What's on Your 2014 Summer Reading List?

Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.  

Joyce Carol Oates

Time once again to post my summer reading list. After years of doing this, I've only made it through the entire list once -- by year's end. I'm easily distracted for some of the very simple reasons I now list.

A new book that has just come out from a favorite author

More than a few trips to the library

Choosing from the stack that arrives at Book Club 

Grabbing one of the other twenty-five books on my To Be Read shelf

A trip to the book store or a late night perusal on Amazon

A backlog of New Yorker's requiring attention

The multitude of short story books that crowd my night table - Best of 2013, 2012, 2011 or poetry books or a Dorothy Parker reader or...

Often what is next on my list just isn't what I'm looking for at that moment. What can I say? I'm flighty and subject to a moment's whim. 

I need to revisit but I think there is a blog group that reads only from their To Be Read shelf in January or February. Probably would be a good idea for me to catch up on those that show up on my summer list year after year. Lakeside Musing? Was that you?

Alas, this summer's list.

The Interestings  Meg Wolitzer
Longbourn  Jo Baker
The Lowland  Jhumpa Lahiri
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao  Junot Diaz
Taft Ann Patchett
Written in My Own Heart's Blood  Diana Gabaldon
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle  Barbara Kingsolver
Of Human Bondage  Somerset Maughm
Sous Chef Michael Gibney
The Snow Queen Michael Cunningham
Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary of War Robert Gates
Outliers Malcolm Gladwell
The Mouse-Proof Kitchen Saira Shah
Honeymoon in Paris  JoJo Moyes

I also highly recommend these books by some of my fellow Austin WriterGrrls

Hip Girls Guide to the Kitchen  Kate Payne  A hit-the-ground running approach to stocking up and cooking delicious, nutritious, and affordable meals.

Twisted  Marjorie Brody Sarah Hausman must hide a secret--even from herself. If she acknowledges the truth, it will destroy everyone she loves.

Out of the Frying Pan Robin Allen  Health inspector Poppy Markham suspects murder when a popular chef buys an organic farm.

Skirts at War  Jennifer Newcomb Marine  - Overcoming dual-family conflict with proven strategies for creating peace at home.

Slow Family Living Bernadette Noll  75 simple ways to slow down, connect, and create more joy

Take My Husband Please  Kimberly Jayne  (Due out in August) A soon-to-be divorced real estate rookie's hot new love affair gets derailed when a series of blind dates turns her ex into the man she always dreamed he could be.

I'm always on the lookout for well-written smut in my summer reading so let me know if you have a good one. Meanwhile, I'm off to my hammock.

What's on your Summer Reading List?

What's On Your Summer Reading List?

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

P.J. O'Rourke

What's on your book list for summer? I'm compiling my pile and hope you'll share yours also. I'm also adding a few titles written by some friends of mine.

My Summer Stack:

The Moonflower Vine - Jetta Carleton
A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
The Lake Shore Limited - Sue Miller
The Widows of Eastwick - John Updike
Beloved - Toni Morrison
Why New Orleans Matters - Tom Piazza
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Divisadero - Micahel Ondaatje
The Whole World Over - Julia Glass
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing

(Not to mention that there are 30 more books on my To Be Read shelf and that I'll probably hit the library when nothing pops out at me on any given day.)

Here are a few I recommend written by some of my author friends.

If You Can't Stand the Heat - Robin Allen
A Cozy Mystery Culinary Romp

I, too, have suffered in the garden - Jennifer Hritz
Character driven delight

Circular Breathing - Meditations from a Musical Life - Ann McCutcheon
Essays from an incredible writing teacher
Tender Graces - Kathryn Magendie
Women's literary fiction

Click on the books to find their Amazon page. As you can see, I haven't quite mastered the proper download of the covers. Why is it that some days you can't remember what you've done in the past? Perhaps sometimes a good thing.

So, what's on your list for the summer?