We asked the UF Libraries employees for their summer reading recommendations. Here are 10 to get your summer started!
Christy Shorey, Access and Resource Sharing Systems Team Leader
Pride and Prejudice in Space
I love the juxtaposition of Regency Era manners deeply embedded in a science fiction setting.
Tim Lozier, Complex copy cataloger
The Names
A woman in an abusive relationship faces 3 options for naming her second child. The book follows her life as each resulting reality plays out. Really wonderful book.
Perry Collins, Chair, Academic Research Consulting & Services (ARCS)
Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
Set mostly in a canoe during a life-threatening flood, this prequel to Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass is a great adventure story with a touch of fantasy.
Steve Hersh, Public Services Assistant, Grand Reading Room
Backroads of Paradise: A Journey to Rediscover Old Florida
This is an entertaining and educational book about exploring Florida off the interstate highways. Author Cathy Salustri retraces routes around the state featured in a 1930s guide to Florida published by the Federal Writers’ Project. The original guide had contributions from Florida authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and Stetson Kennedy. The book is both fun to read, and practical when considering road trips: inspired by a chapter, my family and I recently had a great vacation in Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island.
Ariel Pomputius, Health Sciences Liaison Librarian
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Dungeon Crawler Carl reminds me of playing D&D with friends, when you roleplay heartfelt but ridiculous characters, goofy shenanigans, amazing adventures, and crazy stunts to protect your team from mad monsters, all while slowly dipping deeper and deeper into complex, wild worlds. If you read this book and feel inspired (I’m definitely reaching out to old RPG teammates for a one-shot!), the UF Libraries have D&D kits you can check out now!
April Helena, Conservation Associate
Yesteryear
Defined as a “psychological thriller,” this book has themes surrounding religion, misinformation, women’s rights, and influencer culture. The author wrote, however, that “the deeper thread was power, and how people warp things to maintain it.” I couldn’t put it down, and found it really fascinating how vastly different the reviews on this book were and why.
Erin Gallagher, Chair, Acquisitions & Discovery Services
The Tale of Tales
You thought you knew fairy tales? Think again. Collected by an Italian author in the 17th Century, these earliest literary versions of tales like “Cinderella” and “Rapunzel” are bawdy, grotesque, and hair-raising.
Katie Smith, Conservation/Interim Preservation Librarian
The Beast in the Clouds
One of the most compelling non-fictions, this is the story of how Theodore Roosevelt’s two sons not only were the first to bring back a panda bear to the West, but were the two that ultimately fought for Panda Bear protections so that no one would kill them or remove them from their habitat ever again. Perfect blend of history, nature, adventure, and thoughtfulness.
Hannah Whitaker, Women’s and Gender Studies Librarian
John Williams: A Composer’s Life
A biography of the greatest film composer of all time. What more needs to be said?
Alex Avelino, Director of Marketing and Communications
Wellness
Childhood trauma explains adult dysfunction as a couple in their 40s figures out if they want to stay together. I’ve never read something so true to the human experience in midlife.