Based on a number of requests and emails, I have updated my 2012 list below with some new or new-to-you titles to throw in your beach bag this year.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a comment below on your picks for the summer! As I've mentioned in my
podcast,
I am always happy to not only gab (on-and-on) about books, but my pen
is always ready to write down what others are reading. I'll be the first
to admit I don't read every genre, so any I've left off are strictly
because I haven't read enough to recommend them at this time...please
tell us yours!
Chick-Lit/Straight-Up Fun Stories Usually with a Romantic Angle
The Husband List by Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly
I am a big J.E. fan, and this one is pure fluff and fun - set in the 1890s!
Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews
I think I've read everything by MK Andrews -
she is pure Southern charm and fun.
Manhunting by Jennifer Crusie
I haven't read Crusie in a long time (she hasn't written a new book
in awhile) but I really enjoy her, and plan to go back through
some of her early novels this summer.
The Lost Husband by Katherine Center
Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger
by Beth Harbison
Thinking of You by Jill Mansell
(Jill is a classically funny British author - one of the original "chick-litters")
Fiction/Not War-and-Peace or Canterbury Tales but a Book You Can Say "Damn, That Was Good!" by the End
Fever by Mary Beth Keane
Great historical fiction about the infamous "Typhoid Mary"
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
She's one of my new favorite ficiton writers!
The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio
Wool by Hugh Howey
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
(great "Buffy-like" series, but then I like women who kick ass and kiss paranormals)
Comedic Fiction and Non Fiction/Books To Make You LOL
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
(seriously, if you like to laugh while you read
you cannot go wrong with Carl Hiaasen)
The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
(the writer of the Stephanie Plum series and the writer for the
TV show, Monk, team up..hijinx ensue, great start to a new series!)
The Tao of Martha by Jen Lancaster
The Potty Mouth at the Table by Laurie Notaro
(Empty your bladder before reading anything by Laurie Notaro)
Checkout Girl by Anna Sam
Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky
Mysteries/Thrillers/Women Who Kick Ass and Take Names
The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag
Bomb Shell by Catherine Coulter
Unseen by Karin Slaughter
The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner
Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
(great 1st book in an investigative series set in an Amish community)
Quilt Fiction/Knit Lit
Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick
(GREAT stand alone book with a well-loved character
in the Cobbled Court series.)
The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
The Lover's Knot by Claire O'Donohue
(1st in a very good quilt mystery series!)
While My Pretty One Knits by Anne Canadeo
(1st in a very good knitting mystery series)
Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Lynn Casey
(1st in a sewing mystery series)
Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong
Unravelled by Robyn Harding
(very nice, heartwarming knit lit)
The Healing Quilt by Lauraine Snelling
Erotica/Smut We're Now Old Enough to Read
Naked by Raine Miller
(this is a short story/entry into The Blackstone Affair series)
Rush by Maya Banks
Release Me by J. Kenner
If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones
Losing It by Cora Carmack
Seducing Cinderella by Gina L. Maxwell