Friday, May 18, 2012

Summer Reading 2012

Summer starts for me tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that the experts say summer is still more than a month away. My summer has always begun the day after the last day of school. Today is the last day of school for most of the grands (all but the two who live in a different county). The thermometer says summer too with temperatures in the mid 80s and climbing according to the forecasters. So, come Saturday, it's summer.

Summer means days in the swimming pool and on the lake, baseball games, cookouts and picnics, tomatoes from the garden, lemonade, and ice cream cones. It means camp. When I was a child camp was limited to scout camp and church camp, but while the grands’ camp schedule includes those familiar weeks, they will also be attending soccer camp, football camp, art camp, science camp, and music camp. I may have forgotten one or two.  And summer means reading. Lazy days at the beach, cool mornings on the porch of a mountain cabin, and afternoons when putting a toe outside a blessedly air-conditioned home seems suicidal—all offer long, lovely hours to read.



The summer before I started to school I read a hundred books. I’d like to read that many this summer. I only about ninety on my list for summer 2012, and, thanks to ARCs received, I’ve already read more than a dozen of those. But I’m sure I’ll discover books not on my list, and I expect there will be reissues of old favorites that I’ll want to reread. And I anticipate a few ARCs for fall releases. I’m looking forward to lots of long, hot summer days—and nights—filled with good books. I’ll let you know after Labor Day if I met my goal.

My Summer Reading List

MAY

May 22
Marriage of Mercy, Carla Kelly
Unbuttoning Miss Hardwick, Deb Marlowe
Lucky in Love, Lucky Harbor #4, Jill Shalvis

May 29
Along Came   a Duke, Rhymes with Love #1, Elizabeth Boyle
Charmed by His Love, Spellbound Falls #2, Janet Chapman
A Gentleman Undone* (Blackshears Family #2), Cecilia Grant
“A Little More Scandal” (HR), Christies 1.5, Carrie Lofty
Summer Days, Fool’s Gold #7, Susan Mallery
Home for the Summer, Chesapeake Diaries #5, Mariah Stewart



JUNE


June 4
Slow Summer Kisses, Shannon Stacey


June 5
Unraveling the Past, The Truth About the Sullivans #1, Beth Andrews
Spring Fever, Mary Kay Andrews
Bring Him Home, Special Forces #3, Karina Bliss
A Life Rebuilt, Deep in the Heart*, MacAllisters #8, Jean Brashear
Quilt or Innocence (Mys), Southern Quilting #1, Elizabeth Craig
Navy Rules, Whidbey Island #1, Geri Krotow
The Casanova Code, Rake Patrol #1, Donna MacMeans
Unexpected Family, Sequel to His Wife for One Night, Molly O’Keefe
Little Night, Luanne Rice
Bride of the High Country, Runaway Brides #3, Kaki Warner
Sorority Sisters, Claudia Welch, aka Claudia Dain
Sea Change, Karen White

June 12
Porch Lights, Dorothea Benton Frank
The Red House, Mark Haddon

June 19
A Bad Day for Mercy, Stella Hardesty #4, Sophie Littlefield
Little Matchmakers, Jennifer Greene

June 26
How to Be a Proper Lady*, Falcon Club #2, Katharine Ashe
First Do No Evil, Blood Secrets #1, Carey Baldwin
Willow Springs, Destiny #5, Toni Blake
A Duchess to Remember, Ministry of Marriage #3, Christina Brooke
Scandal Wears Satin*, Dressmakers #2, Loretta Chase
The Way Back Home, Barbara Freethy
Thief of Shadows, Maiden Lane #4, Elizabeth Hoyt
Starlight, Christies #2, Carrie Lofty
Summer Nights*, Fool’s Gold #8, Susan Mallery
Can’t Buy Me Love*, Crooked Creek #1, Molly O’Keefe
At Last, Lucky Harbor #5, Jill Shalvis
Ocean Beach, Beach #2, Wendy Wax
Midnight Promises*, Sweet Magnolias #8, Sherryl Woods



JULY


July 3
Carolina Home, Dare Island #1, Virginia Kantra
Moonshell Beach, Shelter Bay #4, JoAnn Ross
Ravishing the Heiress*, Fitzhugh Trilogy #2, Sherry Thomas
"It Begins with a Kiss,"  Eileen Dreyer (ebook short)


July 10
Size 12 and Ready to Rock*, Heather Wells Mysteries #4, Meg Cabot
The Great Escape, America’s Lady #6, Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Don’t You Wish, Roxanne St. Claire
The Next Best Thing, Jennifer Weiner

