At some point this summer, I looked around at the stacks of books in my house and wondered what eccentric hermit had taken up residence with me. Only the word “eccentric” seems to be used for people who are wealthy and a little bit not with it. I’ll cop to the “little bit not with it” category, but wealthy I am not.

Let’s just say, I’ve read a lot in these days.

Surprisingly, I read more non-fiction/bio/memoir than expected this summer. Usually in the summer months, I crave a good fiction story, but strangely, I gravitated to more real life things.

So here is the list of all I’ve read in these months:

Columbine – My first dip into the “true crime” genre of books and it did not disappoint. I’ll watch all the fictionalized crime shows all day, but as soon any of it begins to dip into real events, I run the other way. But this book was different. There was a journalistic approach to the tragedy that made me relate to the survivors and families of the victims. Be prepared, everything known about Columbine is examined and so much found to be false. So very interesting.

If You Find This Letter – I’ve followed Hannah’s blog for a while and love her honesty and candor. This book focuses in on her life post college and her learning to love people, mostly perfect strangers, well.

Favorite quote: “…it is one thing to be the girl on fire, but it is entirely another thing to be the girl who manages to set the world on fire with all the quiet and beautiful things she does.”

Tables In the Wilderness – Another memoir I loved. Yancey’s writing style isn’t for everyone, but it is beautiful all the same. This book focuses on Yancey’s faith journey through college and the years following. If you’ve ever struggled through waiting on the Lord, silence, and being still, this is a great book.

Favorite quote: “A broken vessel cannot control how it pours out.”

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed – Quirky. That is the one word that comes to mind when I think about this book. I think all of Jon Ronson’s books are. But even with all it’s strangeness, this is a compelling and necessary book. Public shaming did not die with burning at the stake. In fact in this era of social media, it is alive and well.

Favorite quote in regards to shaming through Twitter: “The snowflake never thinks it is responsible for the avalanche.”

To Kill A Mockingbird – Favorite book of all time. I will gladly join the chorus of so many of us that claim so. And this summer, I was reminded of all the reasons why. Beautiful, beautiful work.

In the Unlikely Event – I thought I would like this book more than I did. It is a good fiction read and I would recommend it to anyone, but there are a LOT of characters and I sort of got lost in who was who and how they all related to each other. But if you like Judy Blume (Superfudge was one of my favorite books as a kid), you will more than likely enjoy this one.

Creativity, Inc. – I’m late to the game on this one, but I am so glad to finally read this incredible book. The world of Pixar and the culture they have created is worthy of examination. My hand was cramped from all the notes I took. Absolutely blown away by this one.

Too many quotes to sum this one up, but I do love this one: “I believe, to my core, that everybody had the potential to be creative – whatever form that creativity takes – and that to encourage such development is a noble thing.”

Discernment – One of two books I read by Nouwen this summer. I cried my way through both of them. He writes in such a tender and broken way, as if he truly loves any nameless, faceless person that may pick up one of his books. You can feel the humility coming off the page.

Turn My Mourning Into Dancing – This book is short and I mistakenly thought I would breeze through it in a manner of days. This was so convicting it took me nearly a month to get through it.

On Deck:

Peace Like a River – I’m barely in, but I can already tell this is going to be one of my all-time favorites. Unreal beautiful.

Go Set a Watchman – We will see what this one holds!

Beloved – I’ve never read anything by Morrison so I’m excited to jump in.

So as we say goodbye to my beloved summer, we will all head into the cooler months with stacks and stacks of books. Happy reading, my friends!