I was curious about it since my grandfather called Lonesome Dove his favorite book, but I wasn't convinced I was going to like it. I'm glad I tried it because I loved it!
I recently purchased Lonesome Dove, and I plan to start it in August. I was going to recommend Elizabeth George, and then you pulled out the book! I love that series.
Just finished “Ella Minnow Pea”. Loved it …was fun but also made you think 😉 For a summer read, just picked up “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett”. Love you videos and recommendations. Hi to Teddy🐶 and Joel😊
Wow, soooo many good recommendations. Will definitely be looking into some of these. Elin Hildenbrand is my summer go to. Just one book about Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket puts me right in the mood for summer. I also love stories that take place in New England in general, particularly at boarding schools or secondary schools/college (The Secret History, Bunny, Prep). Those tend to set the mood for September when my reading leans toward the gothic/horror (Something Wicked This Way Comes & We Have Always Lived In The Castle!)
A Summer Reads recommendation for you: "Sugar" and its sequel "This Bitter Earth" both by Bernice L. McFadden. I think these are right up your alley since I know you enjoy multi-generational, messy family dramas/sagas. And they're not that long either - "Sugar" is 229 pages; "This Bitter Earth" is 276 pages. I rarely recommend book sequels because, usually, the sequel isn't as good as the first book (IMO) but, in this case, WOW!, the sequel is even better!!! I'd encourage purchasing both of them at the same time because if you're anything like me, upon finishing "Sugar" you're gonna wanna start the second book immediately!!! Fantastic books; I highly recommend both!!!
I can't wait to read Lonesome Dove. I've been waiting on my boyfriend who keeps setting it down and dusting it back off in hopes of reading it haha. I sent him your video to hopefully motivate him!
I love these selections, Greg! So different from the typical beach reads. I’m currently reading Lone Women, by Victor LaValle, which I think would fit the bill. I don’t read Westerns, and I don’t read horror, but the horror is light, and the story of a Black female homesteader is so fascinating to me. (Who knew that lone Black women were allowed land back then? I had no idea!) Found family, women learning how to fend for themselves in sometimes brutal conditions, and an engaging mystery with information doled out at perfect intervals to keep interest. Highly recommend.
It's so funny that the first book you bring out is Lonesome Dove. I just started that. My summer reading isn't really all that different from my reading the rest of the year. If I'm at the beach, then yes, I'll need a cheap, second hand paperback where I don't mind if it gets damaged, and the contents have to be... not taxing, easy to focus on, easy to get back into after a nap. Other than that I just read like usual. I do like having something seasonal though, and this year I have Summer by Ali Smith (yes, I read Spring during the spring etc.) As I was watching your video I thought about recommending Passing and Quicksand by Nella Larsen, but you already had them. They are really powerful and definitely better read in summer than in the gloom of winter. Fried Green Tomatoes is on my loosely planned tbr for the year, so I might try to fit that in during the summer. And I would never roll my eyes at Annabeth Albert, but I just won't do Christmas in July. 😆 I'll save that one for December. Summer is a good time for a Lily Morton or Jay Hogan though (adult readers only).
This list has it all! So many good ones here. I finally got a copy of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and I just need to get to it. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is one of my all time favorite stories. I read a couple of books in June that fit your categories: Lavender House, a noir style mystery with all queer characters and A Month in the Country for great short novels.
I listened to Lavender House on audio when it was released! I think it's the same author who wrote Camp. I hope you love The Secret Lives of Church Ladies as much as I did.
