Author of The HappiTraveler
Hard to believe that it’s already June. And that can only mean one thing, summer reading season is here again! Time to grab a cold beverage, a comfy seat and get reading.
I’m looking forward to reading Steve Berry’s new book The Columbus Affair. It centers on Tom Sagan a down on his luck journalist and discoveries about Christopher Columbus. I’ve enjoyed Berry’s previous works and this one sounds promising.
Another new book coming out in July is Year Zero: A Novel by Rod Reid. This one is being compared to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Those are definitely big literary shoes to fill. I’m looking forward to seeing if the comparison plays out.
And now for something completely different, a romance. Deborah Harkness is following up her insanely popular A Discovery of Witches with the next book in the trilogy, Shadow of Night. I have to admit I’m a fan and I’m really anxious to get my hands on this July release. If it’s as good as the first book it should be great.
The book I’m most looking forward to reading is the new Lee Child Jack Reacher novel A Wanted Man. Sadly for me this one is not scheduled for release until September. Not in time for summer reading but on my list none the less.
What books are you planning to read this summer? Any new authors you’re anxious to try? Please share your summer reading suggestions for books and authors. With all of the readers here we should have no shortage of great reads for those long, warm, days.
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June 22nd, 2012 at 8:14 am
OK, I’m going to start this off with a tangent. Can I ask a stupid question (as someone who isn’t into reading)?
I’ve heard about “summer reading” and “summer reading season” and this never made any sense to me. I would think with being cooped up, constantly craving a blanket and fireplace, and having 3 hours of sunlight a week would be the ideal conditions for reading not summer when I’d rather be doing anything besides sedentary activities.
I really am curious and this isn’t a veiled shot at readers.
As for books, besides Bill’s recommended “How Did I Get This Way?” which I made it about 1/3 of the way through, I haven’t heard of anything that piqued my interest since “Unbroken” which I plowed through in about 10 days (in the dead of winter). I tend towards historical non-fiction or biographies/autobiographies or funny stuff like Bill Bryson.
June 22nd, 2012 at 8:33 am
No wonder you’re so fucking boring to talk to.
—
While in NICU with the baby, options were somewhat limited for something to do. There was a copy of TailSpin by Catherine Coulter. While I’m all about trashy airport-purchased trash novels, I could not believe this woman is a #1 NYT Bestseller. Seriously, the book was a terrible read and while I had nothing better to do, I still couldn’t really get into it because the writing was so poor. Does anyone with a brain enjoy her stuff or was this one just a fluke?
I really have no reading plans for this summer. I have three months off of school and a week’s vacation later this summer at a friend’s cabin but I am not really all that motivated with a new baby. Maybe, as MSPD noted, if I found something that really piqued my interest I’d pick it up. We’ll see.
Anyone have anything that they’ve read, outside of the boring shit MSPD wants to read, that is good for relaxing and not taxing on the brain or the eyes (Coulter)?
June 22nd, 2012 at 10:57 am
WWII alone generated some incredible books. Have you read “Unbroken”? “In Harm’s Way” about the sinking of the Indianapolis at the end of WWII? “Hunting Eichmann”?
The Elie Wiesel books changed the way I look at my kids. The mental images of parents and kids torn from each other and never seeing each other again are haunting to me.
Those are pretty amazing books/stories.
June 22nd, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Love Bill Bryson! I’m currently reading cookbooks like Choose Your Own Adventure novels, though.
June 22nd, 2012 at 8:34 pm
I am determined to get through an M.F.K. Fisher book this summer!
June 22nd, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Summer reading is about trashy books for some, sure. Beach reads and meaningless brain candy meant to entertain. But it’s mostly about having some blocks of time to sit back and enjoy reading whatever makes you happy.
Summer is a time for family vacations, a week at the cabin, time at the beach, long weekends away, what have you. For many, a chance to slow down and take the time to read that book they’ve been looking forward to.
I really enjoy reading, I think that’s obvious. I usually read 3-4 books a month. But I still look forward to a warm summer night spent sitting on the patio, reading the night away. It’s a tradition for me.
As for the books, well, I’ve just read what for me is the quinticential summer read,
John Gilstrap’s Damage Control. Next will probably be Einstein and then maybe Robert Crais’ Taken and then the new Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night.
