This summer was sizzling. What better to accompany your tall glass of iced tea than a book?

Some of Berkeley’s book enthusiasts shared their favorite summer books.

Berkeley Prefect, senior, and Student Library Proctor, Sarah Mostafa, spent  four brief, but captivating hours sprawled out on her bed reading the summer craze, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. For those of you who have either just seen the adorably tragic movie or have not had the chance to read it yet, Mostafa explains why this book made it to the top of her summer reading charts. For one, she explains, The Fault in Our Stars provokes a wide range of emotions, from undeniable happiness to abrupt shock. It’s a fiction, “sad romance” book that you will not want to put down. Its “meaningful plot and relatable characters” really struck home with Mostafa. Her favorite character is Isaac because “he’s just a supporting figure throughout the whole novel; he doesn’t have some epic romance. Isaac is additionally a reliable friend, like myself.” Mostafa explains that she loves reading because it is “a form of escapism. It’s sort of like watching a movie in my head.” Mostafa checked out the “The Fault in Our Stars” in the Jean Ann Cone Library, and you should too!

New to Berkeley, but not afraid to share his summer reading list, is freshman Ryan Whelan. Imagine waking up in a maze, realizing that you have to get out as soon as possible, but not knowing how to get through the dangerous path that can lead you out. This plot grabbed hold of Whelan’s mind and he was instantly glued to “The Maze Runner”by James Dashner. At first, Whelan wanted to read this book because he knew the movie was coming out, but after reading it and loving it, he says that the movie could not compare to the greatness of the book. According to Whelan, this science fiction book was both interesting, thrilling and captivating. He relates to the character Minho the most because he is “strong, smart, and just over-all cool.”

You can usually find Upper Division Physics teacher Andrew Vandenberg teaching in the physics rooms or helping out in robotics club on Mondays, but over the summer Vandenberg spent some of his time reading a book called “Oryx and Cracke” by Margaret Atwood. This dystopian fiction novel has to do with post-apocalyptic gene splicing gone crazy. Vandenberg wouldn’t consider the book as a “sci-fi novel” because according to him, “we can do all of these things [gene splicing] already.”

Although the summer is now over, be sure to check out some of these books at the Jean Anne Cone library. And, if you’re a really picky reader and none of these books seem to interest you, the SLPs and librarians are always there to help you find just the right book.