Books to add to your 2016 summer reading list

Summer is already upon us and if you are wondering what to read this summer, three Gazette reporters and avid readers shared as part of the Cedar Rapids Public Library's summer reading DARE program, what they think should top your summer reading list.

Features writer Alison Gowans' first job was shelving books at the Cedar Falls Public Library in junior high school. Though she no longer works at the library, she still spends a lot of time there.

Alison Gowans' picks:

'Americanah' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

'We Need New Names' by NoViolet Bulawayo

'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series' by Alexander McCall Smith

'Monique and the Mango Rains' by Kris Holloway

'River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze' by Peter Hessler

'Poor Man's Feast: A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking' by Elissa Altman

'Garlic and Sapphires' by Ruth Reichl

'Sabriel' series by Garth Nix

'Dresden' files series by Jim Butcher

'Temeraire' series by Naomi Novik

Erin Jordan is an investigative reporter at The Gazette and is also president of the board of the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism (IowaWatch.org), but in her free time she likes to investigate a good book. Jordan is married and has three kids — all of whom are signed up for summer reading programs.

Erin Jordan's picks:

'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë (adult fiction)

'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel (adult, young adult fiction)

'Banner in the Sky' by James Ramsey (adolescent fiction)

'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurtry (adult fiction)

'Beautiful Ruins' by Jess Walter (adult fiction)

'Anne of Green Gables' by Lucy Maud Montgomery (adolescent fiction)

'Girl with All the Gifts' by M.R. Carey (adult fiction)

'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer (adult non-fiction)

'New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance' by Elna Baker (memoir)

'Gone with the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell (adult fiction)

Scott Dochterman has worked as a sports and news reporter covering Iowa athletics and the Big Ten at The Gazette the last 10 years. Scott has won national honors from the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press Sports Editors. When he's not watching sports, he loves a good book — sometimes about sports.

Scott Dochterman's picks: 

'America's Game' by Michael MacCambridge

'Monster of the Midway' by Jim Dent

'The System: The Glory and Scandal of College Football' by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian

'Armageddon' by Max Hastings

'Game Change' by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

'The Assassination of the Archduke' by Greg King and Sue Woolmans

'The Worst Hard Time' by Timothy Egen

'The Death of East Prussia' by Peter B. Clark

'Battle Cry of Freedom' by James M. McPherson

'Their Life's Work: The Brotherhood of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, Then and Now' by Gary M. Pomerantz