The Once and Future Raja of Reading

When we launched Coral Gables Magazine five years ago, our first cover was a photograph of Mitchell Kaplan, the founder of Books & Books (and of the Miami Book Fair). No one, we surmised, was more beloved in this community, and no one more exemplified the intelligence of our residents. We are, after all, a highly educated city.

It is a great pleasure, then, to have Mitchell once again grace our cover. Much has happened since then – a pandemic, some raucous national elections – but through it all, Coral Gables has remained an island of civility and culture. We also remain a city of readers – our public library branch regularly rates as the highest in usage, per capita, of any in Miami-Dade.

So, we asked Mitchell to help us assemble a section of recommendations for our Summer Reading section. We also asked Dave Lawrence, the former publisher of the Miami Herald (back when it was a great newspaper) to make a few suggestions. And we asked Mark Trowbridge, CEO & president of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, to throw in his suggestions for business and leadership books.

When Mark made his suggestions, he also offered a few comments on Mitchell Kaplan and Books & Books, which we wanted to share:

“For the past five years, through the challenges and isolation of COVID, our

Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce has worked collaboratively with our partners at Books & Books to produce a stellar summer reading list for readers of all genres, desires, and tastes. This year is no different, and it reminds us of our pre-pandemic summers of leisure and travel that brought us such reading joy. Now, we can return to this favorite pastime with a vengeance, further understanding how lucky we are that Books & Books is again along for the ride.

Mitchell Kaplan and his team are the very best at picking a great summer read, whether to be enjoyed on a plane, by the pool, or on a sandy beach somewhere in our big, beautiful world. We are back to travel, but most of us have never left a great book behind. There is comfort in the page, light in the journey, life in the diverse characters. Use the time to escape, unwind, heal, or laugh. While I am a fan of history, I have also learned that when the team says, ‘Read this book,’ they do know best.

So, enjoy these recommended titles and fill up that carry-on backpack with a great book, courtesy of Books & Books and our friends at Coral Gables Magazine.”

CEO & PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P. Faber

EVP / PUBLISHER

Gail Scott

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Amy Donner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

VP SALES

Sherry Adams

MANAGING EDITOR

Kylie Wang

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Natalia Clement

EDITORIAL INTERN

Isabella Cascio

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Grace Carricarte

SENIOR WRITERS

Katelin Stecz

Mike Clary

Doreen Hemlock

WRITERS

Rachel Costa

Karen Buchsbaum

PROOFREADER

Lesley Fonger

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rodolfo Benitez

Tiege Dolly

Jonathan Dann

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Toni Kirkland

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

OFFICIAL FRAMER

Adam Brand / Frames USA we neglected to credit Alice Goldhagen for her excellent photos of the Villages of Coral Gables. Sorry Alice!

Coral Gables Magazine is published monthly by City Regional Media, 1200 Anastasia Ave. Suite 115, Coral Gables FL 33134. Telephone: (305) 995-0995. Copyright 2023 by City Regional Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph or illustration without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Send address changes to subscriptions@coralgablesmagazine.com. General mailbox email and letters to editor@ coralgablesmagazine.com.