So here I am to finish my review of my summer reading's 2017.  I can already tell you that Fall reading will not yield me so many books.  This summer was wonderful and these books almost speak for themselves.  These are my favorite six books of the summer but honestly, there was not one book that I read that I didn't enjoy...

I have loved every book that Fredrik Backman has written...they all have a loving and lovely plot line that speaks to us.  This one was so important.  At first you will think it is about hockey and it is but at it's core, there is so much more than sports here.  What I loved most though was his dedication page.  "For my grandmother, Saga Backman, who taught me to love sports.  What a quiet life I would have had without her. I hope that the big bar in heaven serves proper dry martinis, and that they always show Wimbledon on the big screen.  I miss you."  That my friends is all you need to know about this young man.  Grandmothers matter...melts my heart.

This was a wonderful little book recommended to me by my son.  I love the quiet and gentleness of this book.  His love affair with his wife was special and lasting.  Andreas Egger knows every path and peak of his mountain valley, the source of his sustenance, his livelihood -his home.  A Whole Life is a story of a man's relationship with an ancient landscape, of the value of solitude, of the arrival of the modern world, and above all, of the moments, great and small, that make us who we are... It's a beautiful read.

Loved this book.  I bought if because of the title.  I to, grew up in a two family house and I wondered if this would somehow remind me of my house.  In many ways it did.  Two brothers and their families share this house.  The sister-in-laws love each other and are such special friends until the night something happens and things start to unravel.  Family dynamics can change on a dime and that's what happened here.  In my two family house it was my Mom and three of us kids on the top floor and my grandparents and my older brother on the bottom floor.  The dynamics in our house were also interesting and at times, troublesome.  This was a very good read.  

This one is a keeper for several reasons.  First my son gave it to me as a thank you in August.  Second, him and I share a love of both haiku and tea. Three, it was beautifully written and translated.  100 haiku for 100 years was written in celebration, by Mitsu Suzuki for her 100 years on April 23, 2014...Another keeper...

I think by now most of you know Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors...and this is a little gem by her.  So timely in our divided country, it's important to try to make someone happy every day.  It really is her mission.  This is a little book of all her Facebook postings.  Each on is a story that will lift you up, make you cry and at the end, hopefully feel blessed.  This is a book for giving...away, to make others happy.  I loved every little essay and if you belong to her Facebook page you will recognize her style, her love of cooking and of course her dogs...This book is just so needed right now.. This one is also a keeper...It's a signed copy that she gave to me the day I attended her writing workshop...pick it up for yourself and then start spreading the love around.

Ah, the Red Coat...I never wanted it to end.  Fortunately for me it was a beautiful 467 pages.  It's a novel about Boston.. The cover is a painting of the little bridge crossing over the pond at the Boston Gardens where the swan boats travel and musicians play...It's a saga of the Irish domestic workers in the South End of Boston and the matriarch of one of the Brownstones on the famous Beacon Hill.  The red coat was given to Norah King, the servant to Cordelia Parker, her boss on the Hill.  The coat belonged to her daughter but was no longer being used...One day the daughter saw her coat on Norah and there the story goes.  Dolley Carlson, the author is a third generation Irish-American with Southie roots...so this is a historical novel.  Now I have to go look up what else she might have written.  If you love history and you would like to know more about Boston...or just love a great mystery, this is the book for you...I will keep this also...because I simply loved the book and I love, love Boston...

So there you have it, a beautiful summer of reading.  I miss the free time but honestly, never a day goes by that I don't read.  I actually have more than one book going at a time and several magazines and articles that interest me on many subjects.  I am never bored...I hope you all take time to escape into another world now and again...books are life friends..good friends.

All of the books in both series were taken with the Canon 5D MK111.  Canon 50mm 1.4 lens