Sports, Science, Stories, Romance

summer reading

2016 summer reading list has all this and more

Maybe you’ve already burned through your summer reading list, or maybe you just want to try something new. Either way, if you’re still searching for that memorable read of summer ’16, we’ve got you covered. Check out these recently published books by Dickinson’s own.

Fiction

America’s First Daughter
By Laura Kamoie ’92 and Stephanie Dray
HarperCollins

Debuting on The New York Times bestseller list at No. 7 in e-books and No. 17 in combined paperback/e-book and on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list at No. 10 in fiction paperbacks, America’s First Daughter is a compelling, deeply researched historical novel exploring the life of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Patsy, who kept the secrets of a most enigmatic founding father.

The Convenient Cowboy
By Heidi Hormel ’85

Harlequin American Romance

Released Aug. 1, Hormel’s second Harlequin American Romance novel tells the story of a cowgirl, Olympia, who wants the rodeo, not a husband, and Arizona lawyer, Spencer MacCormack, who has the means to make her other dreams come true. Their marriage of convenience is quickly heating up. Could this be more than business?

Dead of Summer
By Sherry Knowlton ’72 
Sunbury Press

In her second book, Knowlton’s protagonist, Alexa Williams is on the case again and also on the go, traveling from south-central Pennsylvania to Africa to the site of the Woodstock festival. The young attorney’s heart and life are at risk as she becomes embroiled in the dangerous world of sex trafficking. By the time she discovers that the key to the present lies in the halcyon days of peace and music, it may be too late.

Heat & Light
By Jennifer Haigh ’90
HarperCollins

Haigh returns to Bakerton, the Pennsylvania coal town at the center of her novel Baker Towers, to depict a community blessed and cursed by its natural resources and bound by the opposing interests underpinning a national debate. Decades after its mines closed, Bakerton sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a massive deposit of natural gas. To drill or not to drill? Prison guard Rich Devlin leases his mineral rights to finance his dream of farming, but doesn’t count on the traffic and noise, his brother’s skepticism or the paranoia of his wife, Shelby, who insists the water smells strange and is poisoning their frail daughter. Organic dairy farmers Mack and Rena hold out against the drilling—until a passionate environmental activist disrupts their lives.

The Sense of Reckoning
By Matty Dalrymple ’85
William Kingsfield Publishers

The Sense of Reckoning is the sequel to Dalrymple’s first Ann Kinnear suspense novel, The Sense of Death. It examines the effect that having an unusual skill—in Ann’s case, the ability to sense spirits—has on a person, and how that skill puts Ann and the people close to her in jeopardy.

Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book)
By Julie Falatko '93 

Viking Press

Falatko’s breakout children’s book is about Snappsy, a reticent alligator, and a lively narrator who loves dancing and parties. As Snappsy goes about his daily activities, the book’s narrator delivers a melodramatic commentary and intentionally misinterprets the alligator’s every move. Hilarity ensues, and so does a lesson, as young readers learn how stories and legends are made, “with exploration-worthy detail” (Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books) and satisfying “bite” (Kirkus Reviews).

Why They Run the Way They Do
By Susan Perabo, professor of English
Simon & Schuster

Perabo’s latest collection introduces an impressive assortment of narrators—male and female, young and old, plain-spoken and artful. Each is in crisis, but none is entirely without hope. Described as “darkly beautiful” and “suffused with astonishing wit and tenderness” (novelist Jenny Offill) and “reminiscent of George Saunders … ingenious and lovable stories” (Kirkus Reviews), Why They Run the Way They Do dishes up richly layered tales, by turns wry and moving, about ordinary lives, touched by the bizarre. 

Nonfiction

The Art of Instant Message: Be Yourself, Be Confident, Be Successful Communicating Personality
By Keith Grafman ’06
Rainbow Books, Inc.

Many single people experience anxiety, have insecurities and are reluctant to engage themselves in online dating. Grafman believes success lies in learning to maintain balance and express authenticity in communications. The Art of Instant Message was written to help sincere people begin the process of forming a long-term, committed relationship.

