Thanks to Cathy at https://746books.com/2021/06/01/its-20-books-of-summer-time/ for sharing the 20 Books of Summer Challenge again!!! Yay summer reading!

During the summer of 2020, I participated in Cathy’s #20booksofsummer2020 and I LOVED it!

I enjoyed reading my choices and the posts of others readers as they shared their summer read picks. It made a season of quarantine feel like it a had some sense of community.

For Summer 2021, I am eager to dive into my summer reads, but I’m going to challenge myself to 21 reads before September 1st! #20booksofsummer2021 +1.

As the volunteer librarian at my children’s school, I host a reading club each year, and I always try to include the books in contention for the Mark Twain Award. There at 12 books nominated each year, and I have yet to be disappointed whenever I read those nominated. Students love them and often make informal waiting lists on my library desk for the Mark Twain Award titles. These 12 titles will definitely make up part of my 21 reads this summer, so I thought I would kick the list off with the nominees.

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I always seem to get sucked into one or two series of books a year and 2021 has been no exception. Thanks to my gal pals Andrea, Erin, and Jody, I have been introduced to Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series and Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series. I have found these books to be highly entertaining and often find myself thinking of the character as if they were real people.

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Because summer means baseball in my world, I always gravitate to at least one baseball book a year. For 2021 I am going to re-visit Calico Joe by John Grisham. You can never go wrong with a story of good guys winning.

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Thanks to Goodreads.com and my fiends at Downtown Book & Toy in Jefferson City, Mo, I have found myself desperate to read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It has to be a best seller for a reason!

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It is no secret that I am a HUGE fan on non-fiction, especially when it comes to giving ideas for positive living. Jen Hatmaker, Jen Sincero, and Eben Alexander M.D. are my authors of choice this summer. It’s bound to be a badass, fierce, free, and fiery summer!

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June 22nd! I have to wait until June 22, 2021 to get my hands on my last pick. Laura McHugh has become one of my FAVORITE suspense writers and I am sooooo excited for her latest work to hit bookstore shelves.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. What are you reading this summer?