What topped your summer reading list?
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Now that summer is mostly through its final chapter, I’m taking a moment to reflect on all the great books I’ve read in the past few months. I’ve blogged before about my love of reading – I’m usually never without an interesting book. In looking back, however, I realized that I tend to read slightly different types of books during the warmer months than I do during the rest of the year. Personally, I veer toward lighter, “fluffier” fiction all summer long – I read a lot in the park or at the beach; places that just aren’t conducive to heavy, depressing, or complicated subjects. I also tend to read more genre fiction – mysteries, sci-fi, and horror, specifically. Those types of stories (when done well) are inclined to be more absorbing and really sustain my interest despite any number of warm weather distractions. And seriously, who can resist a good page-turner?
Apparently, I’m not alone. Summer reading lists are frequently discussed and circulated in bookstores and the media, and our own Books and Authors and Education categories in Answers are heavily populated with insightful questions about and recommendations for great “summer reads” for booklovers of all ages, not just those on a break from school.
And what’s the ultimate summer read? My recommendation would be “The Swarm” by Frank Schatzing. I read it a couple of summers ago, and despite a sometimes clunky translation from the original German, I found it to be one of the most fast-paced and exciting reads I’ve experienced in a long time. It’s a bit of a behemoth (my hardcover copy runs a hefty 879 pages), but I couldn’t put it down and blew through it in a couple of breathless days.
How does your summer reading list compare to the rest of the year? Also, what have been your favorite books over the last 3 months and what are you looking forward to reading this fall?
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i know what book I liked this sumer. Thic clockbook. The Story of Hugo Cabret or something I forgoot the title. It’s a black and white picture book .
I had to read six books over the summer for my english class this year. I have to say that the Poisonwood Bible was an absolute page turner and I never would I have read it if it weren’t assigned. I love taking advantage of summer reading projects to read something I never would have before.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
My suggestions for summer reaing: the Xanth series by Piers Anthony
new moon, i know it’s lame but i love it
is it the swarm like the movie ?
I had to read The Poisonwood Bible for English too, but I wasn’t very impressed, actually. My favorite summer reading book this year was Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle, one of the few nonfiction books I’ve found really interesting.
A trip into history in a little older book (© 1995) but all the more poignant in today’s world of China’s global influence is a marvelous discovery “LORDS of the RIM” by Sterling Seagrave. In detail it explains how the Chinese have expanded across the globe to have a part and control in every culture. But it are not under the control of China’s central party, far from it. The vast number of the “off-shore” Chinese has fled China and the central power from the earliest dynasties. Fascinating reading, defining proof. Written by an Australian Submarine Commander. Another lighter fun book on the Science fiction side available on Kindle and E-Book is “Tra$h Man” written by James Lee Voris. If you like time paradox, strong friendship bonds, getting out of a black hole you made that wipes out humanity, you’ll love it. And it’s cheep!
I had to read Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun by Geoffrey Canada for my english class over the summer, good book.
I read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, better known as the True Blood series. It was AMAZING!
I read the first 3 books of the Twilight saga in less than 2 weeks and they totally top my summer reading list.! I love those books.!
Check this book out!
https://www.createspace.com/3396282
I love this book so much! You should really read it. it has a lot of ramance, comedy, and some mystery to it. Great book! Give it a chance!
Well, I’m a bit of a compulsive reader, I love reading and I enjoy many genre. Just like you pick a different kind of book for summer, I pick different kinds of books according to mood. Sometimes I enjoy fantasy, others pure Sci-Fi. There are times when mysteries are my cup of tea, or court thrillers. Inspirational or poetry and of course romance novels are also often on my reading repertoire but I don’t really make a list, I usually go to a wonderful vintage book store down the road from my house, and just pick one that catches my eye, according to how I feel.
I don’t always change genre from book to book, but I most often do.
