Summer of ’25 Reading List
With summer right around the corner, it’s time to pull together a summer reading list for those quiet moments you can slip away, enjoy the sun, and a few wonderful books that will take you to distant lands, strange worlds, and people you knew nothing about.
Let’s start with a fun book about summer camp. Some readers may be going to sleep-away camp for the first time, while others have fond memories of their camping experience. Here’s a book you’ll both enjoy:
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback by Michael Thal
This is book 2 in the Koolura Series. (Each book in the series is a stand-alone novel independent of the other two books.) Koolura can teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback she wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers? As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls must deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge, but problems escalate as lives are threatened. Will Koolura and the Chumash Girls solve the mystery at Camp Saddleback?
Amazon Reviewer Susan Schader had this to say about Saddleback: Summer camp proves more than fun and relaxing for pre-teen Koolura. Although she makes a wonderful and significant new friend in kind, gentle, hearing-challenged Leila, she finds her own special “cool” powers — to heal injuries, move objects with her mind, and to tele-transport — at risk and must discover and stop who intends to harm the campers at Camp Saddleback before it’s too late. The story has thrills, chills, humor, fun, friendship, and even a bit of sweet romance, and carries the all-important motto by which Koolura lives: to truly be herself and never let peer pressure force her to do anything she believes is wrong.
Weather you admire our 47th president or not, you’ll enjoy this spoof about Trump. If you are MAGA or a Democrat trying to comprehend the meaning of the turmoil rollicking Washington, DC., this is a fun read.
TrumpelStiltskin by Scott Bischke
“In a land far, far away—yet not so distant as one might think lived a wise and kindly king.” This king was ready to retire and choose his successor. When the Miller brags about having the talent to weave straw into gold, the king takes her up on her offer.
The kingdom is low on funds and with three rooms filled with the gold she promises, he will offer her the crown as an award for her success. But the Miller has a problem. She doesn’t really know how to spin straw into gold. But TrumpelStiltskin does.
TrumpelStiltskin A Fairy Tale is a re-imagining of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Rumpelstilskin, which author Scott Bischke uses to parody our 45th and 47th president. It’s a quick 51 page read that kept me laughing. It’s also a good book for teachers to use to teach politics and political dynamics.
Or perhaps you’d enjoy a compelling love story?
The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley
Evelyn Roe, fresh out of high school, decides to quit her labors at the boring cotton mill and work Aunt Eva’s North Carolina farm, located not far from her family home. Evelyn, who grew up on the farm, knew how to run things. In Rhonda Riley’s love story, told in Evelyn’s POV, she says, “I knew Aunt Eva’s farm better than I knew my own bedroom.”
It was 1944 and World War II was finally in everyone’s rearview mirror. Evelyn’s family depended on the farm’s meat and produce to survive. So, Evelyn was happy to leave the mill and do the work she loved.
A few years into her stay on the farm, North Carolina is hit with a massive rainstorm. Running from the barn to the farmhouse, Evelyn stumbles on a body buried in the heavy red-clay soil. Like so many young men returning from the war, this body was badly deformed, but the horribly disfigured soldier seems otherworldly. Nevertheless, Evelyn’s big heart takes over and she cares for the man, but soon discovers the individual isn’t male at all. And it surprisingly looks just like her. Evelyn names her Addie.
Evelyn’s and Addie’s relationship is tender and sweet. Addie finds her niche on the farm caring for the horses and becoming indispensable help. Addie eventually sees Evelyn’s need for male companionship, so when Evelyn shows interest in a man passing through, Addie decides to leave with him. After several months she returns, but different. Addie allowed herself to morph into Adam Hope.
The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope paints a vivid picture of farm and family life with remarkable descriptions of feelings and emotions. Her characters feel real, the settings described beautifully and distinctly, and the family relationships are spot on. Throughout the 434-page novel I had trouble putting down, I absorbed this author’s beautiful writing talent.
Maybe you’d like a good horror story. No one writes them better than the author of the Whisper Killer Series.
Evil Never Bleeds (Whisper Killer Book 4) by Rod Little
Jack, my favorite demon is back. His victims are always criminals, pedophiles, degenerates and sociopaths. For example, in book one, The Whisper Killer, Jack saves a town from men hell-bent on slaughtering every man, woman, and child in the village. In Evil Never Bleeds Nick is possessed by Jack. Nick is a young man in his early 20s who hangs with best friend, Jayson. The BFFs board an overnight bus to rescue a friend, Christine, who is being held for ransom by kidnappers.
On the ride to rescue her, the bus is besieged by hijackers looking for a weapon of supernatural origins and a hired killer. But there’s more. There’s another demon in this tale who fuels the rich and divides the poor feeding off human hate, anarchy, and pain.
Author Rod Little writes a gripping horror thriller in this fourth book in the Whisper Killer series. The writing is concise, the characterizations impressive, and the settings are as clear as if the reader is actually there. Jack’s mission is to right the wrongs and if need be, kill horrible people.
Evil Never Bleeds is a novel you’ll have trouble putting down; just don’t read it right before bedtime.
Finally, we have The Lip Reader, a novel about my wife who died of cancer in 2015. I was still mourning her passing a year later and decided to recreate all the stories she told me about herself. It took me four years of surreal writing sessions. I’d sit for hours writing on a paper tablet and when done for the day, would look at the clock and be shocked four-five hours had passed. The book is written in Zhila’s POV. Critics can’t believe a man is capable of writing a woman’s story. I didn’t. I believe Zhila wrote it through my hands.
The Lip Reader by Michael Thal
The Lip Reader unlocks a mesmerizing journey of resilience, love, and determination. As a young child, Zhila Shirazi loses her hearing to meningitis. But adversity doesn’t stop her from pursuing her dreams. From Tehran to Los Angeles, Zhila’s journey unfolds, revealing her courage, intelligence, and unwavering spirit.
In 1985, disgusted with the treatment of Jews by the new Islamic government, Zhila immigrates to the United States. Her goal? To receive a cochlear implant and improve her hearing. But it isn’t until she meets her soulmate, Mickey Daniels, that she truly feels her life is complete. Together, they face love, loss, and an aggressive form of cancer.
Why Read “The Lip Reader”? This gripping true-life story captures Zhila’s voice authentically as a first-person narrator. Michael Thal’s writing immerses readers in Zhila’s world, celebrating her triumphs and touching our hearts.
Whether you’re looking for a fun read about summer camp, a political farce, a love story or perhaps a horror story. Any one of the five books described above will keep you entertained for hours this summer. Enjoy.
