Summer reading, don't believe the hype

I don't know if you notice to the swath of "summer reading" lists that are posted on every media platform known to man each year around this time?  I do, because its my job, and most of them suck.  The vast majority of the books on parade sound like a great way to ruin all the good weather and pleasant scenery that mother nature could muster on even the best summer afternoon.

Just because it's summer does not mean you have to read crap.  Reading this Esquire article, I am not alone in my views.  The columnist took one for the team and actually sat down to read Dean Koontz, Harlan Coben and David Baldacci - so we wouldn't have to.  Here is his take:

Stupid books take almost as long to read as not-so-stupid books. The chapters are short, the dialogue is "snappy," and still things go on forever. There's a reason only very special episodes of CSI stretch past the hour mark. These books are interminable — imagine a poorly produced thriller starring Tim Allen or Jim Belushi that lasts something like 12 to 15 hours.

This is the point where I'm supposed to find something positive to say about these books. That's how it works. You're supposed to get all counterintuitive and say that Sarah Palin is so freakishly stupid, she's actually some kind of genius. Here's what I can say: The Coben is not quite as bad as the Baldacci, which is not as god-awful as the Koontz.

It seems it's widely considered bad form to call stupid things stupid. But that's mostly what these books are. They'll cost you $25 a pop, waste a half day of your life, and leave you neither smarter nor happier, just kind of bored and a little depressed. That's no way to spend a summer. Screw these books. Take a walk.

I like a walk as much as the next guy but I also like reading in a hammock. So I want to ask, what is the best book you have read so far this summer?  Maybe we can collect some comments and post a list of books that you may actually WANT to read this summer.

Comments

[ccr in MA]

I thought that The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, was amazing.

I also really enjoyed both The Thirteenth Child, by Patricia Wrede (YA/fantasy), and If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (YA, but not fantasy).

If re-reading counts, add The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, too.

[jeteye]

Every odd-numbered summer I re-read 'A Confederacy of Dunces' (John Kennedy Toole) and every even-numbered summer it's 'Bring the Jubilee' (Ward Moore), one of the first - and still the best - alternate-history novels out there. I first read both these books more than 25 years ago, have given away more copies than I can count, and still, lo these many years later after countless re-reads, they're still as much a joy to read now as when I first encountered them. Maybe not for everyone (esp. Moore), but if they hook you - you'll never forget either one ...

[Catherine @ Reading In Montana]

I'm going to try to read Infinite Jest by Wallace for the Infinite Summer Challenge/book club of sorts. See http://infinitesummer.org/ for more info.

[Vy]

"A Game of Thrones," by George R. R. Martin. Not what can be considered "light" reading, but good stuff. Completely takes my mind off the fact the evil, wicked sun is beating me down into smouldering submission.

[Dana]

I am going to finish Toni Morrison's "A Mercy" and I have started China Mieville's "The City & The City" - and then I have a whole stack of unread Louise Erdrich I have to get to.