Hot 2007 Summer Reads

Let's face it, summer reading has become a fashion statement, a vacationer's fetish, a marketer's dream. Sun lotion and Tuscan sun. Whole families, assiduously armed with hot paperbacks. Please, Oprah, please put my book on the beach!

And yet, when the marketing din has gone by, and the afternoons are long, and there's a beach, or a breeze, or a porch swing, how many of us long to get lost in the middle of a great book -- or a potboiler -- and feel the summertime slow to the soft turn of pages.

Listen to a conversation on On Point with three book mavens from across the country about their top suggestions for this summer (the website has a full list of their suggestions).

What do you crave in a great summer read? What are you dying to read or recommend this summer?

Comments: 7

Susan D. Jun 13, 2007, 11:45am EDT

Although I feel funny promoting my own book, the subject matter is vital and the people in the book should be honored.
My book, "I Refused to Die," tells the stories of 20 Boston-area Holocaust survivors and 10 soldiers who liberated the concentration camps. It received a small state arts grant and has liner notes by Congressman Michael Capuano, among others. It also includes poetry, photos, WWII information and resources.
While the stories are not a light read, they are inspiring and as action-packed as any Hollywood movie or thriller novel. I am not profit-motivated and sell the books for my cost of $10. The publisher is Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville, Mass., a small press that mainly publishes poetry books.
For more information, please visit www.IRefusedToDie.com or email me at Susie_d@yahoo.com.
Thank you,
Susie Davidson

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Elizabeth J. Jun 13, 2007, 11:46am EDT

I'm loving the essays in Confessions of the Other Mother edited by Harlyn Aizley. These are essays written by the non-biological mothers in 2 mom households. It's so personal, funny, poignant and answers some of the questions I've had about 2-mother households but am afraid to ask! Some of the essayists are well known like Judy Gold and Hillary Goodridge, but others are just plain old moms. The book goes so far in bringing home how gay families are families just like yours and mine.

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Elizabeth V. Jun 13, 2007, 5:35pm EDT

For a great summer read, for a great anytime-of-the-year read, I crave not-put-downable books, books that keep me up at night, books that block out all the noise around me. Not many books are that great. Some are that good in part only.

I have quite a list of books I want to read, books I'm hoping are that good. I'd like to get Ian McEwan's latest, _On Chesil Beach_, which has been out in Canada for a few weeks but I haven't seen in the U.S. yet.

I just read a book I'd recommend: _The Good German_ by Joseph Kanon. It's not a new book. It's quite good.

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Elizabeth V. Jun 13, 2007, 5:47pm EDT

I didn't mention the pile of books I have and plan to read this summer:

_The Surgeon_ by Tess Gerritsen. I've never read anything by her and am curious.

_Love in the Time of Cholera_ by Marquez. I can't tell if I'll like it. But every review of this I've read tells me I should.

_Nobody's Fool_ by Russo. I've never read anything by him and am curious.

_A Death in Belmont_ by Junger. I've never read anything by him and am curious.

_Void Moon_ by Michael Connelly. I've never read anything by him and am curious.

_Suite Francaise_ by Nemirovsky. I can't tell if I'll like it. But every review of this I've read tells me I should.

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