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Health & Fitness

Five Great Summer Reads

Warm weather, a lounger, a shady tree--doesn't that make you feel like reading?  Here are some suggestions for books you may not have heard of, from a variety of genres.  

1)  Farthing, by Jo Walton.  Wonderful alternate-history featuring a spirited young couple and an England facing Hitler across the Channel.

2)  Fallen Skies, by Philippa Gregory.  You know Gregory for her Elizabethan novels (and haven't we had enough of those by now?) but this early book of hers is one of my favorites.  Set in a post-World War I England, it's a terrific and suspenseful story that illuminates the social changes of the decade.

3)  Sold for Endless Rue, by Madeleine Robins.  This could be considered a young adult novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's a thirteenth-century story with the feel of a fable, set in Italy, and jam-packed with fabulous historical and medical/herbal detail.  

4)  Life after Life, by Kate Atkinson.  I tend to avoid the best-seller list because I know they're manipulated, but this was a book I'm glad I didn't miss.  It's a different premise from any I've read before, exploring the many avenues a woman's life can take, and spanning a good part of the twentieth century in the process. 

5)  Ghosts:  Recent Hauntings.  This short-story collection is SO much fun!  Surely during the summer we can indulge in some light fare, and this collection of ghost stories by some great writers should be on the menu.

And don't forget to support your independent bookseller whenever you can!  

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