written by Shelley O’Brien, Executive Director of the Johnson County Library Foundation
If you are like me, I spend more time in the summer with a good book in hand. Be that at the pool, in my backyard, or on vacation; I’m always reading in the summer. Adults should embrace summer reading just like when we were kids. Maybe we should even celebrate by ordering a pizza for every 5 books you read? Just a thought. So, place a pause on Netflix and check out my summer book recommendations.
Have a terrific summer and enjoy reading!
Fiction – The Women by Kristin Hannah
I believed nothing would be as great as Kristin Hannah’s “The Nightingale”. I just didn’t think she could outdo herself. Then came the book, “The Women”. Vietnam War story of Frankie who enlists in the Army as a nurse to serve her country and please her father. This is an epic tale of her journey that tells the story of women’s roles in the war – during and after. A book I will never forget.
Non-Fiction – Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher
My current journalist crush is on Kara Swisher. I regularly listen to her podcast “Pivot” on Vox Media, where she is smart, well-connected, and sassy. On the podcast she trades barbs and banter Scott Galloway (Prof G — NYU) for a humorous take on the daily news through the lens of tech. Swisher has creditability within Silicon Valley to get access and insider scoop. “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story” is part personal memoir, part 2000s-tech memoir. New stories and insights are shared; many funny stories about the tech-bro leaders.
Fiction – Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Learner
If you have not watched FX’s “Capote vs. The Swans” as part of the Ryan Murphy FEUD series, get to Hulu immediately. This show is captivating, and the casting is magnificent. There is only one thing better than the show – the book “Capote’s Women” by Laurence Learner. Many more stories and unique characters from Capote’s world in Manhattan.
After Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, Capote had writer’s block and an amazing social life with the rich and famous of New York. Relationships were damaged when he disclosed their personal secrets as thinly veiled fiction.