The last few months, I read some Louis L’Amour, Mercedes Lackey, Grisham, Grafton, and believe it or not, Neruda. I’m just weird like that, what can I say, sometimes I read 2 books at the same time.
This summer I read a great book called Inca Gold, I also read a Spanish book called “Los Crimenes del Padre Amaro” -The Crimes of Father Amaro and another one called “Arrancame la Vida” – Rip Out My life – both dramas, one historical. I read “Innocent Man” and “The Appeal” and I read “Secrets of the Goddess” I read an Italian book called “Herat a Child’s Journal”, and “The Bridge Across Forever” I’m reading “The Richest Man in Babylon” – I do also read how to and self help books for pleasure. I know I’m weird. And I’m looking forward to a biography book I got as a present. So my reading habits are as widely varying as my interest
the Maximum Ride series! i’ve only read the first two books and i’m already OBSESSED! lol
“Culture Warrior” by Bill O’reilly was a phenominal read
On the road by Jack Kerouac
My life changing novel
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith is a wonderful book . . . I’ve read it twice and it’s one of my all time favs.
I’ve also made my way through 8 of the 9 Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.
Making it a total of 9 books since May.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was an absolute page-turner! Its set in a post apocalyptic world where 24 ‘tributes’ are chosen by lottery from ages 12-18 to compete in the hunger games. Basically it’s kill or be killed in a forest-like arena and only one tribute can survive. And if that wasn’t enough, the entire event is being televised live to the world. Definitely a thriller!
Its a simple, easy to read book, but Breathing Underwater. The simplicity and the suspense of the book had me hooked. That book was glued to my hand until i finished it & even then i re-read it twice before returning it.
gone by michael grant and hunger by michael grant
very interesting and exciting
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
i am currently reading The Motel Of The Stars
I read a lot of book and I really liked them all. The one that was the most interesting was a book called The mortal Instruments: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. It was an amazing book.
How did you become a blogger and it be on a site like yahoo.. i want to do something like that for a career…
I absolutely loved the narnia series. amazing books
I finally had the opportunity to read “Twilight” and “New Moon” in Spanish! It was so neat to actually read/understand these books in the foreign language I learned in school. They are the best!
i would hav to say my fave book this summer was Truancy Origins by Isamu Fukui !!!!!!!!!!!! its an amazing book and the author is only FIFTEEN!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE THIS BOOK I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE (COMES OUT 2010!!!!!!!!!!)
Dirty Work a crime/spy novel.
Jeffrey D. Wert’s extremely well researched and insightful biography titled “Gen James Longstreet, The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier”.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. very interesting. Lots of great themes about adolescence and teen angst. Very very good book!
The Lost Garden by Helen Humphrey
i loved the book Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Danger over sea’s book 2 of 3
The 5 People You Meet In Heaven. Amazing BOOK and very life changing.
I read LOVE THE ONE YOURE WITH by Emily Giffin bc I had read her other books, but it wasnt as good.
I also read KITE RUNNER and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, both of which were about growing up in AFghanistan. both excellent
I also read ANGELS and DEMONS, great book…so much better than the movie, which i watched shortly after reading it.
Definitly New Moon from the Twilight series…..I read other books but New Moon is my favourite!!
/Ilium/, by Dan Simmons, and its sequel /Olympos/. The first is an alternative take on the Trojan War; the second, the result of said war derailing severely from what Homer’s Iliad describes. Taken individuallt or together, they’re excellent works–albeit a bit long. /Ilium/ is 725 pages, while /Olympos/ is nearly nine hundred pages. Not exactly light reading.
Horse Soldiers, great book
Flesh Wounds: The Culture of Cosmetic Surgery
It was absolutely brilliant, reading it made me change my negative opinions towards Aesthetic Surgery, into positive beliefs
Hands down my favorite reads this summer were the first two books of Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles”- “Interview With The Vampire” and “The Vampire Lestat,” respectively. Her writing is amazing and she weaves a beautiful and seductive tale, topped off with captivating characters that I couldn’t get enough of. Her plot lines are total page-turners, too.
