Friday Question of the Day – What’s on your Summer Reading List?

by Prince Of Petworth May 26, 2016 at 10:22 pm 50 Comments

summer reading list

With Memorial Day weekend comes our annual call for your summer reading list and recommendations. You can see last year’s list here. What’s on your list this year?

Farragut

My summer list includes:
1) Anything by Judith Tarr (fantasy/historic fiction writer). I found out she was deaf, too, so I decided to make my way through her catalog. I’ve liked the one trilogy I’ve read by her, but I’ve another 40 to go.
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2) The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. The 9th & final book is coming out in less than 3 weeks, so I’m rereading the first 5 and finally reading the rest. It’s a fun series set in the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. I’m on book 2 right now.
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3) I’m in a big short story phase right now, so I’ll continue reading some more collections and anthologies. I’m making my way through a “golden age SF” one, and then I’ll probably read a couple Martin/Dozois ones, or some KJ Parker stories, we’ll see. :-)
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4) I’d like to get back to some more mysteries like Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe.
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5) And anything else I get distracted by! The next volumes of Saga, Ms. Marvel, and Usagi Yojimbo (rabbit ronin!) come out in July, the next Gentleman Bastard book by Scott Lynch is finally coming out, and Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Ghost Talkers” (WWI with ghosts!) in August.
- dcd
  
  I have to say, I always look forward to your lists – you do the legwork (a lot of it), and I (and others) reap the benefits. Have you read the new Guy Gavriel Kay work yet? I pre-ordered it, forgot about it, and it released when I was out of the country. I opened my Kindle library yesterday and there it was, just in time for the long weekend (when I won’t have any time to read, but whatever). In any event, thanks for the recommendations!
  - Farragut
    
    Thanks, dcd! Unfortunately, I was on the night shift last night so I slept through the rest of this thread.
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    I have not read any GGK yet, though I do have a copy of “Under Heaven.” I actually had to create a ‘priority’ list for my books because I realized I was in the middle of so many series, hence the Temperature reread. I’d definitely love to read through since Last at some point!
Suse

Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris
- textdoc
  
  I’ve been reading this too!
dat

Ship of Gold
- dat
  
  Full title: ship of gold in the deep blue sea
Kelly

I just finished “When Breath Becomes Air” a memoir by Paul Kalanithi and cannot recommend it enough!

Next up for me is “Born to Run” and “Ashley’s War.” I’m also looking forward to the release of Mary Roach’s next book called “Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War.” I read “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” years ago and loved it.
- Erin R
  
  I have heard good things about when breath becomes air, happy to hear more, it’s on my list! My personal list tends to be dictated by a combination of my goodreads ‘toread’ list and which of those the library currently has, so for the next week it’s:
  White Teeth by Zadie Smith
  The House on Mango Street by Sandra Ciseneros
  A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
  
  Just finished A Kim Jong Il Production by Paul Fischer – which was a really interesting look at kidnapped North Koreans who got to live among the elite vs the majority of the stories you read about the heart breaking poverty
  - BeverlyS
    
    A Kim Jong Il Production is on my list! I just finished Without You There is No Us by Suki Kim, and the bizarre world of North Korea is fascinating.
  - kd21
    
    The House on Mango Street is not a particularly good book, skip it.
- jeslett
  
  Stiff was great! I actually read much of it in Knoxville and I did not believe the body farm thing, but my friends confirmed it. Really cool, but kind of crazy stuff.
  She has one about digestion too, but I haven’t read it.
  - wdc
    
    And Bonk, about sex. And Packing for Mars, about the space program.
    - yesjillsergeant
      
      Gulp, the one about food was excellent too! Probably my second favorite of hers after Stiff. Great stuff…if you can stomach it :)
- hiphopanonymous
  
  When Breath Becomes Air was GREAT – he was an amazing person – as was Ashley’s War. If you enjoy Ashley’s War, try the other book by that author, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana.
anon

every summer i re-read the red mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.

If you love hard sci-fi, it dosent get much better then this series.
- Nathan
  
  These look really good – thanks for the recommendation!
ajr

I just started The Devil in the White City and I am hooked.
- RabbitRabbitRabbit
  
  I loved that book! It’s seriously addictive.
  - bll
    
    yes. I love erik Larson’s books, although if you read In the Garden of Beasts watch the cover. I got quite a few looks reading that on the bus, mainly because I got the library copy with large font, which also meant large swastikas on the front. Looking forward to reading Dead Wake and Thunderstruck.
- soozles
  
  This was probably my favorite of Erik Larsen’s. Or maybe Isaac’s Storm about the hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900, which was also really, really good.
BeverlyS

LaRose, which is Louise Erdrich’s new novel. I’ve read most of her work now and she is a brilliant novelist.
I also am just starting Everybody’s Fool, which is the sequel to Nobody’s Fool that came out many moons ago. It’s a fun visitation to characters I thought I had forgotten.
- Quotia Zelda
  
  She’s my favorite contemporary novelist. I can’t wait to read LaRose.
Anonamom

Currently reading “The Color of Water” by James McBride, and “the Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame to the kids.
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I started a book challenge at the beginning of the year, and I am WAY behind. My next book will be the “self-help” book and will be “Will I Ever Be Good Enough: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers.” After that I think I will go for the “book written by a comedian” to lighten the load lol
- LittleBluePenguin
  
