What's On Your Summer Reading List?

I am in the middle of two books–
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman and Jhumpa Lahari’s new book, Unaccustomed Earth. They are both excellent books, but the Alice Hoffman book is building momentum and so is perhaps a better beach book since it takes less brainpower to stay with the story. I recently read The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin, a mystery featuring a wonderful detective (also a eunuch, oddly enough) who is unraveling a crime that winds through the streets of the Ottoman empire. It is snappy and fun. I plan to read a Jonathan Lathem book, As She Climbed Across the Table next. Lathem wrote Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude and I loved them both. The first features another sort-of detective with Tourette’s syndrome and the second is set in 70s Brooklyn and one of the best books I’ve read about growing up in a city (or anywhere). It’s not all fun, but is poignant and precisely written. If I get to all of this and can still see the street over the weeds in the front yard, it will be a great summer. –Janice Heilmann

I just finished the most fascinating book. Some may have already read it as it was published in 2003, but now it is in paperback. The book is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. The book interweaves two true stories: the amazing story of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and the serial killer who was also living in Chicago at the time. I initially hesitated to read the book because I didn’t really want to read about a serial killer, but this aspect proved to also be interesting and only occasionally a little too graphic! The wonderful part of the book is the absolutely unbelievable story of how the fair came to be and all of the new inventions that were introduced there. I would highly recommend the book to both men and women as it reads like a novel but it is all true! ––Frances Foster

The book that is great for summer reading just came out this week. It’s David Sedaris’ When You are Engulfed in Flames. –Josie Leavitt

I’ll be reading The Book Thief and David McCullough’s 1776. –Ute Otley

Have been waiting until activities eased up to finally get at Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food - An Eater’s Manifesto, which Linda has been urging on me as a good “read,” and beneficent to boot. Then will come Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sachs which I bought in 2006 and have not been able to enjoy. Sachs is a neurologist with a keen eye in amateur botany, who delights in Mexico. I came across a book of previously unpublished essays by my favorite naturalist/philosopher Aldo Leopold, who first coined the term “land ethic,” and who was perhaps the most influential environmentalist of the 20th century. It is titled For the Health of the Land. I will read it! Linda and I (we read out loud to both enjoy) will finish a very intriguing book called The Janissary Tree, an historical mystery set in Istanbul, whose protagonist is the detective eunuch Yashim. It is by Jason Goodwin. –Larry Hamilton

With this fantastic weather we have been having my reading is limited to bedtime. After I’m finished with the latest Sail magazine, 7 Days and The Charlotte News I may not be awake to embark on the two books on my nightstand. The Good Pig by Sy Montgomery and The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies. I’m learning to download books to my MP3 player so I get some “reading” done on the mower. –Bill Fraser-Harris

This might seem kinda geeky, but I often rather curl up with some good non-fiction than escape into a good fiction story (though both have their place). If you like Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, and Blink), a good read this summer is Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. It’s full of antecdotes about amazing things accomplished through the power of social networking, and then analyzed and deconstructed to help us understand how the internet and its various technologies are changing the way we live, communicate and take social action. There’s also the fascinating issue of persona. –Andy Grayson

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder –Elaine Ittleman

For those who want a bit more than a Free Press or nightly news exploration of the alleged global warming “crisis,” I suggest reading Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years by Singer and Avery. Available on Amazon.com—new and used. –Joe Blanchette

I am “not very patiently” waiting for two new books that are coming out this summer. The first one is a Janet Evanovich novel Fearless Fourteen that goes on sale today. The second one is Stephenie Meyer’s new novel that comes out in August, Breaking Dawn. I love both of these book series and I know that they are going to be a fun part of my summer.
–Naomi Strada
My reading has been on a food kick lately. I finished The United States of Arugula: the Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution by David Kamp a short while ago. It was interesting and great fun. I am presently about three quarters of the way through The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I am fascinated and absolutely horrified by the description of the “industrial” production of food in this country, corn in particular. The book is also wonderful in its explanation of how much good food can be raised on a limited amount of land. No wonder The New York Times picked it as on of the ten best books of 2006. I’ll pay much more attention to what I eat from now on. –Roberta Whitmore

Anything goes in summer. Eclectic is the word. I am reading: Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollen - A timely read about the state of our food, diet, and “nutritionism.” I just read Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by Sheff and now want to read his son’s book, Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff. I’ll read Chris Bojahlian’s latest book Skeletons at the Feast and Jane Austin for fun, and A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties by Suze Rotolo, former girlfriend of Bob Dylan. —MaryAnne Gatos

I am a bit behind in my reading, summer or otherwise (blame it on a new puppy!), but I finished The Known World by Edward P. Jones (picked up last year at the Town Party book sale!) and although parts were long, it was beautifully written and a great story. I’m in the middle of Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise about going undercover during her years as the New York Times’ restaurant critic— and am thoroughly enjoying it. She is very funny and describes the food in glorious detail. This one is a great summer read for sure! –Paula Joslin

