Another summer reading program has come to an end. Thank you to everyone who participated this summer, in particular those of you who participated in the adult program! Every year, staff can see which books got logged the most when participants submitted their reading time. I thought seeing what Sheboygan was reading this summer would be fun. You’ll find the book’s description from our catalog under each title. I’ve also included a link to the large print version if Mead has a copy. We look forward to the community participating in 2025’s summer reading program!

The Holy Bible

“Introducing the TNIV Bible in an attractive, low-cost edition for churches everywhere. Endorsed by scholars and pastors across the country, the TNIV is the new translation for today’s generation. It combines uncompromising reliability, the clarity of today’s language, and the heritage of the most trusted translation, the NIV.
Because this inexpensive church edition was made from the same setting as the TNIV Thinline Bible and TNIV Pocket Bible, everyone using a Zondervan TNIV text Bible is guaranteed to be on the same page, enhancing church community. Pagination matches Media Shout Bible projection software, making it easier for church attendees to locate referenced scripture verses.
The TNIV is the Bible of choice for churches committed to engaging the next generation of believers.”

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Large Print)

“With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France–a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.”

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

“At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Door of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors from both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?”

Our Kindred Creatures by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

“Over just a few decades at the end of the nineteenth century, the United States underwent a moral revolution on behalf of animals. Before the Civil War, animal’s suffering had rarely been discussed; horses pulling carriages and carts were routinely beaten in public view, and dogs were pitted against each other for entertainment and gambling. But in 1866, a group of activists began a dramatic campaign to change the nation’s laws and norms, and by the century’s end, most Americans had adopted a very different way of thinking and feeling about the animals in their midst. In Our Kindred Creatures, Bill Wasik, editorial director of The New York Times Magazine, and veterinarian Monica Murphy offer a fascinating history of this crusade and the battles it sparked in American life. On the side of reform were such leaders as George Angell, the inspirational head of Massachusetts’s animal-welfare society and the American publisher of the novel Black Beauty; Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Caroline White of Philadelphia, who fought against medical experiments that used live animals; and many more, including some of the nation’s earliest veterinarians and conservationists. Caught in the movement’s crosshairs were transformational figures in their own right: animal impresarios such as P. T. Barnum, industrial meat barons such as Philip D. Armour, and the nation’s rising medical establishment, all of whom put forward their own, very different sets of modern norms about how animals should be treated.”

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand (Large Print)

“Madeline King and Grace Pancik are best friends and the envy of Nantucket for their perfect marriages, their beautiful kids, their Sunday night double dates with their devoted husbands. But this summer, something’s changed, and if there’s anything Nantucket likes better than cocktails on the beach at sunset, it’s a good rumor. And rumor has it… that Madeline, a novelist, is battling writer’s block, with a deadline looming, bills piling up, and blank pages driving her to desperation — and a desperately bad decision …that Grace, hard at work to transform her backyard into a garden paradise, has been collaborating a bit more closely that necessary with her ruggedly handsome landscape architect …that Grace’s husband, successful island real estate developer “Fast Eddie” Pancik, has embarked on quite an unusual side project …that the storybook romance between Madeline’s son, Brick, and Grace’s daughter Allegra is on the rocks, heading for disaster. As the gossip escalates, and they face the possible loss of the happy lives they’ve worked so hard to create, Grace and Madeline try mightily to set the record straight — but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it.”