It is summer.
Time of heat.
Of sand.
Of cool drinks and crappy plotless movies.
Also: an excellent time to read.
NEW BOOKS ARE COMING.
Seriously, scads of awesome releases coming in the next few months — so, whatcha got? What’s on your radar? And, if you’ll permit me a follow-up question:
What’s one of your favorite summer reads? A book that seems divinely-crafted to sit on the beach and devour while your body turns to a glistening lobster-colored blister?
Be advised: crappy people recommend their own books.
Don’t be crappy.
See you in the comments.
plainclothesbooks says:
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. Each year, someone in my group of friends takes it as their beach read. In another 3-4 years everyone will have read it and we’ll finally all be able to talk about it.
June 23, 2014 — 10:52 AM
joshlangston says:
Though I’m not a huge fan of high fantasy and magic, I thought K.L. Schwengel’s “Darkness and Light” novels (FIRST OF HER KIND and EMERGENCE) to be wonderful reads. Great pacing, plenty of twists, and characters worth following. I understand the third book in the series will be out soon. Anyone seeking excellence in Indie publishing ought to give these two a look.
June 23, 2014 — 10:54 AM
priscilla says:
Favorite beach reads would be anything by Gillian Flynn, Laura Lippman, Tana French, or Megan Abbott. As it happens, I have Blackbirds on my TBR this summer. My first Wendig–looking forward to it.
June 23, 2014 — 10:59 AM
teaandbones says:
For me, it is the summer of “books I need to read but haven’t yet:” ‘Salem’s Lot, Dark Tower Series, Infernal Devices (Jeter, of course), Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Shining Girls, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Steal Like An Artist, The Lunar Chronicles, Miles: an autobiography [of Miles Davis], Brave New World…
As for beach reading (heading down to the lovely Alabama shores next week), I am bringing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, From a Buick 8, The Cthulhu Mythos, and I try to read a Tolkien or Lewis on the beach each year. This year, it’s Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. Also, I read my fave childhood classic each summer, Ella Enchanted, and for chick-lit: anything by Sarah Dessen.
June 23, 2014 — 11:05 AM
deanmcsmith says:
I’m going to be reading ‘Dead Mans Hand’ an Anthology of the Weird West, along with Neil Gaimans American Gods. A gratification I’ve delayed too long.
June 23, 2014 — 11:22 AM
Teresa says:
For a good beach read, I recommend Shadows by Paula Weston. Gaby tries to cope with her brother’s death and make a new life in a sleepy surf town in Australia, but demon-slaying half-angels turn up to tell her she’s not who she thinks. I read it all at once and then hurried to buy the next in the series.
As for summer releases, I can’t wait to get my hands on The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin!!! I’m so excited I’m even using multiple exclamation points, a practice I detest.
June 23, 2014 — 11:59 AM
Beth Bishop says:
I usually re-read Terry Pratchett Discworld novels in the summer, but I am also planning to read Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marallier. I love this medieval Ireland-set series. Fae, romance, strong female characters. I expect this one to be another excellent addition to the Sevenwaters Series.
June 23, 2014 — 1:07 PM
R. A. Opp says:
I have a stack of Gaiman novels to go through. When I go to the algal bloom-ridden shores of Lakes Erie and Arthur, I’ll be taking some graphic novels. Maybe next summer I’ll finally have my hands on an English translation of Das Schloss der Traumunden Buchen!
June 23, 2014 — 1:09 PM
ksbrennan says:
The terribleminds book lists always end up being the first source I go to when looking for new books – love the recs everyone, and they’ve replenished my list!
For me, Sarah Addison Allen is the ultimate summer author – her books are beautiful and they give a sense of vacation, even when you’re at home. Her newest – Lost Lake – came out in January, and I’m looking forward to reading it this summer.
Other than that – I’m trying to convince my book club to read The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes. I love it so much, I can’t help but want to share it with the world. Also on my list – The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman.
