Looking to get into something new this summer? Try these recommendations from our Popular Reading Curation (PRC) team.
 
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Recommended by John Mack Freeman, Head of Public Services Librarian

A new look at one of the most finite resources that anyone has at their disposal: time. If a person lives to be 80, they have just over 4,000 weeks at their disposal. How this time is used and managed is a primary challenge of life, and this book takes a blunt and counterintuitive approach towards its topic. More humorously philosophical than self-help, this book is great for the type of person who uses their summers to "level up" rather than wind down.
 
Intimations : six essays by Zadie Smith
Recommended by Catherine Manci, Public Programming & Community Engagement Librarian

This book of short reflective essays was penned by Zadie Smith during the 2020 lock down. In these essays, Smith reflects on life during the pandemic with a clarity that is unsettling in its truth and comforting in her ability to describe the moment with such precision. At just 100 pages, Intimations is a quick read to kick off the summer.
 
She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor: Book 1) by Shelley Parker Chan
Recommended by Chris Britt-Rogers, Library Service Center Associate Senior

Prepare to lose yourself in a world of mysticism, power, and love as you read She Who Became the Sun. In this first book of what promises to be an epic fantasy series, Chan re-imagines the life of Zhu Yuanzhang, the son of peasant farmers who became the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In Chan’s novel, Zhu is an orphaned girl who assumes her brother’s identity after raiders kill her family. Living as a man, she becomes first a monk, then a soldier, and finally a powerful general as she seeks to fulfill her brother’s prophecy of greatness. 
 
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire
Recommended by the PRC Team

Although from the Wayward Children series, each book can be read as a standalone. Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late. When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to "Be Sure" before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines  ... a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes. But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem.
 
Bloom by Kevin Panetta, artwork by Savanna Ganucheau
Recommended by PRC Team

Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band -- if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom ... that is, if Ari doesn't ruin everything.


The Georgia Tech Library Popular Reading collection is located on the first floor of Price Gilbert. Titles are refreshed monthly, and can be checked out for 21 days. Holds and renewals are not available.