I DNF'd the Poisonwood Bible years ago. I can't remember why but am wondering if I should give it another chance. I have enjoyed reading books you have recommended so far so maybe I should try again??? I now have to write down the recs until I have read some the books I have purchased ( a lot!). My collection includes A Place for Us and at least 6 other books on this list!!! So many books so little time for sure. Some day I hope you listen to Beloved narrated by Toni Morrison. He voice! I was overwhelmed and totally drawn in by her narration which totally added to the telling of this amazing story. Great video. Hope you, Joel and Jamie are doing well.( I always worry about my grammar when I post... Average at best in English comp lol. )😆💜🌺📖
I've dedicated myself to reading Morrison's books in physical form first so I can spend time with the words, but I want to circle back and do audio for some of them. Her voice is spellbinding. I hope you like A Place For Us! I definitely loved Poisonwood Bible but it's okay if you didn't like it. 🥂
7:30 I haven't read Sue Grafton in a while and might pick this one up. I vaguely remember sleeping in the livingroom with the light on the night I finished K is for Killer, but I don't remember the book itself. 😅
29:40 The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott. "Part of the joy is seeing how it spins out in the rest of the narrative." That's how I felt about a novella I just finished reading, Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher! Adding The Rain Heron to my tbr.
It's winter in Australia of course, but I'm still interested in most of your summer reads. I have Ella Minnow Pea on the TBR, maybe I'll pick it up, it'll be a quick read. And I really want to read/reread all of Barbara Pym, I was fondling some gorgeous new Virago editions of her in a shop the other day. I haven't bought them - yet. They didn't have all her titles though, and I'd love a matching set. We're hopeless aren't we, booksy folks?
I love the Kinsey Millhone series so much! I need to re-read all of them now. I recently read A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George and really enjoyed it. Another series I just read the first one of is the Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger, first book is called Iron Lake. Not summer vibes, though, at all, it takes place in Minnesota in December! But really liked that book too.
Thank you for so many brilliant recommendations. I wonder if you have read any of Ann Weisgarber's books? I think she has only written three. I first discovered The Personal History of Rachel DuPree and loved that one. The Promise and The Glovemaker were also excellent 👍❤️
The Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton is so nostalgic for me. I have read all of the series and it’s worth a reread. I just finished Better Living through Birding by Christian Cooper and it was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! A memoir by a smart, kind, Black, gay Harvard alum and avid birder who was thrust into the spotlight after a run-in with a malignant Karen in Central Park. That incident is a small part of the book. His life story and observations are rendered so thoughtfully. Highly recommend!
Out East by John Glynn is one I would recommend for summer as well as Fluke by Christopher Moore. Pretty much anything beach or ocean related works for me.
I’ll be doing my own version of BookTube’s “Hot-a-thon” in August so I’m hoping the books I plan on reading for that have a strong heat or summer vibe. Here’s my list: Book set in - Africa Stay with me by Ayobami Adebayo - India A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - Mediterranean The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - Latin America One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Australia The Secret River by Kate Grenville - set during the summer anywhere else The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Like your list. Read about half of this books and all of them are important and good. Love Banana Fish and think that is amazingly good written. Salinger is a strange man. Think that he almost went mad when he sow those people from a concentration camp in Germany. I think that he was a good writer.
Been meaning to get to The Man Who loved Children. If you are into Short stories Antarctica by Claire Keegan is very good and I’m starting Shelf Life Chronicles of a Cairo Book Seller by Nadia Wassef looks like a fascinating memoir.
Good morning. My idea is to read some of the classics I have not read. First I need to finish Heroine by Mindy McGinnis. I have a friend whose granddaughter who had a horrific accident and now we're dealing with this. I am also reading Pilgrims Progress. I am really enjoying it. I want to read Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. I also have copies of David Copperfield and Don Quixote. Unfortunately I live where it can be very humid and now we are dealing with smoke so I may be in quite a bit.
Here is my list of books I think would make great summer reads. Positively 4th Street (NF), My Antonia (classics), Out of this Century (autobiog), Me (autobiog), A Year in Provence (memoir), Vanity Fair (big classics), Paris to the Moon (memoir), Mill on the Floss (big classics), The Paris Wife (historical fiction), The Rainbow Comes and Goes (biog/essay/interview), Ninth Street Women (big NF), Miracle and Wonder (biog/essay/interview), and the poetry of Billy Collins.
