Sitting here with the laptop, ceiling fan and air-conditioning working hard to combat the 90+ degree temps, I don’t need the calendar to tell me that today is the first day of Summer. It feels like it. Oddly enough, it is not just the physical feeling of the hot sun and increased humidity. There is just that special something, isn’t there, when the seasons change? In reality today is no different than yesterday, nor will it be different than tomorrow.
But psychologically and emotionally it feels different.
Today it is Summer. Let the fun begin.
The opening image is by one of my favorite local artists, Brian Haynes. Many of his paintings are looks back on the history of the area considered to be Missouri Wine Country where my wife Mary and I love to spend our anniversaries. The rolling hills and beautiful trees, the vines and the river…it all comes together with our May anniversary to create for me this image of paradise, and Haynes captures this feeling, this spirit, so beautifully.
I was inspired to include this image by the Art Director at Tor Books, Irene Gallo. Today she wrote about 50 paintings shared with her by various artists that for them embody summertime. You can see the post with all the fantastic imagery here. The image above by Brian Haynes would be my contribution to the collection.
As I like to do every summer, I wanted to post some ambitious summer reading plans. We did it when we were kids, participating in various school or library sponsored summer reading programs. It was fun then and the enjoyment has only increased with age. Following the jump is a pictorial selection of books that I would like to get through were I to have a machine to stop time in order for me to actually get a significant amount of reading done.
Enjoy.
It isn’t too ambitious a list, really. At least not considering that I have six of these in which I am at or near the halfway point already. While one of my goals was to read more science fiction this year, I thought the desire would have waned by this point, as it generally does during the Spring and Summer months. Not so this year. It may be all the science fiction films that are out this year which are keeping the fires stoked, but I have yet to gorge myself on the science fiction.
What does make this an ambitious list is that in addition to wanting to read these books I will also be reading monthly issues of Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, and Asimov’s as well as individual short stories from Tor.com, the Classic Science Fiction Book Club, and other SFF magazines (I am right now reading the rather excellent current issue of Apex Magazine, for example) in order to keep current on the short fiction for my reviews here and at SF Signal.
In addition to reading I will be participating in a number of Summer runs, including the 5K Glow Run next Saturday Night, a Four on the 4th four mile run early on Independence Day, and various Trail Nerds events. Plus gardening, catching the occasional Summer Blockbuster, hanging out with friends and trying to catch up on video games. And those are just the ‘free time’ activities. 2013 is looking to be a good Summer.
How about you, what reading/other plans do you have for the season?
If you are looking for my wrap-up of Once Upon a Time VII, it is after the jump in my earlier Short Fiction Friday post here.
I know you’re going to love The Ocean at the End of the Lane! I can’t wait to know what you think about that one. A Soldier’s Story and Cursed Pirate Girl look great! I’m hoping to post my summer reading pile tomorrow. Happy summer reading!
I’m about two-thirds of the way through it, will either finish it tonight or tomorrow. I’m really enjoying it, very intense at times. Look forward to seeing your post tomorrow.
Sounds like good reading for the summer. I will be looking forward to reviews of all of them.
It should be Tracy. Hope yours is too.
If my netgalley copy of The Departure showed the cover, I’d probably have started it by now. I’m unfortunately not reading what I’d want to, prepping for interviews, and I’m debating how to proceed with my desire to read books before podcasting with authors.That is a huge reading list. I’d be happy with a few of those titles.
I really wish I had stuck with it and finished it by now because it is an interesting book, I just got distracted with too many things. You definitely have a big job now with the podcast. Which is exciting!
Yes, it is an overly ambitious list to be sure.
Yay for summer reading lists! Yours sounds quite ambitious to me, considering some of these books are big, big doorstoppers.
I bought Joyland with the firm plan of reading it this summer. King’s stories about friendships, especially between groups of kids, are the best, and they always take place during summer. So that one’ son my list as well.
