Sunday Salon - June 26

A little of this and a little of that for you this week, all book-related for a change! From NPR, a couple of links for you. First up, some literary getaways for this summer, including Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and Miss New India by Bharati Mukherjee. What literary getaway would you recommend for summer reading?

Also from NPR, Nancy Pearl's 10 Terrific Summer Reads. Delighted to find on Ms. Pearl's list The Coffins of Little Hope by Timothy Schaffert. So now, don't just take my word for it, listen to the wonderful librarian and get yourself a copy!

(Joe Shlobotnik/Flckr)

On Point Radio, with Tom Ashbrook (heard on NPR--you think maybe I listen too much?!), recently compiled a list of listener's best summer read picks. The list includes everything from classics to just released titles; fiction to non-fiction to memoir. Some book "experts" also gave their suggestions for the summer. Are any of these on your agenda in the coming months? I've got a couple that I'm hoping to get to, including The Gap Year by Sarah Bird and Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan.

From Barnes & Noble, their Bookseller's Guide to Good Reading. Included are some hot reads (Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, Before I Go To Sleep and the last installment of the Stephanie Plum series), cool books (The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, The Astral, and I Wore The Ocean In The Shape of A Girl) and modern classics (The Poisonwood Bible, Cloud Atlas and Housekeeping). I always think I know most of what's out there, and then one of these lists comes along and proves me wrong.


I'm very excited to have discovered, in the newspaper today (thank heavens newspapers haven't completely disappeared yet!) that Omaha's Joslyn Castle will be hosting "Romance at the Castle: The Brontes" in July. There will be movies, readings, and a one-woman play. I won't be able to get to nearly all of it but I'm hoping to round up a couple of other Bronte fans to get to a few of the offerings.

I'm looking forward to the coming weekend--not so much for the Fourth of July celebrations but for a three-day weekend with, I hope, plenty of time to sit on the patio and read. For those of you in the U.S., do you have big plans for the coming weekend?

What are you reading this week?