Welcome to my 2020 Summer Reading List. I do this list every year in hopes of sharing books that you can read or listen to when you have some down time. Reading is a great way to learn, to grow and to expand your horizon.

So many time during the year, when I am waiting for a book from the library, I pull up a past Summer Reading list and choose a book. Reading relaxes me and helps me put things into perspective. Here are the links to the past summer reading list. Just click on the year to access.

2016, 2017 , 2018, 2019

This years list comes from many people who I know from different walks of life; family, friends, colleagues and connections from social media. I thank each of them for taking the time to share the books they have read this past year so YOU may find a ‘good read’.

Take some time and review the list. If you have read a book that you liked and did not see on the list. Leave your recommendation in the chat and I will add it to the list.

Kicking off the list are my water aerobics friends. We have not been able to meet due to COVID 19 but we have kept in touch via emails and text. When I put out the call out for suggestions for my annual summer reading list, I always get a number of good recommendations.

Carole Altobell was the first one to respond. She said she is reading “The Stationery Shop” by Marian Kamala. She also shared “Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty. She also noted “The Woman In the Window” by A.J. Finn

Jeanne Kafka shared that she has recently read, “Scratch” by Tembi Locke and “Educated” by Tara Westover

Barbara Rojas:  as far as reading is concerned, I have to admit I am regressing: I have been reading the Harry Potter books! I’m on the third one now. The reason being that my 7-year-old granddaughter has become such a fan of Harry Potter, and the other grandkids had all read the books too, that I decided I need to find out what all the fuss is about! I was pleasantly surprised. I’ll have to find something more grown-up to read next, but for now, that’s it. I’m afraid I spend a lot of time watching TV series, mostly on Amazon Prime. Right now, it’s Foyle’s War, which, by the way, is excellent.

Inez DeJesus, AKA ‘The Queen’, shared two books that she recently read; “Team of 5 by Kate Andersen Broder and Steve Jobs by Karen Blumenthal

Ann Lynn Denker is my virtual swim partner. Her latest read was ‘The Weight of Ink” by Rachel Kadiss

Mary Lynn Douroux shared she recently started listening to Audio Books.  She gets them from Broward Library., for free! So far she has really liked listening to The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. It is a story about a family and their relationship with a special house. And the book is read by Tom Hanks. That’s an extra bonus.  She recommends the book to ‘read’ as well.

Longtime friends from Florida also came through…with some good recommendations. First we have: 

Candy Cawley who is an avid reader. She listed a few of the books that are in her Kindle.  They are: “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger, “A Land Remembered” by Patrick Smith, “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles, “Educated: A Memoir” – Tara Westover, “Apollo 8” by Jeffrey Kluger, “Nothing to Envy” by Barbara Demick, “Nightingale” – Kristen Hannah and “A Summons to Memphis” by  Peter Taylor, “

Joellyn Robinson recommendations from books she liked include: “The Last Sister” by Kendra Elliot, “The Book of Lost Friends” by Lisa Wingate, “Then She Was Gone” by Lisa Jewell, “The House of Kennedy” by James Patterson,  “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins, “Ordinary Grace” and “This Tender Land” both by William Kent Krueger. Her last two contributions were “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult and “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.

Laura Warner was glad to contribute many of the books she has read over the past year. They are: “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr, “ The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah, “Dangerous Minds” by  Janet Evanovich, “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens, “The Last Second” by  Catherine Coulter, “ A Minute to Midnight: by David Baldacci, “An Unwanted Guest” by Shari Lapena, “The Girl Left Behind” by  Roxanne Veletzos “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by  Heather Morris and “The Woman in Cabin 10” by Ruth Warr.

Karen Burnside,Elaine Reyes and Emily McCrater from my Quota Club both shared their current reads. Karen shared; “The Pecan Man” by Cassie Dandridge Selleck, “The Dutch House” by Ann Pratchett, “The Giver of Stars” by Jojo Moyes, “The Home for Unwanted Girls” by Joanna Goodman, “Sold on Monday” by Kristina McMorris and “Have you seen Luis Velez?” By Katherine Ryan Hyde

Elaine Reyes shred “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennet, “Fled” by Meg Keneally, “Call Your Daughter Home” by Deb Spera and “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” by Michele Richardson

Emily McCrater shared her all-time favorites: “All the Light We Cannot See” by  Anthony Doerr, “The Giver of Stars” by JoJo Moyes, “The Lost Girls of Paris” by Pam Jenoff, “The Paris Architect: by Charles Belfour, “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah, “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah, “Catch and Kill” by Ronan Farrow, “Becoming” by  Michelle Obama, “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead, “An American Marriage” by  Tayari Jones, “Me” by Elton John.

My Patient Advocate Friends and Colleagues from across the country shared the books they read in the past few months. They are: 

Beth Droppert: “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides. It captures you and keeps you on edge and the ending is a real shocker.  Also, “Inheritance” by Dani Shapiro. Just an interesting turn on Genetic testing. “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood. Great book about three radically different women and the Republic of Gilead. Also, everyone should read and enjoy both Michele Obama and Melinda Gates’ books. They are so inspirational.