  Awww! The Wind in the Willows is just the best ever! Good luck on your book challenge, especially the self-help book – sounds like it could be good though, especially with a comedic-book chaser!
  - Anonamom
    
    I absolutely adored the Wind in the Willows as a child and was super excited when middle Anonachild wanted to read it!
- wdc
  
  Anonamom, your children might like The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, especially if you’re reading it to them. (You gotta do the voices.)
  - Anonamom
    
    I have never heard of this, I will definitely be checking out!! I always do the voices… I do a mean Pigeon from the “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus…” series. Four years of Theater in HS and this is my only outlet that remains! ;)
    - wdc
      
      Speaking of Mo Willems, did you know that he named Elephant Gerald after Ella Fitzgerald?
      - Anonamom
        
        I did not know that!! Now I must change my entire reading of the Elephant and Piggie books! I have always done Gerald in a male’s voice!
        Speaking of Mo Willems, have you seen his new chapter book, “The Story of Diva and Flea?” Middle Anonachild loved this one.
    - textdoc
      
      I was just wondering who Mo Willems was (after seeing the name listed as “Most popular author” on the D.C. library’s catalog page). Question answered!
Jill

A few weeks ago someone encouraged me to give the Elena Ferrante books another try (this time I’m doing the audiobook version). I just finished the first one in the Neapolitan series and have started the second. Those will keep me busy for a while.
I’m also reading She’s Not There by Joy Fielding, which I would recommend as a quick beach read.
Anon

East of Eden
- Anonamom
  
  I love, love, love this book. Easily my all time favorite.
Truxton Thomas

Keep trucking on popular history and historical nonfiction: “Battle Cry of Freedom,” McPherson; “The March,” Doctorow; “The Bully Pulpit,” Goodwin. Then “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” will kick off a World War II set that includes “Black Earth,” “Maus,” “The Plot Against America” and “The Man in the High Castle.” This might take a couple summers, but I’m clearing out that stack by my nightstand some day.
- Quotia Zelda
  
  McPherson is so good.
  - Truxton Thomas
    
    I’m almost 400 pages in, and the war is just getting started. But very thorough and packed tight with history. I find myself having to reread lines to get everything because he squeezes so much in. That’s why other equally ambitious Civil War histories are multiple volumes.
    –
    Also, I realize I meant “historical fiction” in my post.
That MAn A

Just finished a book on time mgt…
Waiting for 4 Hour Work Week to arrive now
not sure after that
Anon

Currently reading The River of Doubt, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, and The Devil in the White City
- Mickey’s BFF
  
  The River of Doubt is such an interesting book. Is there anything TR did not do?
Quotia Zelda

1) Now that we’re in the sunny, warm, happy time of year, I’m going back to Buddenbrooks. Last time I picked it up was November, and the arrival of winter, combined with the sense of foreboding and decay that hangs over the book, just about did me in.

2) There’s a newish John Sandford book I haven’t read (Extreme Prey). I do love crime novels.

3) I like to read Victorian fiction in the summer. I’m thinking about North and South and Doctor Thorne.

4) I inherited a TON of Angela Thirkell’s books from my grandfather, so I plan to work my way through as many of those as I can.
- Truxton Thomas
  
  I want to read more Thomas Mann some day. All I’ve read is “Death in Venice.”
I Dont Get It

Alexander Hamilon by Ron Chernow. I wanted to read the book that inspired the musical and I’ve been on page 3 for about two weeks.
- navyard
  
  I recently bought the CDs for the broadway score. It’s wonderful. I thought about reading the book that inspired it all, but I have Ron Chernow’s book on Washington, and I’ve been about 1/4 through it for 3 years now.
OffTheAvenue

I want to do a re-read of The Barrytown Trilogy, Roddy Doyle’s first 3 novels: The Commitments, The Van, and the Snapper. Love these books so much!

Also need to read two that have been languishing on my Kindle one or two chapters in for a long while: Devil in the White City, and Chernow’s Hamilton.
Girl on a Hill

I’m about to start “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. My mother said it was extremely intense/ has heavy themes, but was also one of the best books she ever read. Also should take me a while…734 pages!
- Jill
  
  Really? I could not get into that book at all. The characters were so unrealistic, like what someone who’s never been to New York imagines New Yorkers to be like.
- early-byrd
  
  I would agree with your mom about its intensity; it can be quite wrenching. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the best book I’ve ever read, but I thought it was very good.
Mickey’s BFF

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Winner of 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. This guy can write! Such a pleasure to read such a well-written book.
Trying to get into Hamilton. I’m embarrassed to admit that my 16-year old grandson started it at the same time I did and has finished it! He was inspired to read it because of the musical. I hope to be able to take him to see it someday. Hah!
Adams Morgan

“Slavish Shore: The Odyssey of Richard Henry Dana Junior” by Jeffrey Amestoy
– Actually a reread for me but it was so compelling I’m excited to read it again this summer without the same distraction I had this past winter. This is the first biography written about Dana in over a century (I believe) and gives an amazing look into the life of someone who has faded into history for many. Particularly with the current conversations and debates around movements like Black Lives Matter and the need for us to own up to the less proud moments in our history, it’s interesting to read about this man who defended fugitive slaves in Boston at a time when the highbrow society was much more on the side of slaves owners rather than slaves. Highly, highly recommend

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