I read a lot this summer, but I took the time to re-read another favorite of mine, Jean Rhys’s “Wide Sargasso Sea.” I blew through that in a day. The simpleness and the complexities of that book never fail to blow me away.
I read about 30 books over the summer. The ones that stand out are as follows in no particular order:
Very Valentine, Adriana Trigiani
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford
The Shack, William P. Young
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Moloka’I, Alan Brennert
Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani
The Girl Who Plays with Fire, Stieg Larsson
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
I’m looking forward to reading:
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Hothouse Orchid, Stuart Woods
Evidence, Jonathan Kellerman
Echo in the Bone, Diana Gabaldon
Dream Fever by Karen Marie Moning–all her characters finally come to their turning points in this 4th novel of the 5 book series. Again, she leaves us panting, hanging off the edge wondering WHO?! WHAT?! She’s an amazing author.
James Patterson’s womens murder club series. His characters are flat, but his plots are good!
Oh yes I also read Carol O’Connells novel Winter House it was a very good book it had a kind of haunting feeling when I read it.
I read The Stranger and a Happy Death by Albert Camus…both great novels in my opinion. The Stranger is by far the superior novel but both should be read =]
JD Robb’s “in Death” series. They are amazing if you like murder mysteries with a little romance. =D
This was a transition summer for me from undergrad to grad school, so I really only had a regular summer job. So, I read 12 books totaly (many of them in a few hours because they were so good) and most of them were by David Baldacci and James Patterson. They are my favorite summertime authors and authors in general!
Actually, I found that I read the most during the summer. I read a total of 14 books this summer and I really don’t read much during the year besides required ones in my classes. My favorite book of the summer was Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It’s a great book.
My fav Books Were the twilight series. They inspired e to write now I write non stop. Im only 10!! xoxo
( I read the first 3 books of the Twilight saga in less than 2 weeks and they totally top my summer reading list.! I love those books.! )
That is really slow!! I read all 4 books in 7 days. AND im only 10!!!
I have read all 4 of the Twilight books in a week LOL the writing might not be great but I like the stroy line
Paint it black by Janet Fitch. I really cannot describe how amazing this book is. It will remain a favorite of mine forever
Recommended for anyone interested in the LA Punk Scene, set in the 1970′s. As well as Art-Lovers.
Definitely “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. It has got to be the best book I have ever read.. it speaks to me. And I can relate, which is of the most value when reading a book..
NEW MOON. I’ll mention it in absentia of my niece whose adoration of the series is commendable. I read the first book… and I understand the yearning for the next. The movies, and eventually the games. I’ve always loved the books, though. Imagining is everything.
I read loads of Jeeves & Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse. Wodehouse has first-class British humour! If you love dry British humour and reading about high-class English culture, get a copy of it! Bertie Wooster and his friends will definitely prove to be a great laugh =D
great yaar, Although we dont get/have summer holidays here in India…but I’ve revised almost every chapter that I’ve done in past few months
I decided to reread the entire Harry Potter series this summer, so as to be better reminded of the happenings…lol. Sorry I am just a big kid!
As sad as this may be, I read through all the Twilight books. I am not ashamed to say THEY ARE GOOD!
Well, For my Literature class I had to read many books, some of them I didn’t like, some of them I love.I am sixteen and this is the list I of books I have read during summer :
The sorrows of the young Werther – Goethe
1) The idiot – Dostoevsky
2) Macbeth – Shakespeare
3) Don Quixote – Servantes
4) Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
5) Eugenie Grande – Honore de Balzac
7) Faust – Goethe
9) Andromaque – Racine
10) The Orestiea – Aeschylus
11) Medea – Euripides
12) The Oedipus cycle – Sophocles
Aldus Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD – Brilliantly written book.
Every Man Die Alone By Hans Fallada. beautiful. different perspective on Nazi Germany. I read it everyday at the gym. Didnt want it to end.
