You Signed Up for the Library's Summer Reading Program
Hi friends,
I hope the first week of June treated you well. I get disproportionate joy out of a month that begins on a Monday — it just feels right.
I was happy to see Good People by Patmeena Sabit on this New York Times list of best audiobooks of the year so far. What have been some of your favorite listens of the year?
And, now, what to read if …
You’re Psyched for the Library’s Summer Reading Program
The Librarians by Sherry Thomas
I’m writing this after stopping at the library to pick up my summer reading challenge paperwork. If you, too, are planning on doing a library reading program this summer (on top of What To Read If Bingo, perhaps?), you’ll want to pick up Sherry Thomas’ The Librarians, a celebration of libraries and the people who love them.
Just a few days after Hazel starts her new job at an Austin library branch, two patrons who attended a Halloween-themed game night turn up dead — and two of her new coworkers are wrongly implicated in their murders.
The librarians have long treated each other as friendly colleagues, but to solve the crimes, they’ll need to actually trust one another. As they untangle the mystery, the coworkers share long-kept secrets and unearth a conspiracy that extends far beyond Austin.
Like all Sherry Thomas books, The Librarians is a slow burn with an extremely satisfying conclusion, and like her Lady Sherlock books, it features a found family I would love to be a part of. It’s intricately plotted, with characters so real you can’t help but root for them. Library lovers (so probably all subscribers of this newsletter) won’t want to miss this one.
You Read the New FBI Files on D.B. Cooper
The Skies Belong to Us by Brendan Koerner
The FBI continues to quietly release new documents related to D.B. Cooper’s infamous crime — hijacking a plane, stealing $200,000 and then parachuting out of it over Washington State’s Cascade Mountains. If you remain fascinated by Cooper’s case, check out The Skies Belong to Us, a nonfiction book from journalist Brendan Ian Koerner about the “golden age of hijacking.”
Between 1968 and 1973, commercial jets were hijacked nearly once a week, as criminals sought to use the planes and hostages to flee to far-off countries and get paid ransom. Hijacking became so common air traffic controllers in Miami had direct lines to Havana, where stolen American planes often landed.
Koerner illustrates the hijacking epidemic through the case of Roger Holder, a traumatized Vietnam War veteran, and his girlfriend, Cathy Kerkow. On June 2, 1972, they boarded a plane, and Holder claimed he had explosives and was working with the Weather Underground, a violent radical group. The pilots decided to comply with him and ultimately flew to Algiers, where they joined the International Section of the Black Panther Party.
It’s a wild tale and one that could make for a solid book, but Koerner goes a step further by documenting all the forces that coincided to make the 1970s a time of peak hijacking. I now think of The Skies Belong to Us nearly every time I go through TSA, making me less grumbly and more grateful for modern air travel.
You’ve Mentally Checked In to the Love Island Villa
Summer of Love by Lily Easton*
“Love Island USA,” a reality dating show set … on an island, premiered its 8th season last week, immediately becoming a full-time viewing experience for hard-core fans. With new episodes dropping six days a week, it is not a commitment I can make this summer, but I’m guessing some of you are tuning in. If you’re skipping this season but still want some “Love Island” vibes or are watching, but need even more, grab a copy of Lily Easton’s Summer of Love.
Neither Oliver Wright, a ballet dancer, nor boxer Declan King ison “Summer of Love” for the “right reasons” (i.e., to find love). Oliver is after the prize money so he can move to New York and win his ex-girlfriend back. Declan, a closeted gay man, thinks a very public relationship with a woman will help hide his true identity. But the two men find themselves more attracted to each other than any of the other villa residents.
While the producers create a love triangle among Oliver, Declan and a third contestant Zoe, their on-screen bromance becomes a fan favorite. After a behind-the-scenes kiss, the couple must consider what it would mean to not just throw the rules of reality TV upside down but date each other publicly.
Summer of Love is a perfect summer treat — frothy and fun, with heart and real stakes for both characters. And it finally answers the question: does what happen in the villa stay in the villa? Throw it in your beach bag. You won’t regret it.
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Disclosure One : I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
*Disclosure Two: One of the two writers behind the Lily Easton penname is a former coworker and friend.
