Summer is reading season on Longboat Key

Whether you’re headed to the beach or hunkering down for a storm, summer is reading season. Luckily, the Longboat Library is full of options, recommendations and friendly faces.

Volunteer Debbie Calpin said "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah is one of their busiest books. “It comes in and goes right back out,” she said. "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr was also returned Friday and checked out 10 minutes later.

“I’m looking forward to reading 'The Sun is the Compass,'” Nancy Curtis said. She and her husband wanted to stock up for the rainy weekend. Her husband, Jim, checked out a few military history and fiction books. “I like adventure-type stuff,” he said.

If you like to read ahead like Nancy, her pick by Caroline Van Hemert is the subject of the library’s next book club in November. "The Sun is the Compass" is a personal account of the author and her husband’s 4,000-mile journey from the rainforest in Bellingham, Washington, to the Alaskan arctic without using any form of motorized transportation.

An impromptu book club discussion began at the checkout when patron Rebecca Goldthwaite was talking about author Ann Patchett. Another patron, Kip O’Neill, joined in to rave about the same book, "These Precious Days."

“This is a small-town library,” Goldthwaite said. “You can’t chat up other librarians like you can here.” She recommends Patchett’s collection of fast-moving essays for the beach because readers can take it in bites.

As far as what’s always on the shelves, Calpin said John Grisham, Stuart Woods and David Baldacci fans won’t leave disappointed. “There are always popular ones that you can check out or buy because people donate them,” she said.

As Goldthwaite waved goodbye and said, “See you next Friday,” she offered a tip. “If I go Friday to Friday, the donations build up.”

The library’s summer hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays.