We’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to discuss what you’ll be reading this summer. Jump right in and tell everyone what’s on YOUR summer reading list!

15 Responses

  1. I have MANY books on my summer reading list – I had an especially busy spring, and I have a lot of catching up to do!

    In no particular order:

    DEAD LIKE YOU by Peter James
    THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES by Marcus Sakey
    THE LAST CHILD by John Hart
    LEARNING TO SWIM by Sara J. Henry
    THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett

    And several young adults:

    ROT AND RUIN by Jonathan Maberry
    THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES by Carrie Ryan
    ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis
    UNWIND by Neal Shusterman

    Recent reads:

    SPIRAL by Paul McEuen
    BURIED SECRETS by Joseph Finder
    DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth

    And of course, I’ll be bringing LOTS of new titles back from ThrillerFest! Can’t wait!

  2. I just finished Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me. It was published in 1952 (he also wrote The Grifters, among others). Chilling! It is a first person tale of a serial killer. At first it seemed a bit dated and a little hokey. The further into it I got, I couldn’t put it down. There was one scene – where the main character finds a long lost photograph he took as a child – that is as chilling and unforgettable as the shower scene in Psycho. I see why it’s a classic. And I read Harlan Coben’s Hold Tight. Another fun fun read! Vacation is such a great time to catch up…..just on to Michael Koryta’s The Cypress House. Looks to be super scary….

  3. Right now, I’m reading The Queen of Patpong, by Tim Hallinan. Next, I plan to read Edmund Crispin’s Holy Disorders because it’s set in Oxford and I’m going there in August for the St. Hilda’s Crime and Mystery Weekend. Then I’ll reread Aaron Elkins’s wonderful Skullduggery because I have to lead my bookclub discussion of it at our first fall meeting.

  4. I feel overwhelmed, in a delightful way, by all the great books I have to choose from this year. I just finished Fallen by Karin Slaughter. I’ve been a fan of Karin’s writing from the beginning, and I’ve watched her growing and challenging herself with every book. This one is her best. Don’t miss it.

    One of the most impressive novels I’ve read in a long time is Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. This harrowing story, told in first person by a woman with amnesia, is — if you’ll pardon the expression — unforgettable.

    Still Missing by Chevy Stevens is an astonishingly rich debut novel.

    I loved The Cypress House by Michael Koryta, although I usually don’t care for paranormal elements. This one is a strong crime novel — backwoods noir — and is not overburdened by the main character’s psychic powers.

    Right now I’m reading The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly, a Micky Haller novel.

    1. Thanks for this list, Sandra. Do you know, I’ve never read anything by Karin Slaughter, but I brought Fallen home from ThrillerFest (it was on my table at the awards banquet). Now I can’t wait to read it!

  5. It’s great to have these wonderful leads! I’m going to start with THE KILLER INSIDE ME, which I’ve never read, and sounds excellent.

    I just finished Mark Alpert’s FINAL THEORY and loved it. Suppose Einstein really did figure out the grand unified field theory but it was too dangerous to let the world know?

    Another physicist book I read (just coincidence, really!) is SOLAR by Ian McEwan.

    For a good legal thriller: THE INSIDER by Reece Hirsch — I’m in the middle of it now.

  6. CHOSEN by Barbara Elsborg. Not for the faint of heart.
    FIRST BLOOD by David Morrell (after I pry it from Dd’s hands)

  7. I have read the following so far this summer:

    Confessional; Higgins, Jack

    Portrait of a Spy; Silva, Daniel

    Robert Ludlum’s (TM) The Bourne Dominion (Jason Bourne);Ludlum, Robert, Van Lustbader, Eric

    The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel; Gerritsen, Tess

    Carte Blanche; Deaver, Jeffery

    Now You See Her; Patterson, James, Ledwidge, Michael

    Freaks: A Rizzoli & Isles Short Story; Gerritsen, Tess

    Promised Land; Parker, Robert B.

    The Girl with the Long Green Heart; Block, Lawrence

    A Season in Hell; Higgins, Jack

    Trader of Secrets: A Paul Madriani Novel (Paul Madriani Novels); Martini, Steve

    Buried Prey; Sandford, John

    Save Me; Scottoline, Lisa

    10th Anniversary (Women’s Murder Club); Patterson, James, Paetro, Maxine

    The Lock Artist: A Novel; Hamilton, Steve

    Palindrome (Avon); Woods, Stuart

    Bel-Air Dead; Woods, Stuart

    The Lincoln Lawyer: A Novel; Connelly, Michael

    I won’t bore you with the nonfiction reading list. There’s still one month left, I’m open to suggestions.

    1. Great selection, galt.

      Jack Higgins has been around a long time, and has always been one of my favorites.

      I’m also a Daniel Silva fan, and I think he really hit his stride when he created Gabriel Allon and Gabriel’s network of friends and co-workers.

      Lots of others on your list that I also like. Steve Martini is not only a great storyteller – he’s also an excellent writing instructor. I bought and listened to some of his lectures from past ThrillerFests. He’s an interesting guy, and very helpful.

  8. My list includes some old and recent titles, both in Spanish and English:

    Travesuras de la niña mala, by Mario Vargas Llosa
    The Dance and other love stories, by EJ Knapp
    The Halo Effect, by M J Rose
    Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchel
    Operación Pico Bonito, by Selvin Fernandez
    Freezing Point, by Karen Dionne (Already read Boiling Point, yes I know I read them in reverse order)

    José

  9. Currently I’m reading Zoe Sharp’s excellent SECOND SHOT. I’m really enjoying Charlie Fox.
    Next up is something a little different, Guillermo del Toro’s and Chuck Hogan’s THE STRAIN and THE FALL.

    David DeLee
    FATAL DESTINY – a Grace deHaviland Novel

  10. I recently read M.J. McGrath’s WHITE HEAT – a crime novel set in the Arctic – and reviewed it here at The New York Journal of Books – my first official book review!

    Next up is Trackers by Deon Meyer. I’ve never read any of his, though I know they’re well-spoken of, but I have read all of Roger Smith’s work (both write about South Africa from South Africa). Can’t wait!

  11. I always have a pile of science thrillers on my TBR list. Just finished:

    Devil’s Plaything by Matt Richtel
    Primacy by J.E. Fishman

    Next up:

    The Vault by Boyd Morrison
    Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear
    Instinct by Jeremy Robinson

    and the novel that started the phrase LabLit:
    Experimental Heart by Jennifer Rohn

    and because I’m deficient in my classic sci-fi, I just finished The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and I plan to read I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

  12. This summer I read from Michael Connelly: “The Lincoln Lawyer”, “Blood Work”, “The Poet” and “The last Coyote”

    And I also read “If the Dead Rise Not” from Philip Kerr and “The Scarpetta Factor” from Patricia Cornwell.

    Loved it!

    Elke De Ridder, Belgium