So it’s summer. Which is great, because I’m tired of it being spring. As soon as people talk of spring, some asshole has to throw in the word ‘cleaning’ then I feel like I need to spend every free weekend washing floors and scrubbing dishes. But once summer hits, suddenly people start talking about reading and that whole nasty ‘spring cleaning’ idea is thrown out with as much grace as Courtney Love shows after a three day bender.
As someone who adores books in big ways, I love the idea of an entire season dedicated to reading. A morning curled up in bed with a thick novel, or spending an afternoon gently caressing the spines of carefully shelved books gives me a tingle up my leg. Beach days dedicated to trashy novels about shopping and shoes, road trips punctuated with classic read out louds and nights of sunburnt legs on cool blankets reading the latest non-fiction book recommended by your not so secret love- Jon Stewart.
Because I often get heart boners when discussing my favourite books, I’ve become someone who people go to when looking for recommendations. I have to admit- I read books like I tackle buffets- with reckless abandon and a willingness to try anything once. My shelves are crammed with laugh out loud biographies, political commentaries, sci-fi novels, thick classics, pink covered chick lit, grizzly mysteries, well-worn childrens books and an entire shelf dedicated to Malcom Gladwell because he is my personal Jesus.
I’ve decided to kick summer off with holding a book give-a-way. I will have a contest every week for the next three weeks. Each week will have two winners (because I hate contests with only one winner). The winners will receive a copy of my favourite book, with my fingerprints all over it. And if you are lucky, I will breathe on it before I send it off.
This week’s give away is one of my all time favourite books, The Girls’ Guide To Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks. To say that I love this book would be to say that I find Ryan Reynolds mildly attractive. It just does not CUT IT. I refuse to even try and sum it up because nothing I can say will do it justice. I will say it’s a book that made me want to write. In fact, it made me itch to write. So many of the lines in this short book echoed in me long after I first put it down. I’ve re-read it throughout the years, my copy is worn and highlighted- a stamp of my obsessive love for this piece of writing.
Want to understand my addiction? Leave a comment telling me what your favourite summer read is. I will make the draw next Thursday (June 16th). Already read this book? Come back next Thursday when I announce the second contest, where I will be giving away two copies of my absolute hands-down favourite *non-fiction book of all time.
I know. The excitement is palpable.
*I strongly believe that this non-fiction book is a book everyone should own. So strongly in fact, that if I was a bazillgazillionaire, one of the first things I’d do would be get everyone a copy of this book. After I cured all diseases, taught everyone to read and basically dropped a Mother Teresa bomb on the entire planet.
Contest closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Haha, I won’t enter the giveaway but I just want to say that you’ve totally described me as a reader! I am such a reading nerd. I love going to the library and like you, I’ll try anything once! x
I LOVE THIS IDEA. Love, love, love.
My favorite summer read? I think I’d have to go with the book Shantaram. I especially enjoy that the best man in your life will want to read it after you because it’s as androgynous as books come.
I love, love, love that book! Have you ever seen the movie version? Totally doesn’t live up to the book at all, but sometimes it’s just nice to look at Alec Baldwin. :)
My favorite summer read?
I’ve lugged Helen Gurley Brown’s “Sex and the Single Girl” to the beach with me for years now. It was ground breaking when it was first released. I love the self-help genre, and this book is a must read for any one who loves a dash of history with their dating tips. The chapter on the single girl diet and dating a married man are my favorites. Of course, I take it, in all of it’s 1960′s glory, with a couple grains of salt.
My favorite summer read is Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve. It’s been a while since I’ve read it but I still love it. It’s a love story set in the summer of the late 1800′s, (a crazy love story about a teenager and a 40 yr old). What I like best about the book is how her descriptions suck you in and put you right there on the ocean. It takes you away just like a good summer book should.
I started this summer off with On Writing by Stephen King. If you’re interested in writing at all, this is a great, quick read that will get you inspired and help clean up your writing. On deck next is Paint it Black by Janet Fitch.
