Summer reading

We’re not done yet!

The Boston Globe weighs in with recommendations. Their list aims to be “quirky.” Their criteria were that the books had to be short – 250 words or less, overlooked and while not traditional beach fare were picked because “while none is a "beach read," all are more for pleasure than improvement.”

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/gallery/2008_quirky_books/

My summer reading list

As promised, here's my summer reading list. I've included some books that I've wanted to read for years and two books for the Orbis Terrarium Challenge, which I'm a little behind on. I tried to limit it to 15 books so there's room for random surprises or the occassional reading slump. There's a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

Drum roll please....

1. 100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. Deafening - Francis Itani
3. The Wind Up Bird Chronicles - Haruki Murakami
4. The Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem
5. You Don't Love Me Yet - Jonathan Lethem
(I really enjoyed Motherless Brooklyn and have been putting off reading The Fortress of Solitude for years. I decided to move it up the list)
6. The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
8. One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson (Sequel to Case Histories)
9. Harbor - Lorraine Adams
Non-Fiction
10. The Prosecutors - Gar Delsohn
(In addition to my love of Law and Order, I'm addicted to shows like Cold Case or Forensics Files. The writer spent a year in the Sacramento DA's office.)
11. The Corner - David Simon and Edward Burns
(Another year in the life of. This time, it's a neighborhood in Baltimore struggling with crime and drugs.)
12. The Ten Cent Plague - David Hajdu
13. The Big Box Swindle - Stacy Mitchell
(A meaty look at the high cost of low-price, big box stores.)
14. Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman
(An old book, but still relevant with the increasing glut of information and media sources.)
15. Tulia - Nate Blakeslee
(This is another paperbackswap gem. I had my eye on this for years and put it on my wish list. Victory! The book examines the arrest of 47 people in a Texas town. All were charged and convicted for dealing cocaine despite the lack of any real evidence.)

What's on your summer reading list?

Can't get enough summer reading!

I liked the opening of Short Stack's “Five Books That Have Summer Written All Over Them.” Summer’s a mixed bag – the days are longer, there’s fresh vegetables and fruit, the beach. There’s also the heat, bug bites and sunburns.

But don’t forget there’s also summer reading!

To continue the summer reading suggestions, Short Stack has books with a summer feel including Ray Brabury’s Dandelion Wine.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/shortstack/2008/06/five_books_that_have_summer_wr.html

Even more summer reading

We're still keeping an eye out for those summer reading lists. (It's like Christmas in July, er, June!)

NPR’s book critic Alan Cheuse weighs in with his recommendations for summer reading.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90995424&ft=1&f=1032

Summer reading

Ahhh, summer. Sunshine. The beach. The smell of suntan lotion. Longer days.

And books.

A flood of summer reading lists is starting to pour in. I’ll try to keep up. Feel free to post suggested lists in the comments section.

I know one book I definitely will have my eye on: The Condition by Jennifer Haigh. I really liked both Mrs. Kimble and Baker Towers.

I'll try to keep you posted on summer reading suggestions and will share the list of books that I hope to read this summer. Please leave your suggestions for summer reading.

Summer reading suggestions (and one spring reading suggestion):

Three Books about Sand and Sun
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90778228&ft=1&f=1032

Fiction Picks for Your Mental Getaway
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90588540

Booksellers' Selections for Summer Afternoons
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90478802

SF-Fantasy Heavy Hitters for the Summer
http://www.omnivoracious.com/2008/05/sf-fantasy-heav.html

All Summer Long
http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/all-summer-long/

Staff Favorites: Three novels to try this summer http://shelftalk.spl.org/2008/05/27/staff-favorites-three-novels-to-try-this-spring

AN ELITIST’S SUMMER READING LIST
http://www.nypress.com/21/22/summerguide/summerguide5.cfm

5 Must-Read Books For Summer
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4131528n&channel=/sections/earlyshow/videoplayer500202.shtml

Summer reading: We've got it covered
http://www.charlotte.com/arts/story/634641.html

Older but wiser: Random picks for summer reading
http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2008/05/13/Wildlife/Older.But.Wiser.Random.Picks.For.Summer.Reading-3371067.shtml

The National Book Critics Circle Announces the Spring 2008 NBCC Good Reads List
http://bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com/2008/05/national-book-critics-circle-announces_5887.html

(Image courtesy of Crystal Eye Entertainment)