June 23, 2014 — 1:43 PM
Kyra Dune says:
I’m looking forward to the July 3 release of A Beauty So Beastly by RaShelle Workman. It’s a retelling of the story of Beauty and The Beast, with a twist. After having talked to the author at a virtual book fair, I’m eager to get my hands on it. Also Messenger OF Fear by Michael Grant, which comes out in September. If this book is even half as good as the books in his Gone Series, it should be awesome.
June 23, 2014 — 1:57 PM
Kay Camden says:
Beauty and the Beast with a twist? Sign me the heck up! *adds to TBR*
June 23, 2014 — 9:22 PM
Lucky Simms (@LuckySimms) says:
Just finished “Doomed” and “Damned” from Chuck Palahniuk, and they are, of course, a hoot. He’s always a fun read.
June 23, 2014 — 2:08 PM
The Lonely D12 Team (@thelonelyd12) says:
Every other summer I tear through Dune again. It is a tradition that my mom passed on to me and it is very appropriate seeing how I live in the blistering desert of Phoenix. I am still waiting for my stillsuit!
June 23, 2014 — 2:24 PM
Monica Postma says:
I’m thinking I’d like to reread Dune sometime this year–but only the first three, I like to pretend the series ends after Children of Dune–maybe I’ll do it this summer.
June 23, 2014 — 8:50 PM
The Lonely D12 Team (@thelonelyd12) says:
I do the same thing! The first three are all you need, I still tend to stop after the second however.
June 24, 2014 — 12:48 PM
wildcatbrass79 says:
The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire
June 23, 2014 — 2:54 PM
Jeff Rutherford says:
Three books that I associate with summer because I read them for the first time during warm Georgia summers – MISERY by Stephen King, Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons, and Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon.
June 23, 2014 — 3:20 PM
KVeldman says:
Maybe I read it in the summer (a whole summer), or maybe just because the whole thing takes place in summer, but Stephen King’s IT always reminds me of summer.
June 23, 2014 — 5:13 PM
Johann Thorsson says:
I recently finished Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora and can recommend it wholeheartedly. I will aslo recommend Daniel Woodrell’s Bayou Trilogy yet again.
The books I hear most about these days from others are Weir’s The Martian and VanDermeer’s Annihilation (first book of his Southern Reach trilogy).
June 23, 2014 — 7:49 PM
kathils says:
Josh Langston’s Little Primitives series is a good choice…well, any of Langston’s books, really. Dry humor, tight writing, imaginative plots and excellent characters. I believe a third Little Primitives is in the works. I’d also jump on Treason, Treason! which is a time travel/alternate colonial history piece and great fun.
June 23, 2014 — 9:07 PM
Kay Camden says:
THE BRIDGE by Rebecca Rogers Maher. You’ll devour it in one sitting. Haunting and beautiful and real. A great love story, the type I’m always looking for. I only find one every couple years.
ELEANOR by Jason Gurley. Yeah, I haven’t finished it yet and yeah, it isn’t even officially out yet (I got an ARC from his website), but wow, this one’s hooked me. It’s a bit slow to start but some of the writing in this book makes me really hate Mr. Gurley for being a much better writer than me. Same goes for Rebecca Rogers Maher. I kind of hate them both.
June 23, 2014 — 9:16 PM
Mozette says:
Aaah, Summer where you are… Winter with Antarctic Winds freezing the ass of us here in Australia… but still we hibernate to read here just like you do in Summer while it’s too hot for you; it’s too cold to do anything here but dive under the duvet and read something hot… 😀
I’m reading ‘The Eyre Affair’ by Jasper Fforde.
In between that, I’m also reading a biography: ‘W.A. Mozart: His Life, His Character’ by Alfred Einstein. (Yes, Albert Einstein’s cousin!) It’s a first edition and very well-written… I love it and am enjoying it totally and not rushing through it.
