Dear Folks,

It’s that time of year again, the summer reading season is upon us. Here are a few titles that I have on my ‘to read’ list.  Some of these are for fun and others are ‘meatier’ in their orientation and appeal. In no particular order, here’s what I’m looking forward to diving into as the summer rolls on.

• Citizens of London–Citizens of London is the story of the American firebrands who broke rank with popular opinion and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with England during the bleak infancy of World War II. Author Lynne Olson more than lives up to the critical acclaim of her last book, Troublesome Young Men, by exploring the origins of an Anglo-American alliance that helped turn the tide during the most widespread conflict in history. Although other “Yanks” rallied against the hesitancy of their isolationist government before Pearl Harbor, few matched the impact of U.S. ambassador John Gilbert Winant, businessman Averell Harriman, and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. Each recognized the insidious dangers of Nazi aggression, and with the help of meticulous research, Olson elucidates the challenges they endured to help bridge political and cultural gaps between the United States and Britain. At a time when the English capital was described as “swimming in the full tide of history,” Citizens of London echoes Tennyson in its tribute to those who strove, sought, and refused to yield. –Dave Callanan

• Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus  By Kathy Escobar- Escobar is the married mother of five who leads a church called ‘The Refuge’ in suburban Denver. She makes the argument that diversity is messy, chaotic, unmanageable and the preferred way of Jesus’ ministry. It’s a downwardly mobile path in an upwardly culture. This goes for the culture of most churches as well and the general culture in which we find ourselves. Escobar and her church occupy a space somewhere in between mainline denominational Christianity and the Evangelical Megachurch and has plenty to say on the subject of community and discipleship to both camps and those in between.

 From Publishers Weekly-“The dead, Margaret thought. They can be so loud.” So muses the protagonist of this dreamy, powerful tale of familial warring, secrets and redemption. When elderly Margaret Hughes discovers that she has a malignant brain tumor, she refuses treatment and decides to take a nice young tenant into her huge, lonely Seattle mansion for company. What she gets is Wanda Schultz, a tough-as-nails stage manager who is secretly seeking the man who left her and prone to inexplicable weeping breakdowns. Wanda, ignorant of Margaret’s illness, is intrigued by the museum-like house and its eccentric owner—so when Margaret unexpectedly invites her to a drink-champagne-and-break-the-priceless-antique-china party for two, she’s delighted. But a dark history lurks; the houseful of gorgeous antique porcelain comes from Margaret’s father’s WWII pilfering of European Jewish homes. Meanwhile, Wanda’s father, who deserted her years ago, is on the road trying to heal, and Margaret’s mother’s ghost is haunting the Seattle mansion, lounging about in expensive peignoirs and criticizing her only daughter. Wrestling to keep the dead and the ghosts of their pasts at bay, the two women slowly build an extraordinary friendship, and when Wanda discovers a talent for mosaics, the past begins to quiet. Though it takes a while to get started, this haunting and memorable debut is reminiscent of early Atwood, peopled by lovably imperfect and eccentric characters.