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It is hard, sometimes, to remember just how blue skies can be when you are hunkered down in the midst of a storm. But the skies bloom blue today, and I have no major meal to prepare, and so I have been reading The Piano Teacher, a book that, if at times feels rushed (surprising grammatical miscues, dialogue pitching toward explication, secondary characters that do not always find dimension), has much to teach about life in Hong Kong during World War II and is often punched through with vivid hues—sunflower yellow, rose red, jade, emerald.

Late yesterday afternoon, while the rain kept on, my son came home from the theater where he works whenever he is at home from school.

"How was your day?" we wanted to know.

"Not bad at all," he said. Sherlock Holmes had sold out, It's Complicated, too, and beyond all that, his boss had taken him aside for a performance review—a meeting that concluded with the awarding of a substantial raise.

"Did you even know you were up for review?" I asked.

"I wasn't even thinking about getting reviewed," he said.

"So you got called into an office, and there it was—this really great news?"

"That's the way it worked," he said.

I like stories like this one—moments that are unanticipated and rich at the same time.

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kick off for the summer season.  For me, it’s also an excuse to eat more ice cream than I should and it marks the start of a new season of reading.  Although I probably read the most in the winter, when it’s cold outside and toasty warm inside, nothing is quite like a good book at the beach or under a shady tree in the park.

This summer my book club is reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a debut novel by Jamie Ford.  I also hope to read two books I received for my birthday, The Zookeeper’s Wife and The Piano Teacher.   I’d like to finally get to the last two Harry Potter books as well. (I know I’m way behind the times on this one!)

My complete reading list would probably take me at least 5 years to get through, but still I’m always looking for more good reads.  I asked some of my colleagues what they were reading this summer.  A few were too shy to divulge their “fluff” reads.  (I think summer is the perfect time for some fluff!) Anna said that she’s taking the mystery Mudbound by Hillary Jordan to the beach and Rose said she will be reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Return of Sherlock Holmes and Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Bonnie is taking on the classics starting with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn followed by a long list that ends with A Farewell to Arms.  Now this is something I’ve always wanted to do but have never had the courage.  Like Bonnie, I somehow missed a lot of classic reading as a kid.

In addition to reading Hidden Kitchens by The Kitchen Sisters by Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva and The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets by Kym Douglas and Cindy Pearlman (her fluff read), Caroline had some fun summer reading plans.  “I plan to read the Complete Adventures of Curious George to my two nephews.  Curious George is my favorite childhood reading and I want to share this anthology with the boys.”

So, what’s on your summer reading list?