PS. Sadly Julian Barnes, aka young Geo Emerson, was found dead on 6/27/2023 in CA recently. He was 65. Reading or watching Room with View would be a poetic tribute. He played the son in the movie and the role of the father Emerson in a radio broadcast of the book.
A whole lot of great titles on this list! I also have a copy of "The Man Who Loved Children" that I keep telling myself I want to read. Maybe this is the summer to do it. Loved "Train Dreams", and Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son" is great collection of connected stories (I likened "Night of the Living Rez" to that book, in a very positive way).
I read Jesus' Son when I was about 20 years old and LOVED IT. I feel like I should reread it but part of me is afraid it wouldn't resonate the way it did then. I should just get over it and try.
@@SupposedlyFun I should note that I haven't reread it in quite some time, and it is true how certain books hit you differently at certain times in your life. I really should read more of Johnson, though. I haven't tried his National Book Award-winning book "Tree of Smoke".
I started reading Tree of Smoke not long after it was published, but I had the flu and it made the experience feel like a wild fever dream--so I put it down. Unfortunately, I never got back to it somehow.
I liked Nine Stories though Salanger is a bit problematic for me. If you are looking for a great story collection I highly recommend Men Without Women by Haruki Murakam. I have a love hate relationship with mysteries but a good one is Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. It's a little predictable but a lot of fun. Have a great day! i
I think Salinger's work is still worth reading, especially understanding that he is a very difficult person to like, but I totally understand anyone who would rather stay away. Thank you for the recommendations. Interestingly, I have a difficult time reading Murakami because of his portrayal of women--but I understand why people really respond to his work. Happy reading!
I have been trying to get through Lonesome Dove since November. I’m only on about page 150 and I’m just finding it sooo tedious. What am I doing wrong?? I thought I’d absolutely love it - I live in the CA desert and grew up on horses. I thought this was up my alley and I am just forcing myself through it. But I don’t want to give up.
I don't think you're doing anything wrong. There's nothing saying that you have to like every book out there--and just because I loved Lonesome Dove doesn't mean everyone will. If it's not giving you joy, there's nothing wrong with putting it down. But if you want to keep at it, maybe switching to audio would help?
I often like Pulitzer winners and I like western movies so I’m extremely frustrated that I don’t like it. I’ll try the audio before I throw in the towel - thanks! PS - recently read my first Elizabeth George and I loved it
@@melissachapman7027 I hope the audio helps, but try not to feel too frustrated if it doesn't. It happens! I definitely need to try Elizabeth George at some point.
Never thought I would like Lonesome Dove, but loved it. Then bought the DVD and it followed the book and had great actors. Highly recommend this book.
I was curious about it since my grandfather called Lonesome Dove his favorite book, but I wasn't convinced I was going to like it. I'm glad I tried it because I loved it!
@@SupposedlyFun I'm 76 and never read a western before. You'd love the mini series.
The miniseries is great--they did a fantastic job with casting.
I recently purchased Lonesome Dove, and I plan to start it in August. I was going to recommend Elizabeth George, and then you pulled out the book! I love that series.
I hope you enjoy Lonesome Dove as much as I did. I'm looking forward to trying Elizabeth George.
I smile 😊everytime you hold up “Love Songs…” My favorite read
It's such a good book!
Hey that’s my line 😂
@@AvAlanchian 🤗
New Claire Keegan work arrives late this year! Looking forward to reading more from her.
Oh wow! Unfortunately, I have my most anticipated books for the second half of the year coming on Monday and I somehow missed it. 🤪
YES! End of August I believe.. so excited for it.
Fabulous list, Greg! Thanks for putting it together.
Thank you!
Just finished “Ella Minnow Pea”. Loved it …was fun but also made you think 😉
For a summer read, just picked up “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett”.