We actually have a few crossovers. I just started my very first Iain M. Banks book, Consider Phlebas, and it’s really, really good so far. I don’t know what I expected but I’m surprised how much I like it. I am also incredibly sad.
I’m about a thrid through The Ocean at the End of the Lane and while it’s enjoyable, it’s not my favorite Gaiman novel (so far, at least).
Our last crossover is Sir Terry Pratchett. I kind of slid sideways into the Tiffany Aching series and I’m loving A Hat Full of Sky so much that I intend to read the remaining books this summer.
I am still impressed with your plans. Not just concerning books AND all that short fiction but several 5k runs! After all, that requires training and discipline and time. Hope you reach all your goals and we get to see lots of reviews. 🙂
It is ridiculously ambitious, but what is the fun of making lists if you cannot over do it?
I read a wonderful review of Joyland and so I had to pick that one up. Really looking forward to it. It has been forever since I’ve read a King novel.
I haven’t read any Banks, so whatever I read will be my first. Andrea (Little Red Reviewer) had high praise for the short story collection and that may be a good place to start. I picked the novel I did because we are reading it for the SF Book Club soon. I can understand the sadness, I’ll feel that way myself when I get started.
It will be hard for any Gaiman to top the nostalgic love I have for Neverwhere and the overall love I have for The Graveyard Book. Both of those are in a league of their own in my mind.
Thanks for the encouragement. I’m happy that my love of running has not abated. I hit my year anniversary of races last weekend and am looking forward to many more, even in the heat of summer.
Best wishes with your great summer reading plans. Everyone, go check out Nadine’s summer reading list post.
Looks like you have some really interesting books lined up for this Summer. I’m afraid here in the UK there isn’t much sign of Summer yet, the rain has returned. Happy reading!
We’ve had a good long rainy Spring here. Hopefully that trend will continue. I don’t want the dry, hot drought we had last year.
Those are great summer plans all around. I had fun scrolling through your book list. I have a huge stack of Neal Asher a friend gave me and should really make a point of figuring out which books I should start with.
I am also reading plenty of SF in prep for the one SF convention I go to a year at the end of August. Connie Willis, Tim Powers, Daniel Abrahams, Mario Acevedo, and David Lee Summers are just some of the authors I hope to get one or two books read by before then.
Thanks, hope you have some fun ones yourself.
This is my first experience with Asher. He is an interesting author. There is something about his style that is different than what I’m used to but I’m enjoying it.
Great list of authors, that sounds like a fantastic convention. Which one is it?
Love all those great covers! You certainly have a flair with artwork! For me, Summer offers the opportunity to read Big Fat Books. I’m currently reading William Gaddis’ THE RECOGNITIONS (954 pages). I have a stack of books (all 500 pages or more) waiting for me.
I wish I had a flair with the artwork, George. Kudos go to all those great artists and art directors! Still, very fun to feature all the great cover image.
Sounds like you are planning to read some chunksters! I didn’t plan it that way, but I’ve got some on my list as well. It has gotten to the point that I appreciate when an author can tell a good story in 300 pages or less.
Neil Gaiman is coming to Miami at the end of the month to sign The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I thought of you as soon as I saw the announcement. My daughter really wants to meet him after she found out that he writes for her favorite show Dr. Who.
Oh that is so cool, Ariel! I hope you and your daughter get to go see him. I’ve seen him at a live event once and it was a real treat.
That’s a great list, Carl. It is time for the Summer Reading List, isn’t it? I’ll have to put one up too, but I’ll mention things here, now.
I’m currently in kind of a clean-up mode, trying to finish up things with bookmarks in them (it sometimes seems I’m always in that mode!) especially some thick short story collections. I plan to finish or start and finish this summer:
THE SONG OF THE SKY by Guy Murchie – non-fiction: one part meteorology, one part navigation, one part history of early flight, one part bird flight, one part flying lore, one part travel log. I’m about halfway through.
