SUMMER READING LIST

"The Sonnet" by Thomas Baker

Back in January I listed 20 books that I wanted to read during the first part of 2010 (I was being deliberately vague as to the time frame). As I said in a recent post, I read 16 of them. One book is not available in the U.S., and three were not available at my library and too expensive to purchase. Therefore, I consider this list complete.

Now I have compiled my summer reading list. I hope to read these books during the months of June, July and August. And, I don't have to wait in line (figuratively speaking) at the library for them. I own them all! I recently re-joined two book clubs - Quality Paperback Book Club and Doubleday Book Club - which got me 11 books for low, low prices. I waited for a good deal to come along at Literary Guild and consequently obtained two books with free shipping. I fulfilled my Book of the Month Club obligation by ordering two books (though they were sort of pricey). And that garnered me an offer from BOMC to purchase two books with no shipping, so that was another good deal. All in all, I got 17 books for an average of less than $7.00 each. (Having worked nearly four weeks now, I felt very flush financially.)

After perusing all the book clubs' listings carefully, I chose the following books:
1. "The Murderer's Daughters" by Randy Susan Meyers.
2. "The Language of Secrets" by Dianne Dixon.
3. "The Scent of Rain and Lightning" by Nancy Pickard.
4. "The Solitude of Prime Numbers" by Paolo Giordano.
5. "Etta" by Gerald Kaplan.
6. "On Folly Beach" by Karen White.
7. "The Season of Second Chances" by Diane Meier.
8. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein.
9. "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen.
10. "Push" by Sapphire.
11. The Monster of Florence" by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.
12. "Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann.
13. "April and Oliver" by Tess Callahan.
14. "The Sister" by Poppy Adams.
15. "Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok.
16. "The Map of True Places" by Brunonia Barry
17. "Sacred Hearts" by Sarah Dunant. (Actually, I jumped the gun on this and read it last weekend. I love Sarah Dunant and couldn't wait to start another book of hers. Review coming soon.)

Some of these books are or were on the bestseller lists. Some were recommended by other bloggers. Others I had never heard of until I checked out the book club offerings. Obviously, they all sounded good. I'm looking forward to many a long summer evening reading on the deck.

I'll also be reading three other books this summer, although I don't know the titles of two of them yet. They are the books for my online book group sponsored by Cornflower Books in Scotland. The June selection is:

18. "Death Comes for the Archbishop" by Willa Cather.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Added later):

19. "The Go-Between" by  (July online book club selection).
20. "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith (August selection).