There’s still lots of summer left. Time for one last dip in the lake. A few weekends left for romantic getaways. Time to say goodbye to your new college freshman .. or senior. Time to spend a weekend at the beach. And time left for a good book, so why not try one of these…?
LGBT TOPICS
If a wedding was in your summer plans this year, you’ll still want to read Love Wins by Debbie Cenziper and Jim Obergefell. It’s the story of the people – lawyers and otherwise — who fought for marriage equality and won. Pair it up with Then Comes Marriage by Roberta Kaplan with Lisa Dickey, a book about the United States v. Windsor and the end of DOMA.
For the reader who’s spent the summer looking for a spiritual home, Queer Virtue by The Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman could be what you need. This is a book about how the church needs LGBTQ worshippers to strengthen their core and to return the church to a true Christian faith.
Sometimes, all you need for the end of summer is a good romp in the paper, right? So look for Fun with Dick and James by Rich Barnett, and buckle your seatbelt. It’s a story of a rich Delaware man with an ex-wife and other assorted problems, who is plagued by a malicious dentist nemesis. How does he extricate himself from trouble? All it takes is a good boyfriend…
RELATIONSHIPS. How many times have you fallen in love this summer? Maybe more than you think, and you can find out by reading Happily Ever After… and 39 Other Myths about Love by Linea & Charlie Bloom. This book could enhance your relationship. It could make you lucky in love. It could make you fall in love with your spouse a time or two before summer’s over.
FOOD. No doubt, you’ve enjoyed a lot of good things to eat this summer. BBQs and cookouts re too irresistible, but did you ever wonder what your ancestors might have enjoyed under the stars? If you ever considered it, then read 100 Million Years of Food by Stephen Le and see how food has evolved, how palates have changed, and why we should care.
HISTORY. Did you have your dose of adventure yet this summer? If not, then grab Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story by Mollie Gregory and hang on to your seat. It’s the story of Hollywood stunt doubles, the dangers they undertake, and their fight for recognition.
POLITICS. With politics on everyone’s mind (including yours!), you owe it to yourself this summer to read something that will make you think before you vote. In Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy by Dr. Julianne Malveaux, you’ll be asked a lot of questions that will require you to think deeply.
ANIMALS. Here’s something for animal lovers to take to the beach: Smoke the Donkey by Cate Folsom, the story of a small stray donkey found by soldiers in Fallujah. Who could resist a friendly animal like that? No soldier could, which is why Smoke became mascot, pet, friend, and ultimately, a new American resident. You can’t resist, either.
Filled with quirk, Goat Man by Thomas Thwaites is the story of a man who decides that it would be fun to be an animal for awhile. Seriously, so he “becomes” a goat and, in the meantime, learns a little about animals and himself. Pair it up with Pound for Pound by Shannon Kopp, you’ll read how one woman found several BFFs in an animal shelter in California. But who saved whom here?
HEALTH. If summertime’s got you down, then you might feel a little better with Ordinarily Well: The Case for Antidepressants by Peter D. Kramer. It’s a look at depression, the pills prescribed to fix it, and whether they’re a good idea or not.
And there you go — a lot of suggestions for a lot of summer left. Pick a book, because there’s time.
— Terri Schlichenmeyer
