Fiction

Bag of Bones by Steven King (Scribner, 1998; MGM movie, 2009): A grieving widower’s writer’s block leads to a haunted house, ghouls, and nightmares – a thriller that will leave you hearing noises in the dark.

Selected by Mathew Bose of the Oak Bluffs Library.

The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Random House, 2008): A woman in Renaissance Florence believed to have powers of sorcery and enchantment captivates the imagination of the far-off emperor of Mughal in this part novel, part fable.

Selected by Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library and Beth Kramer of the West Tisbury Library.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner, 1925): The classic set on Long Island in the racy glamour of the 1920s is an unrequited-love story spun around the privileged lives of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and their mysterious neighbor across the sound – Jay Gatsby.

Selected by Ivo Meisner of Book Den East in Oak Bluffs.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007): Queen Elizabeth II winds up in a bookmobile while chasing her dogs and discovers the mind-expanding pleasures of reading and writing; her newfound sensibility is mistaken for senility.

Selected by Donna Blackburn of the Edgartown Library.

The Widow’s War and Bound by Sally Gunning (William Morrow, 2006 and 2008, respectively): The first is a historical novel about the struggles of a whaling widow on Cape Cod in the 1700s. She shows up again in the sequel-ish Bound, the story of a young British girl who comes to America, is put into indentured servitude, and flees to the Cape.

Selected by Dawn Braasch of Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven and Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

Nonfiction

Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre (Crown Publishing Group, 2007): A biography of World War II British double agent Eddie Chapman told with suspense and humor.

Selected by Virginia Munro of the Edgartown Library.

Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It by Elizabeth Royte (Bloomsbury USA, 2008): An examination of the strange marketing phenomenon that is bottled water – one of the most popular drinks in the country.

Selected by Steve Klebs of the West Tisbury Library.

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America’s Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town by Mark Kurlansky (Ballantine Books, 2008): A tale of the conflict between the contemporary tourism industry and that of traditional fishing.

Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal by Lily Koppel (HarperCollins, 2008): A New York Times reporter discovers in a dumpster the diary of a young woman who chronicled her life in the 1930s. She finds the woman who wrote it, and pieces together her story, which is woven within the fabric of New York life at that time.

Selected by Amy Ryan of the Vineyard Haven Library.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (Little, Brown and Company, 2008): From Proustian musings caused by a lack of water for making coffee, to the advice in Tokyo on what to do in case of fire, Sedaris’s essays are bizarre, funny, and entertaining.

Selected by Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

Young Adults

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006)

An exceptional book for adults as well, this is written with some unusual literary devices including an eye-opening and surprisingly sensitive Death as narrator. This is Nazi Germany, the persecution of Jews, and World War II as the struggling German working class experienced them.

Selected by Katherine Ferguson of Bunch of Grapes in Vineyard Haven.

Children’s

Broadway Barks by Bernadette Peters, illustrated by Liz Murphy (Blue Apple Books, 2008): The story of a stray dog who lives in the park and follows a lady home one day in the hope of becoming a star. It includes a CD of Bernadette Peters reading the story and singing a song she wrote for the book. For ages four to eight.

Selected by Zoe Pechter of Riley’s Reads in Vineyard Haven.

Duck Dunks by Lynne Berry, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata (Henry Holt and Company, 2008): Five little ducks go to the beach to swim and picnic. For ages four to eight.

Selected by Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

More Summer Reads

We should also note that Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven was damaged by fire on the Fourth of July and is currently closed. We wish the building and business owners as well as the staff all the best through this difficult period.

Fiction

The Birth House by Ami McKay. Selected by Karen Harris of Bunch of Grapes.

Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey. Selected by Dawn Braasch and Doug Ullman of Bunch of Grapes.

Chronicler of the Wind by Henning Mankell. Selected by Beth Kramer of the West Tisbury Library.

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik. Selected by Debby MacInnis of the Edgartown Library.