The Color of Sundays—The Secret Strategy That Built the Steelers’ Dynasty
By Andrew Conte ’93
Blue River Press

Conte’s second book delves into key moments in one of pro football’s most successful and prestigious franchises, both on the field and in the back room, which led Steel City to four Super Bowl victories. It tells the story of how Bill Nunn Jr., Art Rooney and the Steelers front office reshaped the franchise by scouting talent where many other teams had failed, and bringing in players from historically black colleges and universities. This period in Steelers history was instrumental in the building of the Steel Curtain defense, as well as the integration of important offensive picks, including the future Hall of Famer John Stallworth.

Discovering the Scientist Within: Research Methods in Psychology
By David Strohmetz ’86, Gary Lewandowski and Natalie Ciarocco
Worth Publishers

The authors draw on their extensive classroom experiences to introduce research methodology in a highly effective, thoroughly engaging way, maximizing students’ familiarity with every step of the process. For the first time in a methods text, each design chapter follows a single study from ideation to writing for publication, with students researching an intriguing question emerging from a chapterlong case study. Also for the first time in a methods text, each design chapter models the entire research process, so students get multiple opportunities to experience that process start to finish.

The Fighting 30th Division: They Called Them Roosevelt’s SS
By David Hilborn ’93, Martin King and Michael Collins
Casemate Publishing

In World War I, the 30th Infantry Division earned more Medals of Honor than any other American division. In World War II, it spent more consecutive days in combat than almost any other outfit. Recruited mainly from the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee, the "Old Hickory" division was one of the hardest-fighting units the U.S. ever fielded in Europe, earning five battle stars in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe campaigns, and after encountering these soldiers on the battlefield, the Germans called them “Roosevelt’s SS.” In this combat chronicle, the last remaining veterans of the 30th Division and attached units who saw the action firsthand relate their remarkable experiences here for the first, and probably the last, time.

Pastrami on Rye:  An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli
By Ted Merwin, director of the Asbell Center and associate professor of Judaic studies
NYU Press

If you haven’t yet sampled Merwin’s award-winning book, summer’s a great time to catch up. During the past year, Merwin has appeared in numerous media outlets—including PRI’s The WorldThe Huffington PostThe Daily BeastThe Times of IsraelThe New York Times and The Forward—for Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli. Last spring, he also won the Education & Jewish Identity category of the 2015  National Jewish Book Awards for his book about the history of the Jewish deli, so if you haven’t sampled it yet, summer’s a great time.

Race and Poverty in the Americas
By Jacob Kim ’87
Cognella Academic Publishing

Race and Poverty in the Americas uses postmodernist deconstruction to present a libertarian understanding of race and poverty and discusses how, in today’s world, race is used for profit. It teaches race theory from a humanities perspective to help students understand how race is made and used throughout society. The book also explains how the current state of race relations is conceptualized and suggests alternative ways to protect all minorities, especially the minority of the individual.

Reading’s Big League Exhibition Games
By Brian Engelhardt ’73
Arcadia Publishing

A Reading-area historian and regular contributor to the Historical Review of Berks County, Engelhardt tells the baseball history of Reading, Pa., the site of 72 games played by 17 major-league franchises and barnstorming teams since 1874. The Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, all were in Reading, along with baseball greats Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks and Rogers Hornsby. Reading fans have looked on as both the 1906 Phillies and A’s tried to catch a bunny on the field mid-game, cheered for Christy Mathewson’s shutouts, sang “Happy Birthday” to Pete Rose and watched Shoeless Joe Jackson hit a home run. 

Side by Side: Writing Your Love Story
By Susan Marquardt Tiberghien ’55
Red Lotus Studio Press

“What went right?” That’s the beginning question for Susan Tiberghien ’55 in her new book, Side by Side: Writing Your Love Story. Organized in seven parts, the book is as much Tiberghien’s memoir as it is a guide for the reader’s own journal writing. In writing about the good moments of her long marriage, she encourages readers to do the same. Each chapter deals with a different component of lasting love, from courtship to celebration. The components overlap, start anew and never end. Interspersed are pages for readers to record their own memories with writing prompts. The “side by side” becomes the author and the reader as well as the reader and partner.

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Published July 25, 2016