Whether you read non-fiction, bodice rippers or what have you, anytime you can is a great time to grab a book and a little downtime. Summertime for me just makes it all the sweeter.
June 23rd, 2012 at 8:50 am
Thanks tearitup. Makes sense.
So I don’t sound totally stuffy, I read a few Carl Hiasson (sp?) books a while back. Those were really good. Those probably fit the brainless fluff mold although I’m guessing prolific readers have already covered that ground.
June 23rd, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Picked up a legal mystery at the library in their Lucky U section. Minnesota based and written by Brian Freeman, this one is entitled Spilled Blood
http://www.bfreemanbooks.com/spilled-blood-books-by-brian-freeman.html
Anyone read anything else by him?
June 23rd, 2012 at 5:43 pm
For me, summer reading ends up being in the spring. the spring releases of the authors I follow get all eaten up by me before summer comes around. I know it helps that I am doing the Audio version of most books still. When i’m doing mindless stuff at work I can run through a book. (When I need my mind, I play mindless music). Then there is mowing the grass, showering in the morning, working in the yard.
Thus summer reading becomes re-reading things I’ve read before. I usually look back at my library and find things set in the summer. Something with a setting that helps me escape a bit.
Spent a good part of the March and April cranking through Kindle versions of the volumes thus far in the Song of Fire and Ice series. That actually took quite awhile as there are lots of words in those books. pretty good, but excessively long I think. Still, can’t wait to start reading the next one when it is released.
Started up a new series a week a go. Working on the first book of the Walt Longmire series of mysteries, The Cold Dish. The new show on A&E is pretty decent, and so far the book has been good.
Non-fiction, outside of technical stuff, leaves me a bit cold. I find many more misses than hits when I go that direction. It’s a little like bike riding. I stopped riding bike when I could drive a car. Other than during my youth a bike really was just a means to an end. A tool to get me from where I was, to where I want to be. I’m like that with non-fiction. I don’t look to it for entertainment, like I do fiction. I look to it for things that move me forward. And finding that isn’t all that easy. Though I admit, I haven’t looked hard for a few years.
I re-read Ready Player One the other day too. damn I like that book.
June 23rd, 2012 at 6:37 pm
When I had a long commute, usually lengthened in winter, audio books kept me sane. The time just sailed by.
June 23rd, 2012 at 9:23 pm
well, i thought mspd didn’t have a life other than the le tour until now. any book about a specific battle in ww2 is well worth the effort to read. as far as eichmann, judgment in Jerusalem or the house on garibaldi st are excellent reads. being as i’m a swabbie, so the series ‘the united states navy in ww2′, by rear admiral Samuel Eliot Morison is a must read. 14 volumes small spaced, very few pictures, maps and diagrams. i’m interested in the pacific and have read the rising sun in the pacific and the struggle for guadalcanal. the real turning point in the pacific.
remember the original jaws movie when quint and the shark guy got tanked, quint talked about 1100 or so good men on the indy, 900 hit the water and 300 or so survived, true story! and sad.
and lets not forget there were more sailors killed in ww2 than marines:( not so for wounded tho.
bb
June 26th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I am very anxious to read the books of an author I just found out about. Larry Millett. He writes a series of Sherlock Holmes books that take place in St Paul, MN in the WW1 years. He also writes non fiction about architecture and historic houses in the twin cities area (both those still remaining and ones which were lost). Sherlock Holmes and old architecture, two of my favorite things, what a find.
June 26th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Well johnl I was intrigued enough by your description of the Larry Millett books to order one. I picked up Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders.
July 3rd, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I had 2 episodes of blood clots in the “Rigges” system. Never EVER go to a “Rigges ” Heath center. I’m now at Abbot-Northwesten in Mpls (divirticulitus) and the quality could not be better! It does make a difference. The quality of care you receive here. The doctors are top notch and the nurses and PCA’s are all Top notch and they have to attend mandatory training each year. The only place better is the Mayo but who wants to drive there? Rigges are cheaply run.
Let me know if you want more info
July 5th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Reading is my favorite activity! Recent great reads include “The Night Circus”. Currently reading “Heading out to wonderful”(which half way thru is more strange than wonderful). Cued up is “the warmth of Other Suns”.