Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Your Summer Reading List

Peeps! Guess what?? You wrote this post.

Yup, you really did. Well, maybe not in a sit-down-at-the-computer-and-bang-out-Liz's-posts-for-her kind of way (which, btw, I'd be totally open to letting you do,) but more in a I-compiled-responses-from-you sort of way. But EITHER WAY, the end result is that I now have a really freaking cool, reader-approved, first-hand list of book recommendations.

See, last week I asked you all to recommend books that I should read this summer. And so many of you gave me so many great tips and ideas that I got super excited about it, and decided I should put them all together and share them back to all of you! And of course, to make it more fun, I included the blogger who recommended each book in the list.

So here it is, straight from you to you:


Your Summer Reading List


The Bone TreeNatchez Burning and The Bone Tree, by Greg Iles

These came from Susan Gourley/Kelley, who said, "Both books really highlight the terror of the deep south during the civil rights movements in the 60's and how so much hate and inequality still lingers today."




Secret Worlds, Anthology compiled by Rebecca Hamilton

H.R. Sinclair recommended this 21 (21!!!) book set, which looks like a collection of paranormal romance novels from a bunch of bestselling authors. Which really, with 21 (21!!!) to choose from, the odds are pretty damn good you'll like at least a few of them.



Kate MortonAnything by Kate Morton

Ok, yeah, I cheated - that's an author image, not a book image, but to be fair, M Pepper Langlinais did recommend all of her books, specifically for summer reading, and it appears that Ms. Morton is too prolific for me to show her titles here. So, go check her out, and pick one, and report back! I'm thinking of starting with The House at Riverton.




All the Light We Cannot SeeAll the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Loni Townsend opted out of making a recommendation because my tastes are too serious for her or something. I have no idea why she would say such a ridiculous thing (nevermind that I said it myself,) but she then had a change of heart and decided to give us one, anyway. This was hers, although she hasn't read it yet. Let's see: blind kid? Holocaust? Yep, right up my alley.



Lisette's ListLisette's List, by Susan Vreeland

Jenni Enzor stepped away from her (fantastic) MG recommendations to give us this one, which is, as she says, "about famous paintings hid in Provence during World War II." It's fiction, though, don't worry!




Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary ShelleyRomantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley, by Charlotte Gordon

It's not in paperback yet, so this one might make my fall reading list. It's non-fiction, yes, but what a story! Ava Quinn recommended this examination of the famous author and the daughter she never knew, saying, "[It's] history and feminism all rolled into one."



Marlene Dietrich by Her DaughterMarlene Dietrich by Her Daughter, by Maria Rivera

Maria Rivera is Marlene Dietrich's daughter, of course, so this biography is straight from the source. Birgit recommended it as one of her favorites: "It is not a scathing book done by a daughter but a revealing look at this enigmatic woman."





The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)Unwind (Unwind, #1)The Diviners, by Libba Bray, and Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

Madilyn Quinn has such a long TBR list (I hear you, Madilyn; mine is so damn long I don't even look at it anymore, which totally defeats the purpose of having it) that she had to recommend both of these. I'm not complaining! They're both YA: "The Diviners is historical fiction while Unwind is a sort of dystopian biopunk thing."



Anything by Marian Keyes

I had to cheat again and and give you an author pic, because Diane Carlisle recommended everything by Marian Keyes, saying she loves her style and voice.








A Natural History of Dragons (Memoir by Lady Trent, #1)A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

I'm excited about all of the books on this list, but this one really tickles my fancy (that's a very weird expression, isn't it?) I love books that play with genre, and I will always be a sucker for fantasy, so this fictional memoir of a Victorian-era woman studying dragons is right up my alley. Mason Matchak chose this, saying, "...it's oddly charming, especially if you like classic British stuffiness as both plot and character points." Which I do. Score!



