Summer Reading List

image via flickr

For me, summer is as synonymous with reading as it is with backyard drinks, bbqs, and beach sand in my flip flops. Nothing beats a warm, lazy afternoon spent supine in a hammock engrossed in a good story. Last year at this time I was spellbound and deep into Brooklyn by Irish author Colm Toibin. I've heard from several people that they moped around in a fog after they had finished it; it's the kind of story that you wish would never end, and it was no different for me. 

Last week I went to hear Colm Toibin deliver the keynote address at a conference and am beyond elated to have gotten my well-thumbed copy of Brooklyn signed (even though everyone else in line all seemed to have purchased his new collection of short stories). 

On the subject of good summer reads, I'm in the midst of culling a list of books for every possible summer reading scenario or book craving (not entirely necessary, but kind of a fun way to think of it). Here, so far, are my top 8 picks:

At the Beach - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson

Brainy Rainy Day Reading - The Sea, by John Banville
The Great American Novel - Freedom, Jonathan Franzen

Road Trip Read-Aloud - Bossypants, Tina Fey
















Armchair Travel (Nonfiction) - The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, David McCullough
Armchair Travel (Fiction) - The Paris Wife, Paula McLain
Southern Epic - Silver Sparrow,  Tayari Jones
Young Adult Indulgence - Beauty Queens, Libba Bray

The London Train

I've been guilty of judging a book by its cover on more than one occasion. But book design and packaging is supposed to make you want to read it.

That said, I've been perusing the internet for new titles and am enchanted with this gem. It's just been longlisted for the Orange Prize, so it's not just a pretty read, but presumably a good one, too.

The London Train by Tessa Hadley

Other books to admire/read:

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
Claudine at School by Colette
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
A Room With A View by E.M. Forster