Stacey Batista fellow Board member shared two books that she enjoyed recently. They were;  “Trans Atlantic” by Colum McCann and “Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafron –

Mary Ann Mace, recommended, “Mourning Dove,” by Claire Fullerton. She notes that she read this book with her Book Club – We even had the author join us virtually for a chat! She also shared “Manhattan Beach” by Jennifer Egan. The locale is Manhattan Beach, NY!

Long time Philadelphia friends also came through…this year we have contributions from:

Grace Carr shared a two books by the same author under two different names! She loves all her Amanda Quick books. Her recommendations are: “The Girl Who Knew Too Much”. This is one book is a series of four by Amanda Quick. She also recommended “The Vanishing: from the Fogg Lake Series” 1 of  books in the series) by Jayne Ann Krentz. She also liked “When All the Girls Have Gone” from the Sons of Anson Salinas Series 1 of 3 by Jayne Ann Krentz. Jayne Ann Kentz writes under the pen name of Amanda Quick!

Kathy Pauza (Grace’s Twin Sister) shared “Box of Butterflies” by Romy Downey.

Liz Wooster has been a frequent contributor of the Summer Reading List as she loves to read. Her recommendations were: “The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power. “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles, “A Gentleman in Moscow” also by Amor Towles, “Lost Roses” by Martha Hall Kelly. She wrote “Lilac Girls”. She has two book on her night table, “Next Year in Havana” by Cleeon Chanel and the “Other Einstein” by Marie Benedict. She also added: “The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson and excellent book about Winston Churchill.

My brother Joe Hassell sent me this book; “The Overstory” by Richard Power.

Mary Reidy shared these books: “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng.” A Drop in the Ocean” by Jenni Ogden and “I am Pilgrim” by Terry Hayes.

Case Management Colleagues also participated this year.

First we have Barbara Leach, Director or Nursing at Athena Forum. Barb shared that she is also using audio to read. Her recommendations are: “Resistance Women” By Jennifer Chiaverini. This is a story of women in Berlin and the US during the rise of Hitler. Its’s a novel but very frightening in similarities to current times. Here second recommendation was: “Your Hidden Super Power by Adrienne Bankert. Adrienne is a TV broadcaster, who happens to originally be from where I live.  I’ve been on a FB Live presentation with her on this book and it’s very enlightening!

Laura Ostrowsky, suggested: “The Underground Railroad” by Colin Whitehead, “Lone Wolf” by Jodi Picoult, “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See and “Cutting for Stone” by Abraham Verghese

Connie Phillips Jones, shared her picks for this list.  “Tidelands by Philippe Gregory”, “Daughter of Molokai” by Alan Brenert, “The Great Alone: by Kristin Hannah, and “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Carol King: from Arizona emailed these two book: “Wilder Girls” by Roy Power and “White is For Witching”: by Helen Oyeyemi

Deanna Gillingham suggested: “The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson. Lot’s of twists, and turns, and surprises in this psychological suspense that starts with an accidental encounter that leads to murder.

Gary Wolf, fellow Past President of the Case Management Society of America shared some of the books he had read and really enjoyed: “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins. This book is about a family living in Acapulco, Mexico.  The husband is an investigative journalist reporting on the drug cartel.  The wife own an independent book store.  They have an eight year old son.  The head of the drug cartel starts regularly visiting the book store and falls in love with the owner although they have never had a date but only talked about books.  A story was published without a byline in the local newspaper exposing the drug cartel and its leader.  Three days later at a party sixteen members of the family were all gunned down.  The wife and son hid in the closet and escaped.  The wife knew they had to flee the country to be safe.  She had an uncle in the United States.  The book is about the experience of escaping Mexico, being followed by the drug cartel and the hardship of getting to the United States.  It is a fascinating read. His next pick was “Dopesick” by Beth Macy. This book charts the opioid crisis in America with an unforgettable portrait of the families and the first responders on the front lines.  The book documents the opioid crisis in central Appalachia and the role pharmaceutical companies play in the opioid crisis.  It is an interesting read about how the opioid crisis started and continues. Next suggestion; “Hidden Valley Road” by Robert Kolker. This is a riveting story of an American family with twelve children, six of whom were diagnosed with schizophrenia.  It is an interesting story about this family but also about the development of the diagnosis of schizophrenia and treatment.  This book is non-fiction

Marianne DiMola: “Radium Girls”by Kate Moore is an eye opening read on the power of a handful of women and their historic legal battle laying the groundwork for all worker’s safety and the foundation for OSHA.

Jane Markley. Recommended; “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana DeRosnay.  I loved it and am doing a lot of WWII readings this year.

Last but not least, Mary Choy: I’ll like to recommend the following book for your summer reading list: “The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi. Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist–and confidante–to the wealthy women of the upper class. Lakshmi, the henna artist brings her knowledge of herbs, spices, and essential oils to help heal women, soothe their discomforts and realize their desires. Dr. Kumar is a medical doctor who brings traditional medicine skills, but he ends up supporting a mixture of East and West as an important compromise. As Lakshmi pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow–a sister Lakshmi never knew she had.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a great summer!