Librarians weigh in with recommended summer reads

Whether you’re at a cafe, by the pool or on vacation, summer is the time for a good book.
David Greenfield, library director of the Kasson Public Library, said his favorite summer reading spot is on his front porch. That’s where you’ll currently find him curled up after library hours with “Black Magic,” the sixth book in the Erin O’Reilly Mysteries by Steven Henry.
Greenfield and Ingvild Herfindahl, library director at the Dodge Center Public Library, have these books to recommend as beach reads this summer.
Title: “The Ministry of Time”Author: Kaliane BradleyGenre: Science Fiction
Description: A recently established government ministry is trying to establish whether time travel is feasible — for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. The unnamed narrator works as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring a British officer thought to have perished in 1845. An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, “The Ministry of Time” asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house?
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli”Author: David LaRochelleGenre: Picture Book
Description: This comical counting adventure follows 100 mighty dragons all named Broccoli as they each embark on their own journey until there’s one dragon left, who retreats to a cave for the winter and reemerges in the spring with a special surprise! Minnesota author.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “This Summer Will Be Different”Author: Carley FortuneGenre: Contemporary Romance
Description: Each year, Lucy escapes to Prince Edward Island for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again. When Bridget suddenly flees to PEI a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to help her through her crisis. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “Ferris”Author: Kate DiCamilloGenre: Chapter Book
Description: During the summer before fifth grade, Ferris Wilkey has her hands full with her little sister terrorizing the town, her Aunt Shirley moving into their basement and her grandmother seeing a ghost--one who has wild, impractical and illuminating plans. Minnesota author.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “The Summer Pact”Author: Emily GiffinGenre: Fiction
Description: As graduation nears, the lives of four college students are forever changed. Stunned and heartbroken, a pact is made to be there for each other in their time of need, no matter how separated they are by circumstances or distance. Ten years later, they agree to take a time out from lives headed in wrong directions and embark on a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “Funny Story”Author: Emily HenryGenre: Romance
Description: After being dumped for her boyfriend’s lifelong best friend, Petra, Daphne agrees to room with Petra’s freshly heartbroken ex until she can figure things out. But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fianc?’s new fianc?e’s ex…right?
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “The Women”Author: Kristin HannahGenre: Historical Fiction
Description: “Women can be heroes.” When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, Frankie McGrath impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “I Cheerfully Refuse”Author: Leif EngerGenre: Dystopian Fiction
Description: In a climate-ravaged America, a grieving musician sails a sentient Lake Superior, seeking his lost love amidst rising corpses, crumbling empires, and an unexpected rebellion sparked by his own gentle spirit. Minnesota author.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “Just for the Summer”Author: Abby JimenezGenre: Contemporary Romance
Description: Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soulmate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea... and it just might work.
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “Sandwich”Author: Catherine NewmanGenre: Fiction
Description: While on her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod, Rocky, sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, relives the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers, coming face-to-face with her family’s history and future and accepting she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “The Anxious Generation”Author: Jonathan HaidtGenre: Nonfiction
Description: After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why? Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “Lies and Weddings”Author: Kevin KwanGenre: Contemporary Romance
Description: The legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending. The only solution is for Rufus Leung Gresham to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort — a veritable who’s-who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs — and seduce a woman with money. Will it be the French hotel heiress with honey blond tresses and a royal bloodline, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops, or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door?
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “The Berry Pickers”Author: Amanda PetersGenre: Mystery
Description: Growing up as the only child of affluent and overprotective parents, Norma, troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination, searches for the truth, leading her to the blueberry fields of Maine, where a family secret is finally revealed.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “The New Couple in 5B”Author: Lisa UngerGenre: Thriller
Description: Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.
Recommended by: Greenfield
Title: “Children of Anguish and Anarchy”Author: Tomi AdeyemiGenre: Young Adult
Description: Hunted by King Baldyr, the ruler of the Skulls who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her, Z?lie searches for allies in unknown lands to save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.
Recommended by: Herfindahl
Title: “One Perfect Couple”Author: Ruth WareGenre: Thriller
Description: Lyla and her boyfriend Nico join the cast of a new reality TV show, “One Perfect Couple.” Shortly after they arrive on a deserted island with four other couples, things start to go wrong. The first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, then an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real — and the stakes are life or death.
Recommended by: Greenfield