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!

The best-selling books of this week don’t look much different than the bestsellers of this time last year: Stephenie Meyer is dominating still, again, and more. With four out of four books from the Twilight sage not only being recognized on USA Today’s Top 150 Bestsellers for the week of April 26, 2009, but taking the top four spots we are certainly still living in the reigning era of vampire queen Meyer.

All of the books have hit the number one position at one time or another, but currently they fall in this order:

1. New Moon (2006, book 2)

2. Twilight (2005, book 1)

3. Eclipse (2007, book 3)

4. Breaking Dawn (2008, book 4)

If, like me, you’ve watched and loved the Twilight movie version but are unsure as to whether or not you are ready to dive into the books behind it, here’s a little teaser - the first few sentence of each book in the series:

Book 1: My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down.

Book 2: I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that I was dreaming.

Book 3: (written as a handwritten note from Jacob, most of which is crossed out) Bella, I don’t know why you’re making Charlie carry notes to Billy like we’re in second grade, if I wanted to talk to you I would answer the …

Book 4: No one is staring at you, I promised myself.

The top ten out of USA’s top 250 are rounded out with the following six reads:

5. First Family by David Baldacci

6. Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark R. Levin

7. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey

8. The Shack by William P. Young

9. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

10. Dark Summer by Iris Johansen

I just discovered the Times Machine, a special section of the New York Times’ Web site that has pictures of archived newspapers from about 100 years ago. There are selections from the 1850s through to the 1920s. From 1909, I found this front page, dated March 28, where seven well-known men of the time listed their top ten books.

The article, titled “Selections of Books by Well-Known Men: Seven Lists of Ten Best Books, from Men in Varied Activities, Indicate Literary Tendencies of the Day,” shows that men of 1909 read the Bible, Shakespeare, and Emerson … or at least they all thought these were impressive answers.

The article is lengthy and detailed, and it is unfortunate that it’s near impossible to read it in its entirety. Some of what you might not be able to read: The editors tested these seven men’s trends against the general public. They also analyzed why and how people choose favorite books.

I just stumbled upon Spread the Word: Books to Talk About, and, despite the fact that I cannot figure out who runs the site or what their goal in doing do is, I love it. There is talk of book tokens, book awards, and book holidays, none of which are fully explained. But there are also results from one of the best public polls ever … or at least one that’s pretty entertaining.

The unknown people behind this site asked an unknown group of people what their guilty pleasure or secret is when it comes to books and reading. The results showed that: 96% of people stay up late to finish a book. 65% have lied about reading a book that they haven’t.
41% have turned to the last page to find out what happens before finishing a book.

Of those who admitted to lying about having read a book or not, these are the more popular books to lie about:

1. 1984 by George Orwell (42% of the 65% that are liars)
2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (31%)
3. Ulysses by James Joyce (25%)
4. The Bible (24%)
5. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (16%)
6. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (15%)
7. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (14%)
8. In Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust (9%)
9. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (6%)
10. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (6%)

I don’t know about you, and I try not to judge, but the last time I lied about reading a book was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and that was in 11th grade. (I also played hooky the day we had to watch the movie version, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.)

Do adults really lie about reading books?

About.com’ Spain Travel blog created an different kind of top ten book list: the Top Ten Books Set in Spain.

1. Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes

2. The Poetry & Plays of Federico García Lorca

3. Travels With My Donkey by Tim Moore

4. South from Granada by Gerald Brenan

5. Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart

6. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

7. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

8. Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway

9. Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving

10. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee

Visit the article for a synopsis of each book, and to learn what language it was originally written in. Find more books set in Spain at Biblio Travel where you can even search specific regions within Spain such as Barcelona or Madrid.

Works by the winners of the 24th annual L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest can be seen and heard in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future Volume 24. The science fiction and fantasy anthology of up-and-coming talent hits shelves this month and features 12 winning writers, 12 winning illustrators, and one “published finalist.”

“With only 3 in 10,000 stories written in the United States ever getting published, so many creative writers have seen their dreams crushed,” said Joni Labaqui, Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest Director. “To see a means for the newcomer to have a chance to break in is a very rewarding endeavor.”

Many winners of past years have gone on to become New York Times best-selling writers, including Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Anne McCaffrey and Tim Powers, and famed illustrators including Frank Frazetta, Cliff Nielsen, Bob Eggleton, Stephen Hickman and Stephan Martiniere.

The March/April cover story in the knowledge-based magazine Mental Floss (on sale next week), “The 25 Most Influential Books of the Past 25 Years,” penned by veteran editor Rosemary Ahern, is attempting to put the spotlight back on the published, written word. The magazine is not only highlighting 25 unique choices for a top book list, but is also attempting to draw subscribers in with a teaser: online you can find only the first five reads mentioned in the printed issue.

“This list isn’t just about story arcs or beautiful prose,” says editor-in-chief Neely Harris. “It’s about books with spine. Whether they’ve saved lives or gotten people killed, predicted America’s future or uncovered its past, these 25 books have all had real world impact. Narrowing the list was an almost impossible task, but we’re confident our picks pass the test and will give even the biggest bookworms something to think about.”

According to Mental Floss, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami is “the Book that Lost Nothing in Translation;” Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin is “the Book that Explained Autism from the Inside Out,” and And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts is “the Book that Forced Us to Acknowledge AIDS.”

The other two online teasers will be revealed soon on the Mental Floss blog. You have to subscribe to find out the other 20. If you do so now you will not only get a most affordable rate - just under $30 for 6 intellectually packed issues - but also a hip tee shirt.

Other highlights from the March/April issue include: “Who’s the Fittest Now?,” a story about a new biology field called epigenetics that refutes some of Darwin’s theories; “The Startling Origins of the Boy Scouts;” an expose on “4 Holy Women Transformed By Cheese;” “Real Scientific Reasons to Believe in Vampires;” a piece on how “Art is Saving Aborigines,” and a surprising history of how “Early Pirates Embraced Democracy.”