Summer Reading ...

I don't know about you, but for me, one of the best parts of summer is summer reading. There's something about escaping into a new book that is, at once, exciting and relaxing.

One on my earliest memories is that of accompanying my father to our local library on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon. I was barely big enough to carry my books and manage the wide steps at the same time. I remember, vividly, walking from the bright, sticky heat of that wide cement stairway into the cool, shaded, hush of the high-ceilinged, dark paneled, Victorian building. I lay the returning books on the desk then waved to my father and headed off down the dim hallway into the equally hushed and cool Children's Department. There, sitting at the miniature reading table with it's tip-tilted, varnished, mahogany book rests, I was in heaven. It was so quiet and peaceful and there were sooooo many books to choose from. I could barely contain my delight. My Dad could have left me there all day and I would, indeed, have been a happy camper.

Today, I feel the same contentment and pleasure as I pick out books for summer reading. This year's list includes:

1. Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making by John Fox

2. presentationzen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds

3. Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant

4. Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh & Lilian Cheung

5. Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence by Gail Sheehy

6. The latest mystery novels by Anne Perry and by Deborah Crombie

7. A re-read of some of Mary Oliver's poetry

What about you? What can you take from the bookshelf that will relax, restore, and refresh you as you take time out to re-create this summer?