smart, but overwhelmed, son into college. An excellent read for the Milligan community showing the admissions process from the other side. In describing his son’s experience, he touches on many current topics in higher education.
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain—A well written novelization of the real life first marriage of Ernest Hemingway to Hadley Richardson, written from her perspective. The story is interesting, but one I found sad and with very few sympathetic characters outside the protagonist. It might be interesting to read in conjunction with Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, which details the same period in his life.
Come by the library and check out these or any of the Milligan bestsellers. They are located on the first floor near the back stairwell.