Okay so, I’m only 12 so this isn’t a real advanced book but for school one of my required summer reading books was that I had to read The Outsiders which was by S.E. Hinton and I absolutely loved it! I saw the movie right after, (which wasn’t as good as the book of course). Anyways, I recommend this book to others if you haven’t read it.
The best classic novel is Watership Down. I highly recommend this wonderful piece of literature.
the best book that i read this summer was probably new moon eclipse and serpent in my corner. i red the twilight books because i wanted to see if the books were truley better than the movie and they are, but its nothing to obsess about. the other book i read called serpent in my corner by J Daniels was very interesting and romantic. i love love stories and that book had me going lol. ive already read it three tims
Scar Tissue – Anthony Kiedis, (Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer)
I read The Southern Vampire Diaries by Charlaine Harris. 9 books in less than two weeks…by far the best Series I have read.
The biography of one of the XX century’s most hated, controversial and “fascinating” personalities: “The Biography of Josef Goebbels” by Heinrich Fraenkel. I know Nazis guys people find them repulsive and loathsome. But if you want to understand the Nazis, World War II and the Jewish Nazi Holocaust, you have to read about these guys. Sorry. But still one of the most “fascinating” books I have read this year. Any academic and public library can get a copy for you.
This was the summer of Hesse for me. After much prodding I finally read Siddhartha. I was hooked. I also polished off Steppenwolf and the Glass Bead Game. He’s now one of my favorite authors and I can’t wait to read Demian and his other works.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
White Oleander, it written very poetically and a very intense story line. I love it!
I just finished reading “The Lucky One” by Nicholas Sparks and that was a great book. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “My Sister’s Keeper” were also good and much better than the films.
I’ve read lots of books Barnes and Nobles is where my HS graduation money went
By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie. Great old book!
i have been reading the older stephen king short story books
Arrancame la Vida (Tear this heart out)
Being unemployed I had very little extra money to spend on books, however I collected quite a few books over the years and decided to re-read some of what I had.
So I my Michael Connelly books and read them all in order of publication. I still have 3 to go.
An amazing writer.
Harry potter series was the best book i’v read also anne frank too
“My French Whore” and “The Woman Who Wouldn’t” by Gene Wilder.
Good, fun, lighthearted reads I highly recommend!
The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine.
I’ve loved paranormal romance ever since I read Twilight. Twilight was my favourite, then i read this, and it was much better, because the main guy isn’t horrifically perfect, and the heroine actually does something other than sit around and pine.
Heart shaped box by Joe Hill. I could not put the book down
the best book i read this sumer was Impulse by Ellen Hopkins. it was amazing. best book i ever read.
I enjoy reading so much that I often have 2-3 books going at one time. These were my all time favorites this summer: Anyone who came of age in the era of powder blue tuxedos, wide-wale corduroy bell bottoms and lava lamps (ah, the ’70s), surely will feel an affinity with Daniel Musgrove, the dazed and confused narrator of Mark Childress’ One Mississippi. In his first novel in eight years, the acclaimed author of Crazy in Alabama and Tender supplies a pitch-perfect evocation of that particular time and place as he expertly captures the double-edged hilarity and angst of adolescence. Then, I went back to “Of Mice and Men”, Wuthering Heights, and a few books by Izalna VanZant. Finally, I included Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky ,Cry, the Beloved Country – Paton Cyrano de Bergerac – Rostand
A Doll’s House – Henrik Ibsen ,Don Quixote – Cervantes, Ghandi: His Life and Message to the World – Fischer,Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
Oedipus – Sophocles. Many of these books are a must read because I am a teacher and have to prepare study guides and questions for my students, but they were and still are very enjoyable.
The most important reading I did over the summer was the full text of the U. S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Common Sense-both Glenn Beck’s and Thomas Payne’s. Currently I am working on the Federalist Papers. I feel it is important during these times to better understand the vision our Founders had in order to restore it.
