The nostalgia of summer reading is ever-present as the school term comes to an end. Whether you loved or detested a summertime read, this collection of well-rounded books is sure to spark the interest of readers and non-readers alike. Dr. Amy Qualls of the english department, Justin Lillard, reference librarian in the Brackett Library and senior English major Meagan Ogburn compiled their favorite page-turning recommendations. From gripping thrillers to inspiring classics, there is something for everyone here.<\/p>\n
\u201cInto the Water\u201d by Paula Hawkins \u2014 A suspense thriller, almost gothic in nature, about a river and the mysterious drowning of several women in the British town of Northumberland. With more than a dozen viewpoints, the reader is left to sift through the different secrets and voices until the truth is revealed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Road\u201d by Cormac McCarthy \u2014 A post-apocalyptic novel with an unknown time and place. What stands out the most in this story is the bond between a nameless father and son as they search for a shred of humanity in a world that has been forever changed. Will the two make it together to the end?<\/p>\n
\u201cGilead, Home, Lila\u201d by Marilynne Robinson \u2014 A Series: These books are not plot-driven, but they are beautiful meditations on God, life, love, family and community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hate U Give\u201d by Angie Thomas \u2014 A timely, engrossing, and often heartbreaking tale about a sixteen-year-old girl, Starr Carter, who witnesses the police shoot and kill her best friend, Khalil, who was unarmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Book Thief\u201d by Markus Zusak \u2014A beautiful but emotional tale from the point of view of a child, Liesel Meminger, in Germany during WWII. With a decree to burn all books of Jewish authors, the curious Liesel begins to steal literature with an ever-growing itch to learn to read. With the help of her adoptive family and a Jewish friend named Max, Liesel begins to experience the power of language.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmma\u201d by Jane Austen \u2014Everyone\u2019s go-to Austen book is Pride and Prejudice, but give this fun read about a feisty and meddlesome matchmaker a go. After many failed attempts to be cupid, Emma finds love for herself with a neighborly friend. This is one of Austen\u2019s more humorous novels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life\u201d by Chris Guillebeau \u2014Guillebeau’s basic idea is that everyone needs some kind of\u00a0quest<\/em>\u00a0to enjoy life to the full.\u00a0 Throughout the book he profiles various people in their different quests:\u00a0from the woman dying of cancer who set out to personally see more birds than anyone else in history, to the housewife who sought to bring the world to her little Oklahoma house by cooking a meal from every country in the world, to Guilleabeau’s own quest to personally visit every country on earth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe End of the Affair\u201d by Graham Greene \u2014 It seems strange that a book about an affair ending could make readers think about God, about faith, and about doubt, but Greene accomplishes this feat and more in a story about, among other things, God\u2019s pursuit of His people.<\/p>\n \u201cA Little Life\u201d by Hanya Yanagihara \u2014A novel that follows four different individuals who endure separate hardships but are brought together by friendship. Their stories of healing and redemption provide a light at the end of a tunnel in a broken world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The nostalgia of summer reading is ever-present as the school term comes to an end. Whether you loved or detested a summertime read, this collection of well-rounded books is sure…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15126,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13237,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13236\/revisions\/13237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}