The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate

Sarah Brentyn recommended this book, and I almost jumped out of my seat when I read her comment, because I loved this book. In fact, it was on my reading list last summer, and it was a wonderful summer read. It's MG, but adults will love it, too.





sex murder double latte collection by kyra davisThe Sophie Katz mystery series, by Kyra Davis

I do love these two-for-one - or really multiple-for-one - recommendations. This one for a series of books about a writer-turned-detective comes from Shannon Lawrence, and it looks like a lot of fun.






And that's it - but that's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself! Too bad the credit is all yours ;)

See anything on here you want to read? What else would you add?

22 comments:

  1. I have a couple of those on the list, but there are so many... I hear you about not looking at the list anymore. I go to my kindle instead and scroll through the books waiting to be read. Or at least I will, once I get through the last 5 books for review in my stack.

    Oh, btw, I felt like tossing an award at you today. :)

    http://crystalcollier.blogspot.com/2015/07/very-inspired-by.html

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  2. So many books! I still have a ton of books both on my shelves and my Kindle waiting to be read. What I really need is a summer writing list, though...

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  3. We wrote a damn good post for you, lady! lol! There are some awesome recs up there. I'm going to add some to my own list as well as two others I scoped at B&N--Half the Sky and Bad Feminist.
    Loved the post!! :)

    Hope things are going well for you and yours. Can't wait for your family to be 4!!

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  4. I've heard so many good things about All the Light We Cannot See! I pretty much only read YA these days...I just finished the latest Sarah Dessen, Saint Anything, and loved it to pieces!

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  5. That 'tickles my fancy' that you included my recommendations. I'm adding A Natural History of Dragons to my list from yours though my list is already sooooo long. I'm going to a baby shower this weekend. I'll think of you though this couple only needs one of everything.
    Susan Says

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  6. I haven't read any of these so I've got a lot of work to do LOL. I blame you for adding to my to-do list for the summer! :D

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  7. This summer reading list is so much better than the ones I used to be assigned in school. I most definitely must track down "A Natural History of Dragons"

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  8. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan sounds like a really interesting book! I'm going to have to check that out. :D

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  9. The House at Riverton was the first one I read by Kate Morton, too! You'll find her books follow a definite pattern, but I've enjoyed them nonetheless.

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  10. That looks like a good reading list. I might have to steal it to use for myself :P

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  11. That list is coming along nicely. :)

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  12. I like Loni's recommendation best.

    So... how many of these have you read? :P

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  13. A 21 book set? That might take me a while to read...well past summer. :P

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  14. A 21 book set? That might take me a while to read...well past summer. :P

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  15. Thanks so much for the mention, Liz! Romantic Outlaws and the Natural History of Dragons (I love British stuffiness too!) sound really good. And I can't believe that I have yet to read The One and Only Ivan. I must remedy that soon.

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  16. It looks like a great list of books to read. Now we just need a longer summer (minus the 90+ degree heat) to get through them all. :)

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  17. Awesome! Making notes of the titles! Thanks.

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  18. You have compiled an amazing list! This should keep you really busy while the twins sleep

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  19. I have heard so much about All the Light We Cannot See. I'll have to add that to my TBR list. (Thanks a lot! It's already toppling.) I'm with Loni. I think my tastes are...different than yours. Though, if you're up for a MG or YA, I can steer you there. So many wonderful writers in those genres. Glad you loved The One and Only Ivan, now I can't wait to read it. :-)

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  20. My TBR list is spiraling out of control (as always since I'm also behind on my beta reads), but I did add that book you were telling us about last week. I'll probably get to it in the next five years or so, lol.

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  21. Oh, sweet! I forgot that I recommended that. ^_^ I'm still not quite finished with it yet, but I'm nearly there, and it's taken some interesting turns. And there are two more books following it that I know of, maybe more.

    My TBR list still has four more books once that one's done... I haven't been reading as much lately as I'd like. And I'm sure to get more soon. >_<

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  22. Cool to see it all compiled! Easier to add more to my crazy TBR list, haha

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