What To Read This Summer
USA Today has done the groundwork for us. Both critics and authors weigh in with their summer reading choices. Now, be forewarned. Some of these don’t exactly scream “beach read” when you see them. The good news is that other lists will appear over the next week or two in almost every magazine and newspaper. Maybe you will find another list you like if these don’t work for you.
The Authors’ List is actually a list of author favs. I was a bit nervous to discover I’d read all of the books on Stephen King’s list except one. His list looks like this:
•The Ruins by Scott Smith
•18 Seconds by George Shuman
•All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
•Gone by Jonathan Kellerman
•The Black Ice by Michael Connelly
•Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
•361 by Donald E. Westlake
•Billy Budd by Herman Melville
The Critic’s List is a bit eclectic. The lead “beach read” - which I think is code for “girl book” - is Swapping Lives by Jane Green. Here’s the description:
During the summer, you should increase the SPF on your sunscreen — and decrease the wear and tear on your IQ. Swapping Lives is delightfully easy on the brain. It draws on pop culture obsessions such as Desperate Housewives and the mania for switching spouses. Green cleverly creates a scenario in which a wealthy American stay-at-home mom from Connecticut changes places for a month with a single London magazine editor. Amid the upscale brands and designer getups, both women discover truths about their lives. Readers will find themselves pleasantly diverted, with minimal mental exertion.
You can almost hear the waves and smell the sunscreen…
