While away lazy summer days under the shade of a good book – from girly non-fiction to in-the-spirit Olympic competition – with these easy summer reads.
‘The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker’ [Memoir]
Janet Groth (Algonquin, $19.95, June 26)
A young girl becomes a receptionist at the famed and eccentric magazine and from 1957 to 1978 takes in the comings and goings on the legendary 18th floor.
‘The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human’ [Non-Fiction]
Jonathan Gottschall (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24)
This non-fiction number explores the latest theories about why people tell stories and what stories reveal about human nature. Gottschall offers insights into such related topics as universal themes and what it means to have a knack for storytelling.
‘Gold’ [Fiction]
Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster, $27, July 3)
Just in time for the summer Olympics in London, this novel revolves around two top female cyclists who are both best friends and fierce competitors trying to nab a spot on the British team.
‘The Sandcastle Girls’ [Fiction]
Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday, $25.95, July 17)
In his 15th book, the best-selling novelist of Armenian descent crafts a love story about a young American nurse and an Armenian engineer that begins in 1915 during the Armenian genocide.
‘All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane’ [Non-Fiction]
Amy Elizabeth Smith (Sourcebooks, $14.99, paperback original, June 1)
Follow a California literature professor over the course of a year as she leads book clubs that discuss Jane Austen’s classics in Spanish, while she finds her own Señor Darcy along the way.
‘Eco-House Renovations: 45 Green Home Conversions’ [Home and Design]
Lucy D. Rosenfeld (Schiffer Publications, $49.99)
Tour 45 home projects across the country that undergo practical, yet environmentally friendly, renovations that are dually aesthetically pleasing. This book will demonstrate that you can convert any house, whether it be a town house or country barn, to be ecologically sound.