July 17
Some Like It Hawk, Meg Langslow #14, Donna Andrews

July 19
Burnt Mountain Anne Rivers Siddons

July 24
A Not so Respectable Gentleman? , Diane Gaston

July 31
That Thing Called Love*, Susan Andersen
The Bride Wore Pearls*, Fraternitas Aureae Crucis #3, Liz Carlyle
How to Romance a Rake, Ugly Ducklings #2, Manda Collins
Almost a Scandal, Reckless Brides Trilogy #1, Elizabeth Essex
The Language of Sisters, Amy Hatvany
Pleasures of a Tempted Lady, Donovan #3, Jennifer Haymore,
Deception, Kris Kennedy
All Summer Long*, Fool’s Gold #9, Susan Mallery
Touch of a Scoundrel, Touch of Seduction #3, Mia Marlowe
Can’t Hurry Love, Crooked Creek #2, Molly O’Keefe
One Mountain Away*, Goddesses Anonymous #1, Emilie Richards
Forever and a Day, Lucky Harbor #6, Jill Shalvis
The Cowboy and the Princess*, Jubilee #2, Lori Wilde
Catching Fireflies*, Sweet Magnolias #9, Sherryl Woods





AUGUST

August 7
On Her Side, The Truth about the Sullivans #2, Beth Andrews
Peril in Paperback, Bibliophile Mystery #6, Kate Carlisle
Wilder, Chosen Ones #5, Christina Dodd
Making Her Way Home, Janice Kay Johnson
Dream Lake, Friday Harbor #3, Lisa Kleypas
Wedded in Sin, Bridal Favors #2, Jade Lee
Within Reach, Sarah Mayberry
Blackstone’s Bride, Kate Moore
The Soldier’s Wife, Cheryl Reavis
Wild Texas Rose, Jodi Thomas

August 14
My Loving Vigil Keeping, Carla Kelly
The Inn at Rose Harbor, Debbie Macomber

August 21
The Prodigal Cowboy, Kathleen Eagle
The Lovesick Cure, Pamela Morsi
Hidden Paradise, Janet Mullany
The Doctor’s Do-Over, Karen Templeton

August 28
Courting Carolina, Spellbound Falls #3, Janet Chapman
Blame It on Texas, Hotter in Texas #2, Christie Craig
A Lady by Midnight*, Spindle Cove #3, Tessa Dare
The Ugly Duchess*, Happily Ever After #4, Eloisa James
The Way to a Duke’s Heart*, The Truth about the Duke #3, Caroline Linden
Nightingale Way*, Eternity Springs #5, Emily March
When Lightning Strikes, Whiskey Creek #1, Brenda Novak
Return to Willow Lake, Lakeshore Chronicles #10, Susan Wiggs

What’s on your summer reading list?

*Books I’ve already read or expect to have finished befor May 22.



 

5 comments:

Quantum said...

Janga, Thanks for the alert re - 'The Last Good Man'. I downloaded my copy.

Curiously I noticed other NYT authors offering free downloads on Amazon. I added the following to my booty: Susan Sizemore - A Little Death; Brenda Novak - Honour Bound; Bella Andre - Love Me; Barbara Freethy - Golden Lies.

I wonder if there is a new trend developing where top authors offer a free download to attract new readers. Perhaps the new Indie authors, who often offer free books to get themselves better known, are starting to threaten the traditionally published authors?

So often my favourite NYT authors ebooks seem overpriced, occasionally costing more than the paperback versions. Its good to see that trend being challenged!

Wow! My PC is now loaded up with books waiting to be read. I just need a good long holliday to catch up! *smile*

Kathleen O said...

Wow what a list.. I have all of these authors and their books on my list for summer reads.
Sherryl Woods, Jill Shalvis, Susan Wiggs, Susan Mallery, Lisa Kleypas, Mariah Stewart, Lori Wilide, Emily March, Debbie Macomber, JoAnn Ross, Toni Blake, Kathleen Eagle, Susan Elizabeth Phillps.
Also looking forward to Rachel Gibson's Rescue Me...And a book that is out now, which I still have to purchase is Karma by Carly Phillips..
It's going to be a great summer of reading..

Janga said...

Q, I hope you like The Last Good Man. I love Barbara Freethy's Golden Lies too. I check Amazon every day to see what freebies are offered. I've added a lot of old favorites to my ecollection with the free books and the deals.

Janga said...

Kathleen, I see we read many of the same authors. Doesn't the summer list look grand? I hope you have a blast reading all the books on your list.

Kathleen O said...

Oh you can bet i will have a blast reading all these great books...
And great minds think alike right!!