THE CRIMSON MASK OMNIBUS by Frank Johnson – four pulp novels from the mid 1940s about a masked crime fighter. Light, fun. I’m about half way through.
CALIBAN’S WAR by James S.A. Corey – second in SF series, which you also have listed. I may have to re-read the last few chapters of LEVIATHAN WAKES, the first novel, before starting this to have the continuity. Not started yet.
THE BLACK LIZARD BOOK OF BLACK MASK STORIES edited by Otto Penzler – pulp short stories and novelettes from the best of the crime and mystery pulps. Very thick at over 1,000 pages I’ve been reading this since February, but hope to finish it this summer.
D-99 by H.B. Fyfe – science fiction, picked up on a recent trip to a great used book store on the coast.
NAKED TO THE STARS by Gordon R. Dickson – science fiction, got at same store. and I did
MURDER IN THE WIND by John D. MacDonald – mystery
I also plan on reading something nonfiction about minor league baseball, as we have a new team here and I know little of the minor leagues. Naturally there are hundreds of other things I’d like to read this summer, but there’s only so much time.
I’m on the same wavelength with you, Richard. I have bookmarks in Caliban’s War, Glamour in Glass, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Snuff, The Departure and A Soldier’s Duty.
The Guy Murchie book sounds really good. An interesting mix of things in that one.
A fun list that you have, look forward to seeing all the cover images if you do a post on your site.
I’m excited that you and your wife are enjoying having the minor league team there. I need to get out to the ballpark more. It used to be fairly inexpensive but the prices have gotten crazy. We actually have a smaller team, the T-Bones, who do a lot of fun things at their park and who have family-friendly prices. Need to go see them.
The catch on the Guy Murchie book is that it was written in the late 1950s, so almost none of the technology (satellite imaging for just one) was in play then. The planes had Navigators aboard, and those Navigators had to know where and when and how much fuel all the time and that included using asn astrolabe, for heaven’s sake. I have learned a lot about wind, clouds, weather patterns, ocean currents. Pretty cool for all that the tech is outdated now.
I like the cover for Glamor in the Glass but thought it might be a Jane Austin type novel.
It is hard to believe sometimes how much things have changed in just the last ten years, let alone 60.
Glamour in Glass is very much a Jane Austen novel. It is the sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey. The novels are an homage to Austen’s works with a fantasy element woven in. I’ve been reading them aloud to Mary and we both have enjoyed them.
Let’s try this again. WordPress has really taken against my comments over the last week or so 🙁
I’m off on a long summer holiday back home in a few weeks, which with a certain grim irony will mean I’ll probably get less reading done than normal, what with the demands of kids and family. So I use the term ‘holiday’ in the loosest possible sense, clearly.
It does mean I can continue the slow migration of my library from one continent to another though. Around Christmas I’d decided to get all my Culture books over here and embark on a reread, if only to finally figure out exactly which one of them I haven’t read yet. The tragic turn of events over the past few months has solidified that plan in a way I wouldn’t have wished for…
In happier news, The Melancholy of Mechagirl looks really interesting, and I’d like to finally progress through the last two-thirds of Reamde, which has been on pause now for months.
I like the title “The Melancholy of Mechagirl”. Will be looking that one up.
I went ahead and ordered Consider Phlebas from the library today. I may just go ahead and jump into the Culture from the beginning.
Hope you enjoy your holiday even if it means less reading time.
This is inspiring! I love looking at lists and like making them as well even if I read only half of the books on it, I still enjoy doing it. Off to write my own. The Gaiman may very possibly be on it as well.
Thanks Caroline, look forward to seeing your list. I enjoyed the Gaiman book. Not my favorite, by far, but did enjoy it.
A lot of good books here. I really want to read the Mary Robinette Kowal books. Look forward to your review of Gaiman. I love the look of the Cursed Pirate and the Pratchett and King books. Consider Phlebas is on my classics list. I’ve not got hold of a copy of that one yet – only need to read one a month and Shakespeare was this month’s book.