I don’t have a favorite summer read (because I don’t even read these days) and definitely need to read as much as I write, so I should win. I hope that counts as a fair submission.
Favorite breezy summer read: Jennifer Weiner’s Good in Bed. I’m not usually into chick lit, but I love her. Favorite serious (but still smooth and fast!) summer read: East of Eden by Steinbeck. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s wonderful.
PS – Great idea for a giveaway, Brandy! Yay, books.
Yay I love books, what a great idea for a giveaway!
I love reading, so it’s hard to pick a favorite, but the latest book that I read that I loved was the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s about the woman whose cells became a famous cell line, but I’m a science nerd so I loved it!
Last summer I read Carson McCuller’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for the first time and loved it so much, I vowed to read it every summer afterwards. The perfect book for sitting on a porch with a big glass of lemonade.
Malcolm Gladwell has become one of my most favorite authors!!! I recently did a month long study for school about his book and doing journals about his books. They are so fantastic. I love that he is your personal jesus.
btw- I love your honest, pure, witty, and hilarious blog. :)
I’ve been secretly following your blog for a while now and definitely understand your love of books!
My fav summer read is The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Last summer I read books by Jodi Picoult and I think I started diving into the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. Which were excellent. This summer, I’m reading infinite Jest. But I don’t think it’s going to be a good summer read. This book is HARD, yo. And when I think of summer, I think of mindless reading. Easy reading. Getting lost in a world that isn’t yours. On that note, I’m probably going to supplement IJ with some Chelsea Handler this summer.
In summation, Chelsea Handler = mindlessness = good.
Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters or Jodi Picault’s Firefly Lane. Both great books!
Okay, that you don’t like contests with only one winner is pretty adorable.
One of my favorite summer/travel books is An Embarassment of Mangoes. It’ll kind of make you want to run away on a boat.
This is a great contest.
One of my favorite summer reads will always be the Anne of Green Gables series. It’s awesome every single time I read it.
My favourite summer read: the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Not a light read for sure, but summer is the only time I have enough spare hours to get through all three in quick succession so all the excitement and intensity can be sustained!
The Time Traveler’s wife by Audrey Niffenegger… I have read it several times now and man, it still gets me.
If I had time, I would re-read two of my all-time favorites this summer. Fiction: One Day by David Nicholls (Anne Hathaway is starring in the movie but I love her so don’t judge me. You will either love or hate the book. I fucking adored every page.)
Non-fiction: Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney E. Martin (On the surface, it’s kind of a sociological book about eating disorders but at the heart, it’s about young women struggling with the need to be perfect and it is the seminal text that single-handedly changed my life — how’s THAT for a recommendation!)
Yayyyyy for books! So last summer my obsession was the dragon tattoo books and the summer before I read Atlas Shrugged so now I need something for this summer!
OH I love this idea! I’m also so happy you said “heart boner” because I totally used that in a sentence yesterday and I think I completely weirded out the person i said it to. THIS IS WHY I NEED YOU SO MUCH CLOSER. Also, I think one of my favorite summer reads is “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. It changed my life.
Best contest ever. To me, summertime is all about waiting for the newest Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel. And then reading it way too fast. I also always revisit at least one Harry Potter book as well.
And now I have a whole new list of books to read, thanks to all these comments!
Yay for reading, I can’t pick one favorite summer read. During the summer I love reading travel novels. They help escape to places I can’t afford to travel to yet.
i’m loving this contest! selfishly for a couple reasons- a, i want to win that book, and b!, you know im looking for book club books since next week is my turn to introduce a book i picked. you’ve already given me so many great suggestions via twitter. i want to read them all!
my favorite summer read? i love james patterson novels. the honeymoon, the swimsuit- these are quick, easy breezy (beautiful coer girl?) reads!
I love this. In addition to the free stuff, I love hearing about other people’s favorite books.