Love you videos and recommendations. Hi to Teddy🐶 and Joel😊
Wow, soooo many good recommendations. Will definitely be looking into some of these. Elin Hildenbrand is my summer go to. Just one book about Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket puts me right in the mood for summer. I also love stories that take place in New England in general, particularly at boarding schools or secondary schools/college (The Secret History, Bunny, Prep). Those tend to set the mood for September when my reading leans toward the gothic/horror (Something Wicked This Way Comes & We Have Always Lived In The Castle!)
A Summer Reads recommendation for you: "Sugar" and its sequel "This Bitter Earth" both by Bernice L. McFadden. I think these are right up your alley since I know you enjoy multi-generational, messy family dramas/sagas. And they're not that long either - "Sugar" is 229 pages; "This Bitter Earth" is 276 pages. I rarely recommend book sequels because, usually, the sequel isn't as good as the first book (IMO) but, in this case, WOW!, the sequel is even better!!! I'd encourage purchasing both of them at the same time because if you're anything like me, upon finishing "Sugar" you're gonna wanna start the second book immediately!!! Fantastic books; I highly recommend both!!!
I can't wait to read Lonesome Dove. I've been waiting on my boyfriend who keeps setting it down and dusting it back off in hopes of reading it haha. I sent him your video to hopefully motivate him!
I hope it helps!
I love these selections, Greg! So different from the typical beach reads. I’m currently reading Lone Women, by Victor LaValle, which I think would fit the bill. I don’t read Westerns, and I don’t read horror, but the horror is light, and the story of a Black female homesteader is so fascinating to me. (Who knew that lone Black women were allowed land back then? I had no idea!) Found family, women learning how to fend for themselves in sometimes brutal conditions, and an engaging mystery with information doled out at perfect intervals to keep interest. Highly recommend.
I've gotten some mixed feedback on Lone Women, so thank you for sharing your thoughts on it.
84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff, is a extremely good epistolary. It is worth the read. The Poisonwood Bible is an excellent book.
84, Charing Cross Road is such a good book!
It's so funny that the first book you bring out is Lonesome Dove. I just started that. My summer reading isn't really all that different from my reading the rest of the year. If I'm at the beach, then yes, I'll need a cheap, second hand paperback where I don't mind if it gets damaged, and the contents have to be... not taxing, easy to focus on, easy to get back into after a nap. Other than that I just read like usual. I do like having something seasonal though, and this year I have Summer by Ali Smith (yes, I read Spring during the spring etc.) As I was watching your video I thought about recommending Passing and Quicksand by Nella Larsen, but you already had them. They are really powerful and definitely better read in summer than in the gloom of winter. Fried Green Tomatoes is on my loosely planned tbr for the year, so I might try to fit that in during the summer. And I would never roll my eyes at Annabeth Albert, but I just won't do Christmas in July. 😆 I'll save that one for December. Summer is a good time for a Lily Morton or Jay Hogan though (adult readers only).
I applaud your dedication to the seasons. I like to blur the lines. 😉
This list has it all! So many good ones here. I finally got a copy of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and I just need to get to it. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is one of my all time favorite stories. I read a couple of books in June that fit your categories: Lavender House, a noir style mystery with all queer characters and A Month in the Country for great short novels.
I listened to Lavender House on audio when it was released! I think it's the same author who wrote Camp. I hope you love The Secret Lives of Church Ladies as much as I did.
I know it's fall now, but thank you for the list! I put a few of these titles on hold at the library! Lots of love from the Pacific Northwest 🧡
I DNF'd the Poisonwood Bible years ago. I can't remember why but am wondering if I should give it another chance. I have enjoyed reading books you have recommended so far so maybe I should try again??? I now have to write down the recs until I have read some the books I have purchased ( a lot!). My collection includes A Place for Us and at least 6 other books on this list!!! So many books so little time for sure. Some day I hope you listen to Beloved narrated by Toni Morrison. He voice! I was overwhelmed and totally drawn in by her narration which totally added to the telling of this amazing story. Great video. Hope you, Joel and Jamie are doing well.( I always worry about my grammar when I post... Average at best in English comp lol. )😆💜🌺📖
I've dedicated myself to reading Morrison's books in physical form first so I can spend time with the words, but I want to circle back and do audio for some of them. Her voice is spellbinding. I hope you like A Place For Us! I definitely loved Poisonwood Bible but it's okay if you didn't like it. 🥂
7:30 I haven't read Sue Grafton in a while and might pick this one up. I vaguely remember sleeping in the livingroom with the light on the night I finished K is for Killer, but I don't remember the book itself. 😅
29:40 The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott. "Part of the joy is seeing how it spins out in the rest of the narrative." That's how I felt about a novella I just finished reading, Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher! Adding The Rain Heron to my tbr.
