Happy June, everyone! Though Mother Nature hasn’t officially
proclaimed it Summer, it feels that way as the kids escape school and routines
shift to lazier days. (If keeping up my writing routine while entertaining the kids can be called lazy...but there is at least the illusion of lazy time in the hammock.)
For someone like me, whose main leisurely endeavor is
reading, my thoughts drift to books. I have a pile of books on my
nightstand (which has toppled over and now includes stacks of books under my
bed) and the long list on my Kindle. But I also have the occasional impulse buy and favorite
author’s new release to consider. So what's on my summer reading list?
I recently discovered this book in the US Airways magazine while traveling to the RT Booklovers Convention.
Though nonfiction isn't my typical "go-to" when I want a light, fun read, the idea of hidden history fascinates me. HERE IS WHERE by Andrew Carroll takes a look at hidden-away or forgotten historical sites around the United States. Carroll gives the example of traveling to the subway platform where John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Abraham Lincoln's son. That certainly caught my interest, especially since I'll be on a cross-country road trip soon. Will have to check some of these places out...
Also, for researching my books, I’m going to be reading research
on the Arthurian Sword in the Stone legend as well as anything I can find about human
trafficking. (Scary combo, I know, but it’s for two different books I’m working
on.)
For true relaxation, though, I always head toward fiction. I’m currently hooked
on Jill Shalvis (hot, contemporary reads, perfect for the beach) and am reading the last book (HEAD OVER HEELS) in one of her Lucky Harbor trilogies; I'm also on book three of Darynda Jones's quirky paranormal romantic suspense series (THIRD GRAVE DEAD AHEAD). Her lead character, Charley Davidson, has such a fun cast of supporting characters as they solve
mysteries – both earthly and beyond. And I'm looking forward to Addison Fox's WARRIOR ENCHANTED. And I just picked up (impulsively) Christy Reece’s CHANCES ARE when I found it on sale. Can't wait to dive in!
So many of our NYUS gang have books coming out this summer (including the third book in my Mindhunters series: DEADLY BONDS). I hope my fellow NYUS members will speak up in the comments section to share what will be released in the coming weeks.
So, yeah, I doubt my to-be-read pile will get any smaller
this summer. Even at my current pace (reading 1-2 books a week), it’ll probably stay status quo as I discover more books
that I want to read. But hey, I figure if I reach the bottom of my to-be-read pile, I must be dead, and nobody wants that.
Besides, that’s the fun of summer…it feels like you have endless
time to indulge and that it’s OKAY to take time in
the hammock to get lost in someone else’s story.
Your turn… Do you find yourself picking up different types of books during the summer? What kind? What’s on the top of your to-be-read pile? What releases are coming out that you're excited about? (Or do you have an upcoming release to share?)
13 comments:
Oh those piles of to-be-reads. I have a stack next to my bed plus some on my trusty Kindle. Two on the Kindle I'm looking forward to finishing are Wired (A Jade Weekes Art Mystery) by Judith Gaines. It intrigued me when I found it on Amazon;it deals with an art theft which is the inciting incident in my The Monet Murders. The comparison/contrast between the two should be fun.
I've also begun Cocaine Blues (a Phryne Fisher Mystery)by Kerry Greenwood. This has started as a very mannered piece, but the unfolding should be interesting.
So those two newbies on the Kindle, going through my bedside stack and rereading my WIP should keep my eyes busy for a number of weeks.
I love your cover Anne Marie!
I need to catch up on YOUR series :) I also love Jill Shalvis's Lucky Harbor books. Also looking forward to reading Exposed by Laura Griffin, The BEYOND series by our own Maureen A Miller. I have a bunch of non-fiction, generally FBI and CIA stuff. My kindle is packed with New Adult books.
I have a summer release I am excited about. DARK WATERS is an RS that features a schoolteacher heroine and artist hero :) Sounds nuts :) I am excited though.
Had lunch with friends yesterday and Elaine, who I always share books with, presented me with the Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Bentley, Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni and A Spot of bother by Mark Haddon. We have similiar tastes. Also want to find a bio. of George Balachine after seeing a play in which a part of his life is shown.
@ Jean - The art mystery sounds intriguing! Hope you enjoy some good stories this summer!
@Toni - I'll have to check that one out by Laura Griffin. I'll have to check out DARK WATERS - I've seen the buzz! :)
@ Elise - Elegance of a Hedgehog? Love that title! :) Sounds like a great variety of reads there.
Oh the To Be Read Mountain! There are piles in the bedroom, on the table, the counter. Thank goodness for my e-readers (yes, plural, a Kindle & a Nook) so my husband doesn't know the full extent of my reading addiction!
What up next? I just started The Paris Wife and read part of The Prince's Gamble (Caridad Pineiro) on the plane (yes, business travel does give you blocks of reading time when someone else is cooking the meals and doing the laundry).
I have a summer 'beach read' for you - FOR LOVE OR MONEY released this week from Entangled Suspense. A "Certified Pain in the Ass" amateur sleuth tries to stay one step ahead of her ex-fiance, flaky clients, and a killer who wants her body to also wash up beside the Snake RIver, while solving the mystery of who killed her friend.
LOL, Cathy! I, too, have thought thank goodness for the Kindle...nobody can see how bad the addiction is. Glad I'm not alone! :)
I've heard good things about The Paris Wife. I think my book club will be reading that this fall.
And is it bad that I'm jealous of your travel time? :)
FOR LOVE OR MONEY sounds great!!
I may not live long enough to read all the books in my various piles, which range from RS to SFF to Mystery to Thriller... ::sigh:: this working for a living stuff really cuts into my reading time, you know?
I'm especially looking forward to catching up with Toni Anderson's, Maureen Miller's and Shirley Wells' latest books. When I look around at all the fabulous writers on this site, I despair of reading everyone!
I'm releasing two Mendenhall Mysteries in print this summer: The Tuxedoed Man and The Weeping Woman.
@ Marcelle - I know, right?! If only I could curl into a ball on a comfy chair and read all day...
Two releases this summer?!?! You've been a busy woman! No wonder you have some catching up to do on your reading. :)
That is a captivating cover, Anne Marie.
You ladies keep me busy reading RS books! :)
Actually, the only chance I get to read is when I'm on the treadmill. I once hollered at Allison Brennan for making my legs hurt! :)
LOL - Love that about Allison Brennan. I've started taking my Kindle to the gym and read on the elliptical machine, but read a paperback at home... helps me keep up with both TBR piles! :)
It's funny -- I write romantic suspense, and I read it in my downtime, but when I get on my treadmill I tend toward historical romance. Recently I read a book by Tana French called The Likeness, which is amazing, and I'm reading an old Tami Hoag keeper called Ashes to Ashes. Once my day job calms down I'm going to get to more RS by this talented NYUS group!
Meanwhile, I have two summer releases coming up: Son of the Enemy on June 25, about a two people whose lives were destroyed by the same crime 23 years earlier -- when the hero's father allegedly murdered the heroine's mother, and Betrayed by Trust, a Washington thriller about a schoolteacher and the reporter who betrayed her on the trail of the man who murdered her sister, on July 8.
Love that cover! My reading doesn't really change over the summer, but neither does my life since my kids are in community college and work. I've read that Jill Shalvis series - lots of fun!
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