My favorite summer read? Probably Sophie Kinsella books. The Shopaholic series is a clear winner, but all of her books are fun, easy beach reads!
I’m starting my summer reading off with Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. I’m half way through, and it’s sad and sweet and teenaged in the best way.
I always try to read a big heavy classic I haven’t read yet, and whittle away at it all summer long, in between my fluff and random pickings from the library shelves. Last summer it was Anna Karenina, and I haven’t decided what this summer’s will be. Maybe Lolita.
My favorite summer read is any Harry Potter book – for some reason (perhaps because I’m a nerd) I re-read the series about once a year – and summer is the perfect time to start it all up again! Nothing beats it.
I’m not entering the giveaway because I’ve already read this book and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Everyone who doesn’t win should go out and read it on their own anyway because It. Is. Amazeballs.
My favorite summer reads are anything Janet Evanovich. Perfect amount of mindlessly funny!
I started reading Hunger Games last summer, which quickly became my most recent favorite summer read! I just picked up Game of Thrones and am hoping it lives up to the hype. Planning to read at the beach in 2 weeks!
Oh, jealous! I wish it was summer here (we’re still firmly in spring. Rain and all). Still, summer is positively the season for reading. Lazy mornings in, on the beach, and cool evenings on the porch. Love it!
I don’t know what my favorite summer read is. I love to read, and I devour books, once I start a good book I can do nothing else until its finished, but I rarely read a book more than once. Reading is not just a summer thing for me, its a daily occurance and like a junkie I get the shakes if I go to long without turning a page. I hope that works as an entry even though I didn’t name a book. Oh wait, my latest read is The Lovely Bones. So far Its really good. There does that count?
I have not read this one, but I think I remember you mentioning something about it a long time ago… or maybe that was someone else? Whatever. I need to read it.
When I think of my favorite summer read I think of the best summer read when I was a teenager… Summer Sister’s by Judy Blume. Such a good book, and how can you not love Judy Blume? ;)
I love your blog and summer reading!! I’ll read anything but a book that sticks out in my mind is Angry Housewives Eating Bon-bons. I read it while traveling by train in Europe a few summers ago and i really enjoyed it. It follows a group of women through their lives and how they lean on each other for support. It’s not too deep or too light, which is perfect for me for summer. It’s by Lorna Landvik. Hope i win! I’ll still read your favorite book even if I dont win… Thanks for the suggestions!
Just about every summer I re-read at least one of the Chronicles of Narnia stories. A Horse and His Boy is my favorite.
my favorite summer read is the classics you read as a kid – To Kill a Mockingbird, Anne of Green Gables, The Giver…
It’s kind of evil to make us pick just one favorite!
I love re-reading anything by Sophie Kinsella, Jodi Picoult or the Harry Potter series at the beach!
Wow, I swear almost all my favorites have already been listed! So I’ll try for some not listed yet. Let’s see… for a thinker, but easy read, kind of book, go for The Glass Castle. Brainless fun…anything by Susan Elizabeth Philips. Vampire Lit… just discoverd the Undead series by Maryjanice Davidson (seriously hilarious). That should start the summer off right if you try some of these. :)
I feel like I am not even able to put in to words my love/obsession with Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. Before you go any further, do not judge a bok by it’s name/author. This book is amazing. I have read it every year since I was 13 (far too young to be reading a book with such racy parts, but oh well) and it is incredible.
My sisters and I pass it around between each other every year and this book has had an affect on most of my friendships and my views on relationships.
SUMMER SISTERS. Read it.
Dude! I’ve read that book at least a dozen times. It’s an absolute favourite! I’m like you though- I always say ‘don’t judge this book by the name!’ because there’s just so much to it
You had me at, ” gently caressing the spines.”
My favorite summer read? I feel cliche saying this, but the summer I read “eat pray love” was such a big deal in my life (as in, changed the direction I was on and put me on THIS path, which I LOVE) that when I think of summer reading, that’s the first one that comes to mind. That, followed by The Alchemist. Sigh. I want more book-reading time! And I will absolutely take your recommendations. Are you on GoodReads? If so, I’m going to stalk your reading list daily.