It's winter in Australia of course, but I'm still interested in most of your summer reads. I have Ella Minnow Pea on the TBR, maybe I'll pick it up, it'll be a quick read. And I really want to read/reread all of Barbara Pym, I was fondling some gorgeous new Virago editions of her in a shop the other day. I haven't bought them - yet. They didn't have all her titles though, and I'd love a matching set. We're hopeless aren't we, booksy folks?
We definitely are hopeless, but in the best possible way. 😊
I love the Kinsey Millhone series so much! I need to re-read all of them now. I recently read A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George and really enjoyed it. Another series I just read the first one of is the Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger, first book is called Iron Lake. Not summer vibes, though, at all, it takes place in Minnesota in December! But really liked that book too.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Thank you for so many brilliant recommendations.
I wonder if you have read any of Ann Weisgarber's books? I think she has only written three. I first discovered The Personal History of Rachel DuPree and loved that one. The Promise and The Glovemaker were also excellent 👍❤️
I have not read any of her books! I'll have to look her up.
I have several books of short stories. I like to throw one in my bag when I go out.
They're great for reading on the go.
The Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton is so nostalgic for me. I have read all of the series and it’s worth a reread. I just finished Better Living through Birding by Christian Cooper and it was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! A memoir by a smart, kind, Black, gay Harvard alum and avid birder who was thrust into the spotlight after a run-in with a malignant Karen in Central Park. That incident is a small part of the book. His life story and observations are rendered so thoughtfully. Highly recommend!
Oh wow, I didn't know that man had written a memoir! How interesting. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Out East by John Glynn is one I would recommend for summer as well as Fluke by Christopher Moore. Pretty much anything beach or ocean related works for me.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I am really enjoying the Detective Lynley series by Elizabeth George. I hope you like it too when you get around to it.
I'm looking forward to trying one!
I’ll be doing my own version of BookTube’s “Hot-a-thon” in August so I’m hoping the books I plan on reading for that have a strong heat or summer vibe. Here’s my list:
Book set in
- Africa
Stay with me by Ayobami Adebayo
- India
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
- Mediterranean
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
- Latin America
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Australia
The Secret River by Kate Grenville
- set during the summer anywhere else
The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Like your list. Read about half of this books and all of them are important and good. Love Banana Fish and think that is amazingly good written. Salinger is a strange man. Think that he almost went mad when he sow those people from a concentration camp in Germany. I think that he was a good writer.
The Trail by Ethan Gallogly is a good read if you're into hiking and the outdoors.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers was fun too.
Thanks--I'll check that one out, too.
Been meaning to get to The Man Who loved Children. If you are into Short stories Antarctica by Claire Keegan is very good and I’m starting Shelf Life Chronicles of a Cairo Book Seller by Nadia Wassef looks like a fascinating memoir.
At this point I would read anything by Keegan. Thanks for the recommendations!
Good morning. My idea is to read some of the classics I have not read. First I need to finish Heroine by Mindy McGinnis. I have a friend whose granddaughter who had a horrific accident and now we're dealing with this. I am also reading Pilgrims Progress. I am really enjoying it. I want to read Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. I also have copies of David Copperfield and Don Quixote. Unfortunately I live where it can be very humid and now we are dealing with smoke so I may be in quite a bit.