So, that’s it for me… what I’m reading right now. Unless you want include a book called ‘Embroidery’ … it’s about embroidery stitches and how to do needlepoint? Nah, didn’t think so… I’m making something by hand… long story short – my craft group has started on its Secret Santa early. 😛
June 23, 2014 — 10:44 PM
mad_cat says:
This summer, I am setting myself to read some books I got as of late. I need to start reading more, and retrain my brain how to read (I know how strange that sounds). My reading list for summer:
Fresh Cut by Eve A. Floriste (currently reading)
Zero by Tom Leveen
Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
The Heretic by Joseph Nassise
Might take me some time to read all of those, but then Summer in Arizona last near the end of October.
June 23, 2014 — 11:07 PM
Cynthia says:
The Giver, Infernal Devices (all), City of Heavenly Fire, Maze Runner series of which I am already 2 books in, looking for some good urban fantasy so maybe I will get caught up on some Charles DeLint, and my daughter wants me to read the Percy Jackson series so we can talk about it…
June 24, 2014 — 2:10 PM
Sara Crow says:
I just finished a book that I think so quintessentially embodies summer, no one should go through another summer without having read it: Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. A bit of a departure from the sci-fi he’s known for, Dandelion Wine is a quasi-autobiographical novelization of his childhood in Illinois. As usual for Bradbury, he manages to encompass the very meaning of what he’s trying to relay in the magic of his words.
Also, fellow word-geeks, his introduction to the book is such a nice encapsulation of the process of writing and reflecting that I would go so far as to call it a “must-read” for writers.
And then when you finish, go ahead and dive into his “Zen in the Art of Writing” (which includes the intro to Dandelion Wine). It will make you buy a typewriter. Well, I already had two…but it sure made me run to it at the end of each essay.
June 24, 2014 — 3:33 PM
shagun1593 says:
Well i am currently on vacation in Dubai and in process of reading “The Krishna Key” by Ashwin Sanghi. Ashwin also wrote a book on Jesus’s life after his crucifixion “The Rozabal Line”. I read it before and book changes view about Jesus and his crucifixion.
June 25, 2014 — 6:08 AM
theycallmetater says:
I just got Winger by Andrew Smith and I plan to read the second book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. My favorite summer reading as a teen was Stephen King. I loved to sit down with a new to me King book when school was out
June 25, 2014 — 12:26 PM
Zoe X. Rider says:
I wish I hadn’t already read Andy Weir’s The Martian and Rafe Haze’s The Next so I still had them to look forward to for summer reading. However, I haven’t cracked open the Rogues anthology yet or the latest Mark Lawrence novel (Prince of Fools), so there’s that!
I really like reading cold, snowy, winter books in the summer. There’s nothing like being out in the sun with a cold drink and vicariously enjoying bitter winds and wet snow. One I particularly enjoyed a few summers ago was Robert Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife.
June 25, 2014 — 3:10 PM
Katy Pool says:
Just picked up Neil Gaiman’s Ocean at the End of the Lane, and looking forward to Edan Lepucki’s California (which has gotten rave reviews from, among others, Stephen Colbert).
June 25, 2014 — 5:37 PM
Sam says:
If you weren’t clutching pitifully upside down on the wrong side of the world Chuck you’d know it’s coming into freezing snuggle-under-a-blanket-reading time, not beach reading time, here on the proper side of the globe! 🙂 And not sure if anyone already said this but I’m counting down to Fool’s Assassin, Robin Hobb’s new book. Going to try to reread all of the previous ones first, but starting to run short on time…
June 26, 2014 — 6:21 AM
Jenny Bravo (@BlotsandPlots) says:
My favorite beach reads? RAINBOW ROWELL. Jonathan Tropper. I really want to read the Wool series. And then maybe something romantic-y.
June 26, 2014 — 10:39 PM
underastarlitsky says:
Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series looks/sounds interesting… So I’d like to read those. Currently reading Rachel Vincent’s YA paranormal romance series Soul Screamers and enjoying them. Also reading Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas steampunk paranormal romance books right now…they’re ok
June 27, 2014 — 10:38 AM