What have you been reading this summer?

Beyond the current bestsellers list ... Share your summer reading picks. Here are mine:

I finally saw the film Love in the Time of Cholera and then read the book. IMHO, skip the movie, but the novel by 1982 Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez is beautifully written.

For historical fiction and George Eliot fans, I highly recommend The World Before Her by local (Lincoln, MA) author Deborah Weisgall.

Hamlet's Dresser is at once heartbreaking and uplifting, and one of the heroes is a librarian! Bob Smith's recounts how his lifelong love of Shakespeare was his salvation against the backdrop of a family challenged by his severely mentally and physically handicapped sister.

A more challenging read with a companion Web site is the Japanese coming-of-age novel Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It would make an interesting end of summer read.

Soldier's Heart is a battle-induced medical condition and an apt title for this true story about teaching literature at West Point over the past decade to tomorrow's military leaders.

Lowell Folk Festival - the largest free folk festival in the U.S.

This is a wonderful annual 3-day event. Held July 25-27 this year, the downtown roads are closed so that pedestrians can stroll along the canals and through the downtown. A great variety of ethnic foods (http://www.lowellfolkfestival.org/food.html), crafts demonstration, and six music stages offer something for every taste. For a list of this year's performers, go to http://www.lowellfolkfestival.org/performers.html.

NEW: Modern World History Online

New for 2008-2009 and available now, the L-S Library has purchased a subscription to Modern World History Online by Facts On File. (Click on link under Electronic Resources).