A Date with Jodi...and Suzanne

For several years now, on the last day of the school year, I have had a steady date with Jodi. I prepare for the traditional annual date a few months earlier, often as early as March, and I'm reminded of the date for the last three months of school. I'm often tempted to go on the date earlier but I remind myself that all good things must wait. And Jodi is, more often than not, worth the wait.

But this year, before I go on my date with Jodi, I need to finish my relationship with Suzanne. She and I have dated off and on since last summer. She's been quite entertaining. My kids like her very much, my husband too! After some Hunger Games and some time Catching Fire, she's brought me a Mockingjay. So Jodi will have to wait a few days. Then she can Sing Me Home.

But Jodi has long been a favorite first date of the summer and I will remain true to her for years to come hopefully. She's delivered me Plain Truth, my favorite, and we've been through it all together. House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Acts, My Sister's Keeper, Second Glance, Perfect Match, Salem Falls (another favorite), Keeping Faith, The Pact (another favorite), Mercy (yet another favorite), Picture Perfect (the most aggravating, due to its topic of domestic abuse), Harvesting the Heart, and Songs of the Humpback Whale.

There will be many other summer dates, for sure. I wonder what Dan Brown is up to this summer? What about James Patterson? Elizabeth Berg? Oh, I'll call on some old favorites to see if they have anything new, and I'll undoubtedly go on a few blind dates. Those are always fun! I meet the coolest people that way! I rarely repeat a date with one from my past but there are some suitors who have been sitting on my shelf patiently for months or even years. I see them there each day and it just might be time to call them over to spend a little time with me. Of course, I always take suggestions from friends too. So feel free to leave me a name!

“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book” --Henry David Thoreau