Love books! And I love people that love books even more. I love books by Laurie Notaro. She’s funny. And I think there’s nothing better than a super easy, funny beach read
I love Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and allow myself to read it again on vacation (I basically read for a living so any ‘non-work’ reading is a big treat!) It’s a ridiculous choice as a summer read though as a chunk of it is about how the protagonist struggles through a cold Vermont winter.
Also, thank you for the phrase ‘heart boner’.
It’s so hard to pick just one! Judy Blume’s “Summer Sisters” is definitely a summertime favourite. Anything by Jennifer Weiner is a fun summer read. Also “The Pilot’s Wife” by Anita Shreve.
my favorite summer read? hmmm…any of the Stephanie Plum novels. fun, quirky, hot and steamy. Love them.
I love anything by Sloan Crosley. Also, I just read The Glass House, so amazing.
for summer i highly suggest anything by authors jen lancaster, laurie nataro, and celia rivenbark. and i agree with jennbizzle – definitely some chelsea handler! they’re good for reading anywhere – just don’t be afraid to laugh your face off in public.
Still Life with Woodpecker is my favourite summer read. It’s both beautiful and completely ridiculous.
Ok I’m going to cheat a little and say “whatever the kiddos will let me read aloud with them”, because that is one of my favorite summer reading experiences ever – Last summer we made it through three Harry Potters, the summer before that Peter Pan, and I have no idea what it’ll be this year. As for what I’m reading on my own, that changes all the time (basically every other day), so I couldn’t pick just one.
This makes me happy in so many ways. My favorite thing to do in the summer time is take down books I already own and have read many times and re-read them. Then once I’m through with that I discover new ones. I will most definitely be re-reading my Harry Potter books in preparation for the last movie opening in July.
Also last year I read How to Be Single by Liz Tuccillo, it’s a perfect summer read and very interesting to get different perspectives on being single from different parts of the world.(it’s a bit like eat, pray, love)
I also like to re-read Pretty Women by Linda Howard. The beginning is laugh out loud funny and then quickly spirals into a gripping murder mystery. It’s total chick lit but awesomely written chick lit. Very much the page turner.
Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot–cute and fluffy!
Love this contest!
My favorite summer reads are Harry Potter and Emily Giffin (Something Borrowed, Something Blue, etc). Right now I’m reading The Help and loving it.
Hmmm…and apparently I like books that get turned into movies!
anything by Ken Follet. I love all his books. If I had to pick just one…. Code to Zero.
Woo woo book contest! I love giving recommendations! (have to watch myself for when people don’t want them….sadness). Anyway, a few summers ago I re-read “Watership Down” and loooved it. Much better read as an adult for me. I also like to read Elizabeth George mysteries as they are super great beach reads. “I Capture the Castle” is also a summer re-read for me. For some reason, young adult fiction tends to be a summer thing for me.
I just started Sunshine by Robin McKinley and I’m having a really hard time putting it down! I love it!
Always down for reading the Nanny Diaries! Anything by Marian Keyes is amazing- kinda chick lit-y but all have a deeper part to them too. For more serious business, Design Flaws of the Human Condition by Paul Schmidtberger and Hey! Nostradamus by good old Douglas Coupland are great!
I don’t really have any favorite summer reads…Anything, really. I do pick up the pace during the summer months. There is something about reading on a lazy, hot day that is just magical.
I haven’t read that one, though I am an absolute bookworm. My favorite summer read? Just one? I am looking forward to the new Janet Evanovich novel and also loved the latest Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse) novel. I generally love reading light-hearted chick lit a lot with some good literature thrown in. Right now I own roughly 40-50 books I haven’t read yet, so I hope as many as possible will make my summer reading list!
