Diving into a great book can make a person forget about all the day’s problems, relax the mind, and get into the storyline. But we don’t want to recommend the typical fluffy beach reading for you. Getting lost in this year’s summer reading will include learning about the peacemakers for our world, the shifting of American dominance, the ladies that helped shape our nation to what it is now, and many others.

Starting off is a book about the peacemakers that have transformed society into what we know it today. Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World by Ken Beller and Heather Chase is about the social changes brought on by people such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa. This easy-to-read book includes profiles on well-known as well as lesser-known peacemakers such as Colman McCarthy, Bruno Hussar, Riane Eisler, and Wangari Maathai.

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria is about how China, India, and other emerging countries are starting to catch up to America economically. This book discusses how Americans have been pushing these countries to develop, and how they are catching up and, in some ways, surpassing the United States. This near-300 page book will make for an interesting read by an author you may have seen on The Daily Show, as he seems to be a favorite guest of Jon Stewart.

Another inspiring book to read is Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by TV news personality Cokie Roberts. Men are not the only ones who shaped our nation to where it is now; it took some courageous women to do a lot of the work. This book profiles these women. It includes women from first ladies, to teachers, to free thinkers.

On a different note, Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer is about arranged marriages. Written in first person, the writer was put into an arranged marriage with a man that already had three wives. This book is about a religious sect that commands women to be men’s property and to do anything they command. The experiences of the writer sheds light on what is a whole new world to most of us.

Inspiration for Tony Horwitz’s A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World came from when he was at Plymouth Rock with tourists and heard them ask the park ranger questions. He was upset by how spotty the public’s knowledge of our nation’s founding really is. In his book Horwitz explores the 128 years between Columbus and the Pilgrims.

Written by Kenneth C. Davis, America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation likewise explores some of the overlooked historical facts that helped shape our country. Some of the facts brought up in the book include the first real pilgrims, the coming of age story of Queen Isabella, and the long gruesome relationship between the Pilgrims and Indians.

Filled with what will not fit into his show, Stephen Colbert co-writes I Am America (And So Can You!). In his book Colbert and company look at religion, sex, the American family, race, sports, etc. Arranged in chapters, the satirical master talks about many topics as well as how Hollywood is destroying America.

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto sounds like a very strange topic for a summer reading book. Why does food need defense? In the book Michael Pollan talks about how people worrying about what they are eating are just making it unhealthy. With cooking everything a certain way and doing so much scientific research on different foods, he proposes, makes it almost impossible to enjoy foods.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an inspirational book about a family eating only foods that came right from where they lived, which happens to be in Southwest Virginia. Over the course of the book author Barbara Kingsolver discusses different experiences with outside foods, such as on airplanes. It also gives facts on how much we take in every day without knowing it.

Infidel, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, is about growing up in a Muslim family. Being raised in oppression she remained silent when the other children sang songs in class and was beaten by her teacher. Throughout this story, Ali grabs your heart and shows the pains of what it was like growing up in her shoes.

These are only a few of the great books to read this summer. With so many topics and genres to choose from, everyone can find something of their personal interest to dive into this summer while lounging on the beach or in the backyard. Have you read a great book that you’d like to recommend to other Voice readers? Add your comments or reviews below!

Want to buy a book mentioned here? We first recommend that you support a local book store. But if time doesn’t allow you to get out and shop for this book, find it online using the Amazon.com search function on our homepage and support the Voice‘s affiliate program.

Anna Keffer is a New River Voice summer intern who provided this round-up of books to read. She won’t have time to read books this summer because she will be working for us!