Alright friends, family, strangers…
I’m looking for some summer reading recommendations. I’ll be spending many hours in airplanes traveling this summer and like to read a bit to wind down before going to sleep (and imagine that will be the same whether I am here or in Africa). 
I’ll tell you some of my favs of late to give you some inspiration 
Young Adult Lit
- Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
- Divergent & Insurgent
- Matched and Crossed (Crossed is better, but you have to read Matched first)
- On my travel purchase list: Delirium & Pandemonium
Mysteries & Action (listed by authors I enjoy) (I don’t like mysteries that will completely give me nightmares, but enjoy some clever crime solving)
- Vince Flynn (my new addiction – thanks Ashley! Reading these books is basically like watching 24. I have intentionally been pacing myself so that I can read lots of them this summer)
- Rhys Bowen (light fluffy mysteries with a fun historical flair)
- David Housewright
- David Rosenfelt
- Harlan Coben
Also on my list of purchased, but haven’t read is Crazy Love by Francis Chan (and by purchased I mean I got it when it was a free download. win!)
Also, am currently reading Pride and Prejudice and The Power of One (don’t ask me how I am currently reading both of those books. It just happened. It was an accident).
Those are my top two genre’s of late, but others I enjoy:
Good Reads
- The Help
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Funny and Entertaining Books
- Tiney Fey’s Bossypants
- Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Chick Lit (I enjoy a good fluffy beach read, but some authors are a little too much for me in the ridiculous cheesy factor. So I like chick lit but with discretion)
- Emily Giffin
- Sophie Kinsella (the shopaholic weren’t my most favorite, but her other books are pretty decent!)
Overly Dramatic (these I can only read in moderation)
- Kristin Hannah
- Jodi Picoult
- Nicholas Sparks
- Karen Kingsbury
So, there you have it: some authors I know and love or like.
Now I need some new material. What books or authors would you recommend?
I really didn’t like Crazy Love. I was put off by his semi-extremist pushings, but after that I read Tattoos on the Heart which was AMAZING. So, if you need a religious read – I definitely recommend that.
You should read Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters if you haven’t because the plot is amazing, and it’s a summer read. Nikki Gemmell has a new book out too. If you haven’t read The Bride Stripped Bare, it’s wonderful and then her new book as well – With My Body.
Young Adult:
-When You Reach Me (oh my gosh, one of my FAVORITE books now. Amazing!)
-The Thief Lord (if you haven’t read it yet, it’s great. I’ve read it as a class novel 6 times now)
Favorite Authors:
-Alexander McCall Smith (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series is his most famous, but I love his 44 Scotland Street series as well as Isabel Dalhousie)
-Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series (futuristic and hilarious, Thursday Next is in charge of the literary detective agency…she solves crimes in books, literally IN books)
-Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers and Blink are amazing nonfiction that sucks you into the research he does)
-Donna Leon (Brunetti series that takes place in Venice. You don’t have to read them in order–there are over 20 books now–but they’re really intriguing.)
Also a good book:
-A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson (lovely book)
Here’s my shelfari shelf in case you want to browse…
http://www.shelfari.com/teachertraveler