Lynn 😀
I enjoyed the first one and am enjoying the second. There is a novelette that Kowal was talking about on a recent podcast that I’m dying to read.
Cursed Pirate Girl is a beautiful looking book.
I don’t care what else you read but you have to read the Corey books because I am reading Caliban’s War right now and will want to ramble at some point. You are the only person I know that is even reading the trilogy, so I will put some pressure on you. 🙂 Book 3 is on its way to me but I will probably detour and participate in your read-along and then read book 3 after. We will see… I want to read the Kowal books, too. I don’t have the new one. (Cursed Pirate Girl was actually rather disappointing… Just saying…)
Email me back about deLint. 🙂 (I am bossy this morning…. haha)
I am going to finish the de Lint book this week so we can do that review. I am 40% into Caliban’s War and am enjoying it as much as Leviathan Wakes. Feel free to keep the pressure up, I want to get through both of these books soon. Did you read the two short works in the series that are available as ebooks? If not, check them out (Gods of Risk, The Butcher of Anderson Station). There is also a really good prequel short story called “Drive” in the collection Edge of Infinity.
Sorry to hear that about Cursed Pirate Girl. I met the artist at SFAL 2 and he is fantastically talented.
No rush, really. I sort of dropped the ball for a while. 🙂 I am a just beyond you in Caliban’s War. I am enjoying it so far!! I am enjoying it as much as Leviathan Wakes, too. I want to get through the trilogy ASAP. 🙂 I read The Butcher of Anderson Station but forgot you said to read Gods of Risk. I have it. I also bought Edge of Infinity when I bought Caliban’s War. Something else to get around to. 🙂
The art is awesome. The story was my problem…
I’ll get in touch with you SOON. 🙂
Re Lynn’s comment “Consider Phlebas is on my classics list”. How can such a recent book be considered a classic? Apparently the definition has changed dramatically in the last decade or so! As for the book itself, it was a DNF for me, I got through about two-thirds of it before I gave it up. I guess people either love The Culture books or don’t like them at all.
I’m not sure it is a ‘classic’, but was surprised to see that it is over 20 years old. Shouldn’t have been given how many Culture novels he wrote, not to mention his non-genre novels.
Hah, yes, when I chose my ‘classics’ list I used a much looser definition of the term so I wouldn’t worry about whether the definition has changed – it hasn’t as far as I’m aware – I’m just being a bit more liberal with the word! Rather than going for books of a certain age or typically defined as classics I went for a mix of books. Some that are traditional classics and some that are considered to be novels that stand out in a certain genre. There were two reasons for this. Firstly growing up and loving reading I had access to my dad’s books – which were predominantly books that you would consider classics and I didn’t particularly want to reread most of them (in fact I’ve reread quite a few already) and secondly, I usually try to challenge myself out of my comfort zone. Consider Phlebas is definitely not in my comfort zone. So, maybe this will work, or maybe not. But I like to give these things a try and see how it pans out.
Lynn 😀
I suspect Banks will be out of my comfort zone as well and I’m looking forward to checking out a few of his books.
It was mine, but as they say that’s what makes a horse race. I hope you enjoy it, Lynn. And no, I didn’t realize Consider Phlebas was 30 years old!
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is definitely on my summer list, and it just arrived for me from the library, so I’m off to go get it this afternoon!
Look forward to your thoughts. I’ve read some interesting reviews of it thus far and need to get mine done sometime today.
By the way, my summer reading list is now up. You can find it at the Broken Bullhorn:
http://www.brokenbullhorn.wordpress.com
Thanks Richard. It is a good list everyone, check it out!
Here in London, we still have gray skies, but the temperatures are finally better. I can now wear short sleeve shirts on my runs. And I’m really looking forward to this summer. We don’t have any travel plans until late summer so I’ll be able to explore London more. And of course I hope to read tons. Happy summer, Carl. And happy reading. Can’t wait to read your review on the Gaiman book. I hear it’s awesome!
