What's on YOUR summer reading list?

What's on your summer reading list?

My daughter has her AP English summer reading list in hand - she was able to find all but two books on the list right here at home, so yes, we read a lot here. 

If you're curious, and even if you don't care, below is her reading list:

Pride and Prejudice (I tossed in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just for fun)

Jane Eyre

To Kill a Mockingbird

Huckleberry Finn

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Heart of Darkness

Frankenstein

Crime and Punishment

1984

If you aren't a fan of "the classics" listed above, below are some novels that are on my summer reading list.

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Fans of the Sookie Stackhouse novels and "True Blood" television series may be pleased to see that author Charlaine Harris has a new novel out.  Midnight Crossroad is billed as "first in a series." I was pleased to see that, having enjoyed reading all of Charlaine Harris's novels.  If you've not read her books before, Midnight Crossroad  might seem more than a little bit "off" even just a few chapters in.  Every character in the novel has a secret of some kind, and the small town of Midnight, Texas is peopled with some rather odd residents. This first of the series is laying the groundwork for the books to come. The events of the novel unfold very slowly, like those really hot and sweltering summer southern days . . . but if you don't mind not having a body or a supernatural occurrence crop up on every other page and instead just want to get to know the characters and the town and chortle over the comeuppance of a Westboro Baptist Church-like militia group, this will fit the bill.  There is the mystery of what happened to Aubrey, which is resolved by the end of the novel, and they mystery of who all these people are as newcomer Manfred moves to town and slowly comes to know his new neighbors. I am looking forward to the next installment.  Meanwhile, you can check out Harris's Harper Connelly, Lily Bard, and Aurora Teagarden mysteries and her two stand-alone novels, Sweet and Deadly and A Secret Rage.  

Oliver Potszch's The Hangman's Daughter  series is rich in period detail and history, characters you will equally enjoy and revile, and plots that will keep you guessing. What more could you ask for, except for the author to keep writing and translating his works into English.  Magdalena is the Hangman Jakob's daughter. The Hangman and his family are on the lowest rung of the social ladder in their community, and in 17th century Bavaria, being associated with them would also make one an outcast - and I'm sure the signs to ward off evil would be made on sight of you.  But there's more to Jakob Kuisl than meets the eye. This Hangman is an astute student of death and the preservation of life, and also justice. Magdalena and her father are in pursuit of justice in preventing the death by hanging of the unjustly accused. Potszch based his characters on his own ancestry.  Also in the series are: The Dark Monk, The Beggar King, and The Poisoned Pilgrim.

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Diana Gabaldon's  long-awaited installment in the Outlander series hit the stores in late spring.  Written in my own Heart's Blood continues the saga of Jamie and Claire in Revolutionary War America.  The series has been picked up by STARZ and the televised version will be hitting your living room screens on August 2, 2014.  To quickly recap, Claire and husband Frank Randall are, in 1946, getting to know each other again on a honeymoon-like trip in Scotland. Claire was a military nurse, Frank a soldier-now-scholar. Claire is spirited back to 1743 Scotland due to the magic of the standing stones she encounters on an herb/plant gathering expedition, and the usual mayhem occurs from that point on. How will a modern-day woman survive in 1743 Scotland? Will Claire return to her own time? Of course, these and many more questions arise during the course of the 8-book series (not sure if there are more to come).  It helps if you read the series in order to keep track of character and plot developments. These are meaty reads (the paperbacks are around 800 pages) chock full of historical detail, romance, time travel, realistic dialogue, and interesting characters.  Written in my Own Heart's Blood (or 'MOBY' for the fans who abbreviate) expands the stories of what were somewhat peripheral characters in the previous two novels, we learn a little more about William's reactions to his parentage, as well as what's happening with Brianna and Roger in modern times.  This novel doesn't end on a mini-cliffhanger as others have, despite there still being completely unresolved plot lines.  And it's ok to not answer every question in a novel.  Much as I enjoy the series, I can't help but feel if some of the characters didn't chalk up words and actions to pigheaded manliness or unbending femaleness, parts of the plot would just unwind.  Regardless, it was still a satisfying read - and if you're new to the novels, lucky you - you can begin reading all 8 of them and not have to eagerly await the next installment. At least until you get through with number 8.

Lady of Ashes, by Christine Trent, introduces us to Violet Morgan, who has married into a family of undertakers. She embraces the profession, becoming an undertaker, herself.  I am only 20 pages into this novel, but like the direct writing style of the author.  Already I know that Violet is somewhat of an anomaly for the Victorian time period.   I'll have to do my research, but that aspect of the novel was intriguing to me simply because it didn't seem to me that it would be as acceptable in Victorian times for a woman to be an undertaker.  The plot seems to be moving forward well enough (remember, I'm only 20 pages in). So far, the reader will meet Violet and her husband, who is already showing signs of preoccupation with their rising social status.  You'll learn a little about the funeral practices of the time as Violet makes a house call to a high-society client whose husband has died.  The family business is being run by Violet and her husband, the other brother having left to become a merchant seaman. Or perhaps "tradesman." He's in shipping, at any rate.  Each chapter is prefaced with a short excerpt from  Beeton's Book of Household Management,  a Victorian-era guide which actually does exist, and snippets of poetry and quotes.  Here is a Beeton's quote: "The half-hour before dinner has always been considered as the great ordeal through which the mistress, in giving a dinner-party, will eiher pass with flying colors, or, lose many of her laurels."  These are fun to read, offering insights into the attitudes of the time.

So what's on your summer reading list? Head to your local library or book store and see what's new!