There’s still time to read a few books at the beach or hide away from the hot weather in your favorite reading chair.

We’ve found a few books you might enjoy before the school/work/sports grind begins again.

Read at the beach, under your favorite shade tree or in the comfort of your own air conditioned home and enjoy!

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson – Because of Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project and Cussie the traveling librarian, the people of Troublesome Lake have access to books. This is a story that resonates with any book lover. Traveling around the impoverished towns of Appalachia, librarians brought hope and comfort to the poorest of the poor – long forgotten by the rest of America. Cussie is a “blue-skinned” Kentuckian – her skin tinged with a shade of blue because of some recessive family gene (methemoglobinemia is the name of this medical condition). Blues were outcasts often blamed for any bad luck. Will this job be Cussie’s chance to be accepted and make a difference to the people who lead such hard lives or will she remain an outcast?

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Warner – Jo and Bethie Kaufman grew up in an idyllic 50’s home. Jo was a bookish tomboy who wanted to grow up and save the world. Bethie was a beauty who dreamed of marrying well and being the perfect wife and mother. Fate has other ideas for these sisters. Jo ends up a model wife and mother in suburbia and Bethie becomes the wild child. Can these sisters reclaim their dreams and find meaning for their lives?

Overcomer by Chris Fabry –   Coach John Harrison and his basketball team are heavily favored to win a state championship. When a major plant closes down and leaves town, hundreds of families are forced to find new employment. Many must move away leaving schools struggling for funding and athletic programs searching for kids. When the team is decimated, he must look for ways to remain valuable to his school until he cab rebuild. He reluctantly agrees to coach the cross country team and meets the most improbable, but enthusiastic runner he’s ever coached.

Strange and Obscure Stories of New York City: Little-Known Tales about Gotham's People and Places by Tim Rowland – Rowland takes readers through the five boroughs exploring urban legends, unsolved murders, and historical oddities. Have you ever heard of the General Slocum steamboat disaster in 1904 which reportedly killed a thousand people, New York’s cross-dressing governor or rumors of alligators in the sewers? For people who love mysteries and little known facts.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari – starting 70,000 years ago with the first evidence of modern cognition, Harari traces the role developing humans have played in the global ecosystem to the rise of empires. Harari combines biology and history to provide the most comprehensive explanation of the development of sapiens and he offers some predictions about the fate of men and planet Earth.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls – this memoir is a story of survival. Jeannette and her siblings were at the mercy of a free-spirited mother who resented the responsibilities of parenthood and domesticity. Their father was an alcoholic who was attentive and loving when he was sober - he taught them physics, geology and the art of self reliance. When he drank he became a destructive liar. The children banded together and saved themselves while the parents continued on their destructive paths. This book has been adapted into a feature film from Lionsgate starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein – Denny Swift wants to be a professional race car driver and his dog Enzo believes in the Mongolian legend that faithful dogs will be reincarnated into humans. Enzo spends his life watching and learning – preparing to become human. He tells the story of Denny’s life as Denny marries, suffers tragic loss, battles through legal issues and makes a major career change. This beautiful book is now a feature film from Fox 2000 starring Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Costner.

I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around by Ann Garvin – Psychologist Tig Monahan helps people get their lives together, but what happens when her life starts to fall apart? It’s an all too familiar subject for most of us. We try to take care of everyone and put our own needs on the back burner. Garvin uses humor and compassion to help her character, Tig weather through the uncertainties of life.

Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes – Three American women form a quick friendship and decide to change the course of their lives by renting a house in Tuscany for the year. The woman meet expat author Kit Raines who is living in Tuscany while searching for answers to her own life. Together the four women bond over food, Italian culture and the Tuscan landscape and learn to thrive in this new chapter of their lives.  From the author of Under the Tuscan Sun

Evvie Drake Starts over by Linda Holmes - Evvie Drake is a widow in a sleepy seaside town n Maine. She can’t seem to move past her husband’s death. Her best friend Andy is worried about her. When Andy’s childhood friend, Dean Tenney, a former MLB pitcher suffering from the “Yips” needs to get out of New York City and away from reporters, Andy arranges for him to stay in a vacation apartment at the back of Evvie’s house. Evvie and Dean agree, but only if Dean doesn’t ask about Evvie’s late husband and Evvie doesn’t ask about baseball. So, of course they end up talking about those things, laughing, crying and trying to make sense of what life still holds for them.