I wish you all the best in your London exploration, and will endeavor not to be envious. 🙂 Seriously though, I am thrilled for you that you are on that adventure.
I’m going to be reading through the government’s code of federal regulations, in particular, 49 CFR 63. Unfortunately, the hundreds of pages of EPA legalese is the most pressing thing for my immediate reading future. I’m hoping to find some time to get something else in there, but that all depends.
Good luck to you, Carl.
Yikes! That sounds like some weighty summer reading. Not your typical beach read. Leave it to you, Logan, to redefine summer reading. 🙂 Hope you absorb the info quickly and can get some lighter fare in during the season.
“Snuff”! You’re planning on reading “Snuff”! I hope you’ll enjoy all your reading and get to complete your reading plan, Carl! I quite enjoyed “Snuff”, but I’m afraid that’s the only one on the list that I’ve read, so I’ll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on all of them. Which are you most looking forward to, you think?
I plan to relax this season. Which, in my case, means getting a good chunk of writing done. Readingwise I hope to get back on top of my “Clear my physical TBR pile” project of reading three books off it each month. I’ve sadly been too stressed out and busy to focus on it for the past few months. Hopefully I can also get (and stay!) more involved wth blogging.
And that’s it. ^-^ It’s not as big as yours, I think, but it’ll keep me busy enough.
May everyone have a wonderful summer! ^-^
Actually I am reading Snuff right now, aloud to my wife. The only other Discworld novel I have read was Thud! which I loved and I am enjoying Snuff. Thus far I like Thud! better, but Vimes is such a great character that I wanted to read more of him and share some Terry Pratchett goodness with Mary. We are about a third of the way through.
I’m not sure I can honestly answer which I’m looking most forward to today because I’ve finished the Gaiman (which would have probably been the easy answer) and am in various stages of reading 5 of these already. Probably the Stephen King as I have not read him for many, many years.
I hope you do get to relax, enjoy what you choose to read, get even more writing than you hope done and trim down that pile!
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it, even if you like Thud! better so far! Vimes is an amazing character. He’s quickly become one of my favourite Discworld characters. I happily recommend all the Watch books. ^-^ Thud! was my introduction to Vimes and the Watch, but I loved and appreciated it a lot more once I reread it with the earlier books under my belt. ^-^
*laughs* I think the fact that you’ve already finished the Gaiman is a good answer to which you were most looking forward to. ^-~ I hope you enjoyed it!
I’m impressed by your ability to read several books at once. I struggle when the count gets to three, sadly. Is there any trick to it for you, you think?
Thank you! I hope so too! Coincidentally, I just polished off Moving Pictures earlier today. It’s certainly my least favourite Discworld novel to date, but… Can’t love them all. That leaves me with two more books to try and read this month (Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire and The Fire’s Stone by Tanya Huff.), but I don’t really mind if it carries over again. The longer I’ll have new material to read. ^-~
No, I don’t think there is a trick to it but I do actually feel like it is a bad idea. At a recent convention I heard Patrick Rothfuss state that no matter how badly he may want to get to a specific book, he would never dream of doing so until finishing what he was reading. I used to be that way. It is only in the past 10 years or so that changed and I think it is more of a negative symptom of getting too wrapped up in the societal pressure for distraction than anything else. I don’t recommend it.
There are A LOT of Discworld novels, so yes, it is not surprising that one cannot love them all. I’m enjoying Snuff, I think my comparing it with Thud! so far has more to do with the absence of some of his supporting cast which I liked so much in that novel. Still, I’m enjoying it as is Mary.
I need to try Seanan McGuire (or her persona Mira Grant) at some point. I listen to her on the SF Squeecast all the time and really enjoy her points of view, so feel like I should try her work at some point. I’ve only read Tanya Huff’s Valor series, which I like very much. I imagine she does a really nice job at fantasy as well.
