Genre Fiction

I like making lists; so here’s one for you filled with summertime reads. I can’t vouch for the entertainment value of any of these books, only the fact that they have “summer” in the title. So if you’re feeling daring and looking for a summer read, check out one of these.

* That Summer by Sarah Dessen
* Summer Knight, book #4 in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
* The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares
* A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
* Summer by Edith Wharton
* Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson
* Summer House by Nancy Thayer
* Summer On Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
* Driftwood Summer by Patti Callahan Henry
* The Summer Kitchen by Karen Weinreb or by Lisa Wingate — two different novels, one name
* Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
* The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
* The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
* Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand
* Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
* Life Without Summer by Lynne Griffin
* Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
* A Summer of Hummingbirds: Love, Art, and Scandal in the Intersecting Worlds of Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Martin Johnson Heade by Christopher Benfey
* Summer’s End by Danielle Steel
* Once Upon a Summer, book #1 in the Seasons of the Heart series by Janette Oke
* Summer Pleasures and Summer Desserts, both by Nora Roberts
* How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

And finally, one that I can vouch for: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.

Enjoy your summer reading!

Mental Floss just published a list of 15 surprising stories about 15 best-selling authors. The article — which revealed that Jodi Picoult once wrote comics, Danielle Steel has been married five times and two of the husbands were convicted criminals, Dan Brown used to be a singer and songwriter and had an album titled Angels & Demons, and Nicholas Sparks holds a track and field record at Notre Dame as part of the 4 x 800 relay team — is a fun read! It has also inspired me to see what I can dig up about some of my favorite authors.

* Running With Scissors author Augusten Burroughs, who comes from a writing family with a poetic mother, philosopher father, and memoirist brother, didn’t have formal schooling beyond elementary school. Following him on different forms of social media I have learned that, although he likes eating at restaurants, he would never be caught at an “it” restaurant and enjoys vending machines.

* The Lovely Bones author Alice Sebold originally wanted to tell her story (of how she was raped and attacked) in poetic form. She didn’t really dive into becoming a successful writer until she moved to California and worked as a caretaker of an arts colony. During this time she lived on less than $400 a month, in a cabin in the woods without electricity, and wrote by the light of a propane lamp. Her story was published in 1999 as the memoir Lucky.

* Audrey Niffenegger, best known for penning The Time Traveler’s Wife, has only written this one novel. Most of her other work, aside from a few short stories, is in pictures. She has written visual books and graphic novels including one very “special” one called The Three Incestuous Sisters (cover shown here).

Some veteran authors have been turning out some new reads lately. Perhaps the economy is forcing them to write faster and more often, but regardless these published old heads have some new reading material recently or soon to be released.

* Historical fiction author Sarah Dunant, who previously wrote In the Company of the Courtesan and The Birth of Venus, released her newest novel - Sacred Hearts - yesterday, July 14. This story, like Dunant’s others, takes place in ancient Italy. This time it’s 1560 and the characters are noblewomen who are finding refuge in a local convent.

* No surprise here, but Dean Koontz and Danielle Steel both have new books out that are already topping the best-seller charts. Koontz’s new book is Relentless; Steel’s is Rogue. And don’t forget Nora Roberts either, with Black Hills.

* Known best for her Ya-Ya series that inspired the film version of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood starring Sandra Bullock, Rebecca Wells breaks away from her beloved regular characters with her new release The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder. Plenty of Wells’ specialty - heartache brought on by the ones you love most - should abound in this novel as a young girl turns the pain of a first broken heart into healing inspiration.

* In the upper level chick lit realm, we have Jennifer Weiner’s Best Friends Forever and Sophie Kinsella’s Twenties Girl.

* Dan Brown, the infamous Da Vinci Code writer, is preparing for a September release of The Lost Symbol , a sequel to his first best-seller which was written six years ago.

While logging on to MySpace tonight, one celeb blogging alert caught my eye: MTV reality queen Lauren Conrad updated her status to say “New York Times Bestseller….Yay!!”

Wait. What? Lauren “L.C.” Conrad’s L.A. Candy is a New York Times best seller? Surely she jests.

Conrad’s blogging went on: “A big THANK YOU to everyone who bought my book!! It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for 2 weeks and this week it’s #1….. YAY! This is such an honor!! I really appreciate everyone’s support and nice comments about the book. My next book should be released sometime in February and there will be another book tour. I will keep you all posted.”

I was in such disbelief that I simply had to go see for myself; I headed to scope out the current best sellers. I wonder which category hers is topping the charts in …

Hardback fiction? Nope, that’s Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

Trade fiction? No, that’s Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, and mass-market fiction is Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan.

Conrad’s book also wasn’t to be found on the nonfiction, advice, or children’s lists. In fact, L.A. Candy wasn’t even in the top five of any of these categories.

After much digging around on the New York Times’ site, I finally found the book listed somewhere - Children’s chapter books - and yes, it was in the number one position.

Well, Lauren, I suppose congrats and apologies (for my continued total disbelief) are in order. And after reading your MySpace messages, I also must commend your editor, who probably had to delete many an exclamation mark.

With the recent release of the film version of Jodi Piccoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, starring Abigail Breslin, Cameron Diaz, and Medium’s Sofia Vassilieva, the family that inspired the story is speaking out.

The story is about a couple who conceives a second child to save the life of their first daughter who is battling with leukemia. The real life family behind the novel, the Nashes, were the first couple to use Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) to create an embryo that could save a sibling’s life. They got help from a fertility specialist to select a healthy embryo that was a genetic match for their sick daughter Molly. This would be Molly’s little brother Adam. The cord blood from Adam’s placenta was used for a blood transfusion that saved Molly’s life. Later a second embryo from the couple became the couple’s third child, Delaine.

“I appreciate the public discussion of the ethical issues raised by the book, and now the movie,” said Molly’s mom, Lisa Nash. “But it’s important to remember Jodi Picoult’s story is in many ways a worst case scenario and our reality was one of miracles and hope.”

“We stress to people that the book is fiction and that our family is reality,” explains Jack Nash. “The reality is that because of amazing reproductive medicine advances, we have been able to have a family. Without the science, Molly would have died and we wouldn’t have tried to have any other children for fear they’d die of FA too. That’s the reality.”

Today all the Nash children are thriving … and so are the book and film, My Sister’s Keeper.