Longboat Library has assigned summer reading for every type of bookworm

Few things are certain in life: Death, taxes and on Longboat Key, afternoon thunderstorms.

When the wet weather (or perhaps the steaming hot temperatures) force Longboaters indoors, go the old-fashioned route for entertainment and pick up a book from the local library. The Longboat Library is open from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Fridays and has a roster of helpful librarians to recommend the next great read, like these ones. 

If these recommendations don’t float your boat, check the library often. Generous closet-cleaners and shelf-clearers mean the library gets new books regularly. 

“We get donations all the time,” librarian Barb Torrence said. “We spent the whole morning sorting the books. We take it, sell it (in the used books section) or donate it to Goodwill or St. Mary’s (Star of the Sea, Catholic Church) for the rummage sale.” 

So, like asking a mechanic to recommend a range of used cars, we asked the librarian to recommend some summer reads: 

For the daydreamer

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What’s better than a book about books? Torrence recommended this book for those with their heads in the clouds. It tells the story of the Midnight Library, a place full of books about every timeline imaginable. One book contains the story of a person’s life as they know it, while other volumes follow how their lives would have changed if they had made different choices. The protagonist is a woman named Nora who is going back through her old breakups, career decisions and what makes her Nora. While it seems heavy, it’s ultimately a feel-good book that makes the reader reflect on themselves. 

For the history-lover

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Torrence is a big fan of historical fiction and has many readers who come in seeking to time travel through the pages of a good book, too. She recommended this one, which is set in the first century and follows the fictional wife of Jesus, a curious and rebellious woman named Ana. She and Jesus find each other and are drawn to each other’s spiritual hearts and curious minds. Ana’s longings for a worthy life intensify in Nazareth. This book is full of strong female characters, such as Ana’s aunt Yaltha and her friend Tabitha, and is built upon a base of intense research. 

For the traveler

“Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna” by Mario Giordano

Torrence recommended this wine-soaked murder mystery, which will take the reader to Sicily to follow the retired Auntie Poldi as she ferrets out a killer. It starts with a body in a vineyard and goes crazy from there. This is the second installment in the Auntie Poldi chronicles, which follow the titular heroine as she just tries to enjoy her Italian retirement. The two others, “Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions” and “Auntie Poldi and the Handsome Antonio,” also take place in Sicily. Pick this one up with a glass of wine and spend an afternoon in Sicily. 

For the mystery-lover

“One By One” by Ruth Ware

Mystery, along with history, is the most frequently requested genre, so there are swaths of secret-stuffed stories. One of the most recent additions is “One By One” by Ruth Ware, which Torrence recommended. It’ll take the reader to a land far away from summer on Longboat Key to a snowy mountain chalet where nine coworkers are snowed in. None can trust another, and when an avalanche hits, the body count begins to rise. Read this to cool down and send a chill up your spine. 

For the visiting beach bum

“No Sunscreen For the Dead” by Tim Dorsey

This is a new addition to the Longboat Library, but it’s the 22nd installment in the Serge Storms series. The Carl Hiaasen-esque cover makes it clear that this could take place nowhere else than the Sunshine State. Specifically, this one takes place partly in Sarasota, which Dorsey, a former reporter for the now-defunct Tampa Tribune, calls a cultural mecca for retirees. Serge Storms himself is retiring, though when a bout of murder-suicides turn up, he just might get back in the game. If you haven’t had enough of the Sarasota sun, pick this one up, slather on the SPF and hit the beach.