The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon. Selected by Janet Sigler of the Edgartown Library and Myra Stark of the Vineyard Haven Library.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Selected by Cecily Greenaway of the Vineyard Haven Library and Eliza Usher of the West Tisbury Library.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Selected by Nelia Decker of the West Tisbury Library.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Selected by Cecily Greenaway of the Vineyard Haven Library.

Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway. Selected by Ivo Meisner of Book Den East.

Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein. Selected by Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library.

The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon. Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. Selected by Karen Harris of Bunch of Grapes.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Selected by Ivo Meisner of Book Den East.

My Antonia by Willa Cather. Selected by Mathew Bose of the Oak Bluffs Library.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh by Linda Colley. Selected by Amy Ryan of the Vineyard Haven Library.

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. Selected by Beth Kramer of the West Tisbury Library.

Peony in Love by Lisa See. Selected by Wendy Andrews of the Vineyard Haven Library.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. Selected by Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library.

A Person of Interest by Susan Choi. Selected by Virginia Munro of the Edgartown Library.

A Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer. Selected by Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

Preacher by Garth Ennis. Selected by Felicia Cheney of the Edgartown Library.

The Radetsky March by Joseph Roth. Selected by Alison Leslie of the Edgartown Library.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Selected by Steve Klebs of the West Tisbury Library.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Selected by Paula Black of the West Tisbury Library.

The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson. Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. Selected by Amy Ryan of the Vineyard Haven Library.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, audiobook with Sissy Spacek. Selected by Steve Klebs of the West Tisbury Library.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Selected by Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library and Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell. Selected by Wendy Andrews of the Vineyard Haven Library.

Vineyard Chill by Philip Craig. Selected by Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Selected by Wendy Andrews of the Vineyard Haven Library.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. Selected by Myra Stark of the Vineyard Haven Library.

Non-fiction

Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World’s Most Coveted Handbag by Michael Tonello. Selected by Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira De Mello and the Fight to Save the World by Samantha Power. Selected by Alison Leslie of the Edgartown Library.

Forward From Here by Reeve Lindbergh. Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens. Selected by Nelia Decker of the West Tisbury Library.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library.

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird by Bruce Barcott. Selected by Janet Sigler of the Edgartown Library.

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester. Selected by Debby MacInnis of the Edgartown Library.

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink. Selected by Lisa Sherman of the Edgartown Library.

The Mysterious Montague: A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery by Leigh Montville. Selected by Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America by Rick Perlstein. Selected by Steve Klebs of the West Tisbury Library.

Notes from Nethers: Growing Up in a Sixties Commune by Sandra Lee Eugster. Selected by Dawn Braasch of Bunch of Grapes.

Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston’s Rise to Dominance by Michael Holley. Selected by Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

A Rumor of War by Phillip Caputo. Selected by Eliza Usher of the West Tisbury Library.

A Russian Diary: A Journalist’s Final Account of Life Corruption and Death by Anna Politkovskaya. Selected by Danguole Budris of the Oak Bluffs Library.

Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis. Selected by Myra Stark of the Vineyard Haven Library.

She Got Up Off the Couch and A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. Selected by Paula Black of the West Tisbury Library.

Sloop by Daniel Robb. Selected by Dawn Braasch of Bunch of Grapes and Susan Mercier of Edgartown Books.

Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World by Gary Hirshberg. Selected by Dawn Braasch of Bunch of Grapes.

The Teammates by David Halberstam. Selected by Mathew Bose of the Oak Bluffs Library.

The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire by Joe Jackson. Selected by Felicia Cheney of the Edgartown Library.

Thin by Lauren Greenfield. Selected by Eliza Usher of the West Tisbury Library.

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. Selected by Mathew Bose of the Oak Bluffs Library.

A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz. Selected by Jennifer Christy of the Aquinnah Library, Nelia Decker of the West Tisbury Library, and Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library.

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception by Scott McClellan. Selected by Ebba Hierta of the Chilmark Library.

Children’s

The Calder Game by Blue Balliet. For ages nine and up. Selected by Zoe Pechter of Riley’s Reads.

Haiku Baby by Betsy Snyder. For ages baby to three. Selected by Zoe Pechter of Riley’s Reads.