Well I was going to ask how you read more than one book (and especially five) at the same time, but you have already answered that… sort of. I can barely keep up with one fiction and one non-fiction at a time, although I do sometimes bounce around in non-fiction. With a story, I have to stay in the story, even though I may be thinking ahead and wanting to be in the next one. I can see how it can happen with audio (sort of), but since I have still not opened up to that experience, I can’t try it.
Well, yes, kind of…
I guess I don’t find it much different than watching several television shows week to week, or what have you. I think tv has trained us to be able to keep several story lines straight in our heads.
Audio books are great fun if you get a good narrator. And some books, like Neil Gaiman reading his own, really should be experienced for a second time in audio version after you’ve read the book. It adds something to the story.
Good point about following TV shows. Although I enjoy those most when I can watch them on DVD and just focus on that show. Not usually possible.
Re audio books, the ones that sound most appealing is when a reviewer talks about how good reader is, and I realize I might enjoy a book more in that format.
Mmm… It does seem like it’d detract from the amount of attention you can pay to a story. Not in an “I can’t follow the plot” way, but an “I’m missing details I might not miss if this was all I was reading”. With tv shows, which you mention below, we might be more used to missing things the first time through even if we only watch ONE show.
There are. XD I think I’ve read about half of them now? *nods* The other novels all have a much stronger supporting cast with bigger roles. Guards! Guards! leans very heavily towards parodying fantasy tropes, but the ones that follow less so. If you get a chance, Lords and Ladies or Witches Abroad might be worth considering for a future OuaT challenge. All of the Discworld books fit, but those seem especially appropriate to the challenge. ^-^
I’ll try and let you know what I thought of the McGuire when I’ve read it! ^-^ All of my friends who’ve read her works have really enjoyed it, at least, so I’m definitely curious.
I find that I eventually settle on one of these exclusively to the end because I get caught up in it. Since the conversation about this style of reading has come up it may be time for me to do an intervention on myself and try to get back to the ‘one book at a time’ rule.
I thought McGuire’s newer books, the Incryptid series, sounded interesting.
As for Pratchett, I know I’d like to try some of the books that have Death as a more prominent character too.
Hi Carl. I really liked that opening artwork. It inspired me to check out the artists website. I imagine some of that art would fit well on a scifi book cover. I see you have a couple of interesting science fiction additions to your list there. If you can squeeze in one more, you should pikc up a copy of Casualties of War by Bennett R. Coles. You may have read Virtues of War already and if you have you will know what a great writer Coles is. Casualties of War has been getting some very good, well deserved reviews. Here is a little snippet from the synopsis from the website;
“With a colonial rebellion put down, the veterans of Expeditionary Force 15 can return to Earth. But the welcome they may have expected isn’t waiting for them. The State is on a witch-hunt for someone to blame for the recent war. The Astral Force has placed incompetents in charge of developing a new super-weapon. Families and friends have no concept of what happened amongst the stars. And subtle forces from the colonies are secretly at work.”
http://www.bennettrcoles.com/works/casualties-of-war
He has some great work, it is especially nice to see in person. There is a small town in Missouri, Augusta, that has several of his originals and I’d love to be able to own one some day.
I just picked up The Beautiful Mystery too! Have you read Joyland? I’m thinking that might be on my summer reading list too. I haven’t got one really, I’m reading books as they come along. I am delighted to see Caliban’s War on your list, I read the first one earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so Caliban’s War is on my list of books to get. I really want the Neil Gaiman, too, sooner rather than later!!
Enjoy your summer, Carl, it sounds delightful and full of all the things you love. Plus it’s warm outside – ok, mostly hot and humid, for us too. Still, summertime!!!
It has gotten VERY humid here of late. Don’t enjoy that.
I haven’t read Joyland yet, but it is in the queue. I had set aside Caliban’s War to catch up on a few other things but have been back at it the last two days. Man is it intense, and oh so good.
I saw Beautiful Mystery just came out in paperback, and I believe her newest isn’t that far away. End of August, just checked.