Editor’s Note: Last summer we got the first suggestion from Nancy Harmon Jenkins. We weren’t able to print her recommendation before summer’s end. So we emailed recently to check in: Had she finished the novel? We’ve got her response, and a two-part recommendation, this week. 

Summer 2022: “David Copperfield. First time and I am enthralled. That Charlie Dickens knows how to tell a great story! And it’s nearly 600 pages long. Will take me all summer to get to the end. I love a book like that.”

Summer 2023: “Yes, I did finally finish the book before summer’s end and I would happily go back and start it all over again. But in the meantime, right now on my bedside table is ‘Demon Copperhead,’ the new novel by Barbara Kingsolver and I am almost at the end of that — 400+ pages and very much inspired by David Copperfield and Dickens himself, as the author has admitted.” — NANCY HARMON JENKINS, Camden

Mainers, please email to tell us about the book on your bedside table right now. In a paragraph or two, describe the book and be sure to tell us what drew you to it. We want to hear what you are reading and why. Send your selection to pgrodinsky@pressherald.com, and we may use it as a future Bedside Table.