I’ve got a bazillion books on my to-be-read list. There are paperbacks, hardcover books, ebooks, and audiobooks. There are books by friends and strangers. Beta reads and books to review. And they multiple like rabbits.

I will likely read many more books than these this summer. I plan to read some books aloud to my kids, read friends’ new books, and whittle those lists. (I’m looking at you, NetGalley!)

[And even though they’re not on this list because I’ve read them, please check out Theresa Linden’s new releases Breastplate of Righteousness (Armor of God Book 2) and Fire Starters and Corinna Turner’s Farmgirls Die in Cages (unSPARKed Book 4).]

The books below, however, have been lingering on the outskirts of those lists. And either by cover or description or some je ne sai quoi, they feel to me like “summer reads.”

Here’s my list, Catholic fiction style. The first five are novels but the last is nonfiction, because, why not?

Six books on my Summer 2020 Reading list! #summerreads Share on X

The Bird and the Bees by Neena Gaynor

When Larkin Maybie buries her mother in the foothills of Appalachia, she is left all alone. Her only inheritance? A crazy aunt, a mountain of debt, and a run-down, secluded cabin left by a mysterious benefactor. While Larkin thinks an escape to a cabin miles from anything familiar might be exactly what she needs, the quick answer to her problems only leaves her with more questions… Questions concerning her true identity. 

As Larkin searches for her link to the Lewandowski Estate, she begins to accept the kindness of strangers on Presque Isle and the affection of professional baseball player, Ketch Devine. Charged with caring for the cabin’s honey bees and haunted by past choices, Larkin struggles to move forward in a new direction and is running out of time. With summer and baseball season coming to an end, she must decide: what is the value of true love and an authentic life?

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The Rum Runner by Christine Marciniak

When a fisherman is shot to death in a quiet New Jersey town, Officer Alice Grady wants to know why.

Fisherman Hank Chapman knows the answer, but he’d prefer the police not investigate too closely. After all, he and the dead man both engaged in the side business of smuggling illegal alcohol in from rum row.

Alice and Hank soon find themselves helping a young widow and, despite their differences, fighting a growing attraction. How can a police officer and a rum runner find common ground?

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The Jabberwocky Princess by CeCe Louise

Beware the Jabberwock . . . The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! 

Kitchen maid Kainda is the daughter of a disgraced monster hunter. She longs to learn more about strange beasts and use the hunting skills her father taught her, but kitchen maids don’t get to have adventures—especially not a girl everyone thinks is crazy.

That is until devil-may-care Prince Ander enlists her help in defeating a monster troubling a nearby kingdom. With her misfit knight best friend by her side, Kainda thinks it’s the perfect arrangement. She gets adventure and financial freedom, while Prince Ander gets to marry the princess of Fernshire.

Until the beast proves more troublesome than anyone imagined, and secrets from her father’s past raise the question: What is more dangerous—myth or reality?

A standalone read perfect for fans of sweet romance, suspense, and fairy tales!

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The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network–field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren’t enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy who just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the intelligent Margot, but how can he convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?

Amid biological warfare, encrypted letters, and a German spy who wants to destroy not just them but others they love, Margot and Drake will have to work together to save themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.

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Beneath Wandering Stars by Ashlee Cowles

After her soldier brother is horribly wounded in Afghanistan, Gabriela must honor the vow she made: If anything ever happened to him, she would walk the Camino de Santiago through Spain, making a pilgrimage in his name. The worst part is that the promise stipulates that she must travel with her brother’s best friend–a boy she has despised all her life. Her brother is in a coma, and Gabi feels that she has no time to waste, but she is unsure. Will she hesitate too long, or risk her own happiness to keep a promise? An up-close look at the lives of the children of military families, Beneath Wandering Stars takes readers on a journey of love, danger, laughter, and friendship, against all odds.

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Teachings for an Unbelieving World: Newly Discovered Reflections on Paul’s Sermon at the Areopagus by St. John Paul II

Teachings for an Unbelieving World is a newly discovered work written by St. John Paul II—then Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Kraków—in the years just after Vatican II. He uses St. Paul’s sermon to the people of Athens in Acts 17 as a framework for articulating the faith in a culture of skepticism and unbelief. These thirteen brief reflections provide compelling teaching for Catholics in today’s post-Christian world and give fresh insight into JPII’s pontificate. This is the first English-language publication of this important work.

St. John Paul II composed these thirteen reflections at a unique point of convergence in history—the closing of Vatican II in 1965 and the 1966 observance of one thousand years of Christianity in Poland.

Teachings for an Unbelieving World is an extended meditation on Acts 17 where Paul speaks to the cultural elite of Athens after he observed an altar of an unknown god in the city. Quoting from both the Bible and the documents of Vatican II, John Paul II draws timely wisdom from the apostle’s mission to bring the truth of the Gospel to a worldly culture of sophistication and disbelief, one not unlike our own.

The future pope reveals Paul’s memorable encounter as an enduring framework to boldly present the core truths of Catholic faith to those living under Poland’s communist regime. In so doing, JPII demonstrates how relevant Paul’s words are today and equips us to meet the challenges of proclaiming the faith in our times.

Teachings for an Unbelieving World affirms the continuity of Catholic faith about:

• humanity’s place in God’s creation;
• our search for meaning, truth, and freedom;
• addressing a culture of unbelief;
• the gift of redemption in Jesus Christ;
• the grace of the Holy Spirit;
• the role of the Church in the world;
• the power of the Eucharist;
• the redemptive and self-giving nature of human love; and
• the importance of prayer.

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Find these titles on my Bookshop list!

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What’s on YOUR summer reading list?

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