Are you a reader? Does summer offer that awesome chance to get alone with a book and get lost somewhere near the beach, or at a coffee house, or just in that comfy couch in the living room?
If you’re a reader there sure will be a lot to read this summer, but I find myself searching harder than ever for what looks like the inspirational titles I’m looking for.
Anticipated fiction releases include “Beautiful Maria of My Soul” by Oscar Hijuelos (Pulitzer Prize winner for “Mambo Kings”), “The Nobodies Album” by Carolyn Parkhurst, the author of “The Dogs of Babel,” and “As Husbands Go” from Susan Isaacs, who has consistently told a masterful itale ever since her “Compromising Positions” debuted in 1978.
Elin Hilderbrand’s “The Island” should be a good one for beach readers, since a tale from Nantucket just always seems so appropriate near the water. Social critic Christopher Hitchens, he of “God is Not Great,” has a memoir called “Hitch 22,” which sounds even more negative than his last book, and there’s an unauthorized biography of Angelena Jolle. And Jennifer Weiner’s “Fly Away Home” is supposed to be a Chick Lit winner.
I think one book I’ll check in on for sure is one called “In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving,” by Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy with Sally Jenkins. Power, cheer and giving are all inspirational in my book, and this proports to tell the true story that inspired Sandra Bullock’s Oscar-winning “The Blind Side.”

I’m also curious about one book, “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake,” about a young girl who knows what people are feeling through food, starting with a bit of her mom’s lemon cake. It sounds like it could be inspirational, but most of the books don’t give enough away to tell me.
First, I’ll start with one I’ve had on my shelf: “Jesus Career Counselor: How to Find (and Keep” Your Perfect Work, by Laurie Beth Jones.
If you hear of–or read–a particularly inspiring book, please let me know. I’m a bit old fashioned, and find the Bible itself an inspiring read, as well as anything that helps bring it alive.