It’s the beginning of the summer, which fills me with a “fresh start” kind of feeling. In June, I crave being less productive, taking naps in our hammock, walking barefoot in the grass, sitting outside under the stars. I love to read and I have such wonderful summer memories of reading late into the night with a flashlight, under a blanket, at sleep away camp.

I asked a group of friends to tell me the most recent book they adored and why. I’m giving you this list with the hope that you give yourself some time to read this summer, perhaps late in the day on the beach or late into the night while everyone in the house sleeps around you.

This is a very eclectic list meant to nourish you from all angles: romance, politics, adventure, health and travel.

My recommendations first:

1. The Healing Code by Alexander Loyd. A friend tells me that even before I finish it I will begin to think differently about things.

2. The book that brought me the most pleasure recently was by a brand new author, Tupelo Hassman. Her autobiography, Girlchild tells the story growing up in trailer park, outside of Reno, Nevada in the 1970’s.

3. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter takes us through the scenery of coastal Italy.

4. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed takes us on another kind of journey as we follow her interior expedition as she pushes herself against all odds.

5. Alisa Bowman takes on the journey of a marriage in Project: Happily Ever After, a friend told me this gave her a different perspective and greater appreciation for her “hubby.”

6. Nancy Smiler Levinson has published a brave poetic memoir of her journey with her husband’s decade with Alzheimer’s, in Moments of Dawn.

7. A few friends raved over novels they’ve read recently: Jodi Picoult’s The Story Teller,

8. and The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Stroud, which is about siblings who have to learn how to get along to help a nephew who is intolerant of Somalis in Maine.

9. Lots of books on politics were suggested for my list such as Fruit from a Poisonous Tree by Melvin Stamper, J.D. which tackles what we can and should be doing to maintain our constitutional protections.

10. The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone, which a friend says “covers 100 years of government lies and bullshit.”  It’s also a movie.

11. The Hanson Connection by Congressman Bill Posey, proving again that fact is often stranger than fiction.

12. Peter Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals and Cronysim sounds like it could raise my blood pressure.  

13. Poisoned Profits by Philip and Alice Shabecoff (he held the position of chief environmental correspondent for the NY Times for 14 years) is a stunning read about how corporate greed and influence are overpowering our concern for children’s health.

4. I just found out that Martha Herbert, PhD, MD has a brand new book out, Bugs, Bowels and Behavior: The Groundbreaking Story of the Gut-Brain Connection co-authored with Teri Arranga, Claire I. Viadro and Lauren Underwood.

15. On a similar theme, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition by Phyllis A. Balch was suggested.

16. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. She has no recollection of her one-month stay, during which she was described as violent, unstable, and hallucinating. Makes me wonder…

17. Battlefield of The Mind by Joyce Meyer were suggestions for books about the well-being of our mental health, the care of our moods and ability to function.

18. Along with Peter Chappell’s Emotional Healing with Homeopathy: Treating the effects of Trauma and…

19. The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die by John B. Izzo which helps us to find our way back into our hearts.

20. Andrew Solomon’s much talked about Far from The Tree made it onto my list as well worth it, although Kindle was suggested if you are traveling because it is HUGE.

Cheers to a lovely summer of new books!

Alison MacNeil is a co-author of The Thinking Moms’ Revolution, a new book of real-life stories about parenting autistic children written by 23 moms and 1 dad. She would recommend that book, as well as Christine Gross-Loh’s Parenting Without Borders and Jennifer Margulis’s The Business of Baby, but she wasn’t sure how without sounding too pushy.