There are three books on my bedside table awaiting my tired eyes: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair by the late, great George Plimpton and Desert Solitaire by the one and only (also late and great) Edward Abbey. –Melissa Eyre

This summer I’m going to be reading The Brothers K by David James Duncan and Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. –Will Burhans

I’ll be reading Saturday by Ian McEwan, Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, Samedi the Deafness by Jesse Ball, The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende and The Quiet Girl by Peter Hoeg. Lily, who is three, will be reading anything by Cornelia Funke continuing with her love affair with all things Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, all the Fancy Nancy books by Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser, the Angelina Ballerina books by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig, the Lilly books by Kevin Henkes, and the main love of her life, Dora the Explorer. –Jamie O’Brien

I’ve got a few books on my nightstand that I’ve been waiting to read. Dancing with Horses: The Art of Body Language by Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling was given to me by a friend and looks wonderful - fabulous pictures too. On the same note, I’m half way through Chosen By A Horse – a poignant, beautifully written book. I’ll head to the library and to the Flying Pig to get some suggestions for fun beach reads. –Nana Boffa

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, is a great personal narrative told by a talented storyteller. A Somali-born Muslim, Hirsi weaves the story of her life, beginning at her grandmother’s knee memorizing her clan members back ten generations. Through the lens of her childhood years in Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and her escape to Holland from an arranged marriage, Hirsi demonstrates the power and importance of clan and tribe and recounts the frightening dysfunction of her family and the governments under which she lives. She is attracted to fundamentalist Islam in societies where governments offer nothing except fear– no education, healthcare, public safety, or law and order. A refugee in Holland, Hirsi learns Dutch, earns degrees in political science, and becomes a Member of Parliament. She grows increasingly critical of Islamic fundamentalism and the political correctness of the Dutch who refuse to examine or criticize immigrant communities. Dutch taxpayers unwittingly support Islamic schools that teach hatred for infidels and tolerate extreme submission of women, including their genital mutilation. –Elizabeth Bassett

Here’s what I hope to be reading this summer: Going Down South, by Bonnie J. Glover, about three generations of strong African American women spending a summer together; The White Mary by Kira Salak, a journalist by profession who’s now written this novel about a woman who travels deep into the jungle of Papua New Guinea, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, a book for young people that I hope to read with my daughter, Lily, about a ten-year old girl who steals books in Nazi Germany and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate Diramillo, a book for young people that I hope to read with my daughter, Amelia, about a self-absorbed porcelain rabbit who goes on a journey and learns the truth about love. –Tracy Harris

I’m keeping my list short because I always bite off more than I can chew and that applies to books even more. I’m the kind of person who goes on a weekend jaunt and takes four books and end up reading only part of one! So, my two reads for the summer are: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin which is a story of an American mountaineer who, in 1993, after a failed attempt to climb K2, promises to return and build a school in return for the inhabitants’ kindness. He ends of building 55 schools over the next decade, Also, The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer a coming of age book about a boy who finds surrogate fathers in a neighborhood bar. Now point me to the beach! –Pati Naritomi

I’m so busy with writing and music that my reading isn’t very interesting. I got Susan Ohanian’s new book When Childhood Collides with NCLB to read and I also have to finish reading Richard F. Reid’s manuscript “A Short Narrative Celebrating the 300th Anniversary of the Birth of the Great American Portrait Painter, Robert Feke.” So, no novels or light reading going on over here. –Robin Reid

My pick for our book club last month was Virginia Woolf’s Back to the Light House. It is an intense read but definitely worth the effort for those who have not read it for years. For first-time Woolf readers I would reccommend Mrs. Dollaway. –Jessie Bradley

The Varieties of Scientific Experience by Carl Sagan. I’m halfway through this fascinating book about Sagan’s “personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the universe.” While not exactly beach reading, Sagan is such an accessible writer that his ideas are easy to follow. One of those books I read a little bit of at a time; Dreams from My Father by Barak Obama. It seems like a good time to get to this one. And then, The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough. This is about the building of the Panama Canal, written by one of America’s great historians. It’s one that I’ve been wanted to read for years. A friend lent it to me and it looks as if this is the summer I’ll get to it! –Robbie Stanley

I’m planning to read The Man Who Made Lists—Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus, by Joshua Kendall. The book is a gift from my son-in-law.The blurb on the book jacket starts with, “Peter Mark Roge -- polymath, eccentric, synonym aficionad -- was a complicated man. He was a scholar obsessed with his work, yet he had an undeniable allure that endeared him to his contemporaries—not to mention a host of female admirers. But most notably, he made lists.” –Phyl Lary

My first summer in France was in 1947, the year I went to college. I was the only American counselor in a camp for eight to ten year old boys whose father’s had been killed by the Nazis. I thought I knew about the history of that period but never realized that the English had trained their young women, fluent in French, then parachuted them into France to become part of the Resistance.
Both Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and April in Paris by Michael Wallner are novels written about those years of the German occupation. They hold great promise for excellent summer reading. –Alice Outwater