You're Ready to Win Summer Reading Bingo

Let's all get five in a row

Hi friends,

It’s time for one of my favorite traditions: Summer Reading Bingo.

As a kid, I loved the library’s summer reading challenge. I got prizes for reading books? The dream. So, each summer, What To Read If subscribers play a version of the game. (If you’ve been around for a bit, you know I’m late getting the card out. Sorry!

Get your card here. Fill it in with books you read between Memorial Day and Labor Day and submit your completed card here. Everyone who gets Bingo will be entered into a raffle to win a $75 gift certificate to the Bookshop.org or LibroFM.

This week, I’m spotlighting books from my archive for three of the categories, and I’ll sprinkle them in going forward as well.

And, now, what to read if …

You Want to Start With a Book Set Before 1900

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

If you’re searching for a book that will transport you back in time, look no further than Ariel Lawhon’s The Frozen River, a historical novel about Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine during the winter of 1789-1790.

As the book opens, Martha is summoned to examine a body found frozen in the Kennebec River. She quickly recognizes the dead man as Joshua Burgess, a prominent member of the community her friend Rebecca accused of rape, along with Joseph North, the community’s judge, months before. Martha fears North may have killed Burgess to cover up the crime, and her suspicion grows when a new-to-town doctor contradicts her conclusion that the death was murder. As Martha continues to deliver babies, raise her children and tend to patients, she also investigates Burgess’s death and seeks to find evidence of the two men’s attack on Rebecca.

The Frozen River is a tough book to describe because it spans genres. My blurb makes it sound like a murder mystery, but I think it’s more historical fiction/slice of life with a mystery arc. I really enjoyed learning about Ballard, a real-life midwife who delivered more than a thousand babies without ever losing a mother. That would be impressive now, but given the state of medicine in the 18^th century, it’s truly remarkable.

Historical romance, such as Adrianna Herrera’s A Caribbean Heiress in Paris or Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller would also be a fun way to complete this prompt.

You’re Looking for an Audiobook

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

I’m obsessed with true-crime-podcast thrillers. I find the idea of fictional true crime fascinating. Amy Tintera’s Listen for the Lie is a strong addition to the growing subgenre.

In this case, the podcast shares the name of the book and the latest season of “Listen to the Lie” is ruining Lucy’s life. Host Ben Owens is reporting on the murder of her best friend Savvy five years earlier — and Lucy’s suspected involvement in it. Half a decade after the attack, Lucy still has no memories of the night in question and has fled her small Texas town to escape the suspicious glances of her neighbors. The podcast — and her beloved grandmother’s insistence she participate in it — bring Lucy back to the Lonestar State and she sets out to finally regain her memory, even if it means learning she’s guilty.

I’ve now read quite a few thrillers that bring in true crime elements and Listen to the Lie ranks among the best. Interspersed among chapters from Lucy’s perspectives are episodes of Ben’s podcast, meaning we see both her take on their interviews and how they’re then presented on air. The structure makes it both a gripping mystery and sharp critique of how true crime properties flatten victims in the name of a narrative. If you’re an audiobook person, this is one to listen to. The dual narration and production values make it feel like an old-time radio drama … or a podcast.

You’re Looking to Check Off the First in a Series Box

It’s Elementary by Elise Bryant

Mavis Miller, a single mom working a low-paying job at a nonprofit, has enough on her plate before the long-reigning and somewhat scary PTA president Trish Holbrook corners her in the school parking lot during drop-off one day. When Trish asks Mavis, one of the few Black parents at Knoll Elementary, to serve as the chair of the school’s new DEI committee, she begrudgingly agrees.

Late after their first PTA meeting of the school year, Mavis sees Trish in yellow rubber gloves and booties dragging cleaning supplies and giant black trash bags into the PTA president’s idling van. The next morning, the school’s new principal, last seen in a screaming match with Trish, is nowhere to be found. Knowing Trish would do anything to protect her kids, Mavis grows suspicious the Queen of the elementary school killed their principal. After she confesses her qualms to the attractive school psychologist, they team up to discover just what’s going on at Knoll.

Superstar romance author Emily Henry said It’s Elementary combines “the intrigue and drama of ‘Big Little Lies’ and the warmth and humor of ‘Abbott Elementary’” and I agree. I often guess the end of a cozy mystery, but this one surprised me. The sequel, The Game is Afoot, comes out July 8th.

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