I absolutely love Malcolm Gladwell too. I had a total nerdgasm when he mentioned my alma mater in his latest book, especially in the same sentence as MIT (i mean, it’s a Canadian school, no one cares about Canadian schools).
As for book recommendations, when I think “summer reads” I often think light reading but everything I’ve read lately seems to be depressing. Have you read The Happiness Project? – I think that’s the last ‘happy’ book I’ve read. I enjoyed it. And if you want a really light read that doesn’t suck – I’m reading Bitter is the new Black right now.
T { sassynerd.blogspot.com }
I’ve never really had a book in mind for summer. I guess it would be your typical chic-lit light and breezy read. A book I would recommend is nothing like that. It’s romantic as hell though (in a dark way though). It’s called The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. It’s an amazing read and one that touches upon past lives (Vikings as an example) in an effort to link the main characters. I think you’d really enjoy it. And the author is Canadian.
So hard to pick just one!!! And this is probably cheating, but I think I’d have to go with Harry Potter. I didn’t start reading the series until probably the fourth or fifth book but caught up over one summer- and was hooked!
Best contest EVER. You posted this on my birthday and I was out of town until today, so I am just seeing it! What a great little extra present to me!
Fave summer read? I have always loved Jennifer Crusie’s early stuff like Welcome to Temptation. Mindless chick-lit, but very well-written and sharply funny. I also just finished This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Topper and that one was unputdownable, as I like to say!
One quick non-fiction shout out has to go to Regena Thomhauser. Her books have very silly titles, but the concepts and ideas in them are serious and are absolute homeruns. Life-changing to me at the time that I read them.
What a fabulous contest. XO!
Correction: Jonathan Tropper
Correction: Jonathan Tropper. :)
for me, summer reading is usually light, girly and fun – books by meg cabot, emily giffin, jennifer weiner, etc. but this summer, i’m on the mega-long waiting list for hunger games. not so light, but super fun. :)
thanks for the chance to win one of your favorites. :)
I LOVE THIS!
My ridiculous love affair with books makes my To-Read list approximately 886146 books long and it’s only expanding. Last summer, my plan was to read every book Chuck Palahniuk has ever written, but I failed. He is amazing though and I plan to try and read more of him this summer. Other than that? I cannot get enough memoirs.
Happy reading, my love!
I don’t know if I have a favorite summer read. I do love ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’. But lately, I’ve been reading Edible Landscapes. There’s a lot of virgin territory in my yard that needs broccoli.
Great giveaway! My favorite summer read was One Day! Loved it and excited for the movie!
My favorite all time summer read is Summer Sisters. I’ve read it at he beginning of every summer for the last 9 years or so. I recommend that everyone reads this amazing book about love and friendship.
As far as my favorite summer reading, I always like something lighthearted and easy to read. Beach books, if you will, even though I adore non-fictions and other books that take a brain to read. Some of my more recent summer favorites are the Southern Vampire series and any Stephanie Plum novel. Lighthearted, easy to read, and sometimes hilarious is my recipe for a good summer novel.
My favorite summer read has to be something light and fun. Something I don’t become TOO absorbed in (when my friends call from the sand for me to jump in the water with them, I have to be ready to go!). I really enjoy reading chick-lit during the summer months. Books like The Devil Wears Prada and Bridget Jones’s Diary, Nanny Diaries, and Good in Bed.
girl, please.
this is the best thing ever.
okay, ready? go to the library and get these books:
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
3. No Greater Love by Mother Teresa (HOLY BANANAS IS THIS ONE AMAZING)
4. Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
5. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
these are my favorites.
so, go. like, right now. to the library. go, go, go.
also, i love you.
xoxo,
laura
I devoured the Hunger Games series earlier this year (my first time reading something deemed “young adult” since I was a young adult)- they would make an awesome summer read! I’m looking forward to reading Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder.
This is a great idea, best giveaway ever! Last book I read was Love in Times of Cholera, in spanish :) and I loved it!