I do mostly audio books 2 at a time, one at home and one in the car. I’ve started ‘The Mortal Instruments’ book 1 ‘City of Bones’ by Cassandra Clair, and am waiting for the second through inter-library loan.
A fun book that I’m listening to a second time is ‘If You Could Me Now’ by Cecelia Ahern about the “real” immaginary friends.
An actual ‘book’ I’m reading is ‘Before You Leap’ by Kermit The Frog … yes autobiography of a Muppet.
My reading hasn’t been affected by the seasons since finishing school but I have read several good books over the summer. I agree with the reader who praised Hunger Games. I’m reading it for the second time with my daughters in preparation for the sequel, Catching Fire, which just came out. Think ‘Survivor’ where the word survivor is taken literally.
If you are into nonfiction then Shadow of the Sword by Jeremiah Workman is a searing memoir by a highly decorated Marine whose battle overseas morphs into an even more challenging battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on returning home.
Finally, I highly recommend Sweeping up Glass by Carolyn Wall. While many compare this to To Kill a Mockingbird, Sweeping up Glass is a great book in its own right and a really great read.
I am an avid book reader so I am always reading something. This summer, I recently discovered a new author so I am now a fan of British author Martina Cole. I am on her 3rd book.
My favorite book that I read this summer was “My Sister’s Keeper.” What an amazing book that was!
The hunger games!!!!!!
catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger
and Tweak: growing up on methamphetimenes
I read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and it easily topped my summer reading list.
Dean koontz Frankenstien part III
the vampire diaries series
Preparation: [H]ead – Literature Suppository
A great toilet reader for literaccis!
the maltese falcon by dashiell hammett
the entire summer i read harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, now i am in the fourth book the goblet of fire
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, it is a very long book, but totally worth it. I loved it.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. best. book. ever.
Leven Thumps, Artimus Fowl (sorry if I mispelled it), Fablehaven, Inkspell, Flyte…..ect
THE TWILIGHT SERIES BY STEPHANIE MEYER!
I loved fablehaven. It was one of the best things I have read since harry potter. Amazing fantasie about faries and dragons.
i read my ishmael and planetwalker, both very good books. i would say planetwalker was a little more “fun” than ishmael. but just a little
the better story not book i have read this summer is
sir dwayne and the green knigh
Either nora roberts books
Macbeth
I finally got around to reading 100 Years Of Solitude which was very well done. I got sent to Korea so I read a book about the Korean War called The Coldest Winter. I picked up a book called Syrup by Max Barry which was hilarious. Those three were the highlights.
I got a book called The First Tycoon about Vanderbilt and I plan on reading that next.
the best book so far is twilight. right agreee that book is hoooooooooooooooooooooooot!!!! :b word up
I would have to say Burned by Ellen Hopkins or Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, which kind of ate at my soul a little bit… it was an amazing book.
MY favorite book from over the summer would be The Faerie Path( the whole series)
The Pretty Little Liars novels.
I think the best book I read this summer is Vampire Academy. I’m obsessed with vampires, so I might be a bit biased, but that’s my answer. And I read My Sister’s Keeper again this summer, it was one of the best.
identical by ellen hopkins!
the ending was so twisted and before i had any idea it was coming… i was still entertained!
War World Z by Max Brooks is a great post apocalyptic book given by individual accounts from different people around the world. Unless you like horror and zombie novel wouldn’t advise reading it. The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood is also a good read. It was written in 1969 and challenges the gender roles of those times and how the main character, in a strange way, attempts to handle these roles and the lost of self. I’m also reading a book now called, When I was Five I Tried To Kill Myself by a french clinical physiologist. The book is hard to grasp at first but becomes clearer halfway through.
Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, more than a good book, voted the 3rd most important American novel in the last 25 years by the New York Times. Also his All the Pretty Horses. Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policeman’s Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
I’m about a third of the way through Clarke’s Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and it seems to be excellent.