I'm so sorry about the situation you are dealing with. ❤️
@SupposedlyFun Unfortunately she was 16 and was taking drugs and drinking and thought she could fly from a roof
Oof. I'm so sorry!
Elisabeth George is really good, and perfect for summer reading! My favourite crimeauthor next to Minette Walters😀
Maybe you need the sailboat to get into _Woman in the Dunes._ 😂
I mean, it definitely didn't hurt. 😂
Here is my list of books I think would make great summer reads. Positively 4th Street (NF), My Antonia (classics), Out of this Century (autobiog), Me (autobiog), A Year in Provence (memoir), Vanity Fair (big classics), Paris to the Moon (memoir), Mill on the Floss (big classics), The Paris Wife (historical fiction), The Rainbow Comes and Goes (biog/essay/interview), Ninth Street Women (big NF), Miracle and Wonder (biog/essay/interview), and the poetry of Billy Collins.
PS. Sadly Julian Barnes, aka young Geo Emerson, was found dead on 6/27/2023 in CA recently. He was 65. Reading or watching Room with View would be a poetic tribute. He played the son in the movie and the role of the father Emerson in a radio broadcast of the book.
Thank you for the suggestions!
It's an awful thing. I didn't know he had played the father in a radio broadcast.
@@SupposedlyFun I know, I didn't know that either until I read an obit about him. Sad.
A summer read for adults who are fans of epic medieval fantasy; I suggest "Castle of Calamity: On Death's Door" by Robert A. J. Strife.
Thanks for the recommendation.
A whole lot of great titles on this list! I also have a copy of "The Man Who Loved Children" that I keep telling myself I want to read. Maybe this is the summer to do it. Loved "Train Dreams", and Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son" is great collection of connected stories (I likened "Night of the Living Rez" to that book, in a very positive way).
I read Jesus' Son when I was about 20 years old and LOVED IT. I feel like I should reread it but part of me is afraid it wouldn't resonate the way it did then. I should just get over it and try.
@@SupposedlyFun I should note that I haven't reread it in quite some time, and it is true how certain books hit you differently at certain times in your life. I really should read more of Johnson, though. I haven't tried his National Book Award-winning book "Tree of Smoke".
I started reading Tree of Smoke not long after it was published, but I had the flu and it made the experience feel like a wild fever dream--so I put it down. Unfortunately, I never got back to it somehow.
I liked Nine Stories though Salanger is a bit problematic for me. If you are looking for a great story collection I highly recommend Men Without Women by Haruki Murakam. I have a love hate relationship with mysteries but a good one is Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. It's a little predictable but a lot of fun. Have a great day!
i
I think Salinger's work is still worth reading, especially understanding that he is a very difficult person to like, but I totally understand anyone who would rather stay away. Thank you for the recommendations. Interestingly, I have a difficult time reading Murakami because of his portrayal of women--but I understand why people really respond to his work. Happy reading!
I have been trying to get through Lonesome Dove since November. I’m only on about page 150 and I’m just finding it sooo tedious. What am I doing wrong?? I thought I’d absolutely love it - I live in the CA desert and grew up on horses. I thought this was up my alley and I am just forcing myself through it. But I don’t want to give up.
I don't think you're doing anything wrong. There's nothing saying that you have to like every book out there--and just because I loved Lonesome Dove doesn't mean everyone will. If it's not giving you joy, there's nothing wrong with putting it down. But if you want to keep at it, maybe switching to audio would help?
I often like Pulitzer winners and I like western movies so I’m extremely frustrated that I don’t like it. I’ll try the audio before I throw in the towel - thanks!
PS - recently read my first Elizabeth George and I loved it
@@melissachapman7027 I hope the audio helps, but try not to feel too frustrated if it doesn't. It happens!
I definitely need to try Elizabeth George at some point.
Book Recommendation: The Sign for Home by Blair Fell
Thanks for the recommendation!
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❤️ 📚
First!
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