Hunger -by Knut Hamsun
Speaking of Faith – by Krista Tippett
I READ TWILIGHT THE ENTIRE SUMMER.
TWILIGHT ROCKS.
TWILIGHT 4EVER
da vinci code and angels and demons
quite intriguing
i LOVED The Luxe series and marked.both serieses are awesome but i doubt you’ll enjoy them unless you’re a teenage girl (i’m 14)sorry for the stupid recommendation
“Chocolate War” and “I am the Cheese”
my favorite books of the summer would be the host by stephanie meyer and the time travelars wife. both books made me cry towards the end. and one of the best seris is the twilight seris. breaking dawn being the best.
i read/devoured/loved the pretty little liars series this summer. i couldn’t put the books down!!!
The best book I read this summer was called
Pemberly Manor
it is the continuation of Pride and Predjudice by Jane Austen and despite not being written by Austen it was very good and the characters were very much the same. I suggest it for anyone familiar with the Pride and Predjudice story it is deffinately worth reading
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, its an awesome and at the same time a sick book.
I loved reading My Life in France. It is the story about Julia Child and her experiences while in France with her husband and her adventure in writing her first cook book.
For an english assignment, I read ‘The Good Earth,’ by Pearl S. Buck; it was amazing.
I had to read East of Eden by John Steinbeck- loved it more than I would have expected:) So scandalous…
Winter Queen, Murder on the Leviathan and Turkish Gambit by Boris Akunin.
Luckily this year, I only had to read 2 books for school (as opposed to 5 the past two years). I read The Last Lecture and How Doctors Think.
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My top 10 favourite books were as follows:
10:fearless fourteen (can’t remember author)
9:night world 2 (l.j. smith)
8:night world 1 (L. J. Smith)
7:visions in white (Norah Roberts)
6:nowhere to turn (Norah McClintock)
5:Airhead (Meg Cabot)
4:Being Nikki (Meg Cabot)
3:braless in wonderland (unknown author)
2:Clique series (lisi harrison)
1:Twilight saga (stephenie meyer)
I LOVED THESE BOOKS, they are my absolute favorite!!!:
the book thief by markas zusak
the maximum ride series by james patterson
shadow children series by haddix
anne frank’s diary
and
Found by haddix
im looking forward to reading
hunger games, east of eden, milkweed, the chocolate war, sent, sarah’s key and hunger!!!
I read several books this summer, but my favorites were “American Wife” and “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”. Both were excellently written and gave unique perspectives on life. I appreciated how I could relate to the characters and learn from their experiences, even though their lives are so different from mine.
The top had to be “Kissed by an Angel”!
It was such an interesting and good read!
I recommend it to everyone!
Oh that’s funny, the books I had to read sucked balls.
As a book reviewer part time, I had an extensive reading list:
Marcus Aurelius, a Life
Hat Heads
The Fallen Sky
The Alchemy of Color Knitting
395 Grilling Recipes
Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite
A Short History of the Honey Bee
Garden Anywhere
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Middle Ages
Travel With Children
The Illustrious Dead
The Art of Syntax
The Story About the Story
The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle
The Frugal Foodie
Chocolate: a healthy passion
Cooking Green
Green Living By Design
The Founding Fathers Reconsidered
Smallpox: the death of a disease
Yellowstone Treasures
Made In Detroit: Paul Clemens
The Tender Bar: JR Moehringer
Both memoirs, both very talented writers. And I believe they were first books for both authors as well.
Both offered profound insights and analyses of an era, a culture, and the shaping of their individual “maleness” through their struggles with their fathers.
Both highly recommended.
This summer, I re-read “Angels & Demons” in honor of the movie that came out a few months ago.
The Bible. That is the only book I read. I read the Bible from cover to cover every single day. The Bible is the ONLY book of fact. All other books were written by the Devil and will take you to Hell.