Summer reads: What to pick up under the sun

In a tent, on a train, on the beach, in the backyard — summer reading brings a sense of adventure and relaxation.

Ron Charles, the editor of Book World at the Washington Post, said his staff has the same debate every year about recommending books for the sunny months. "Should they be summer books? Beachy books? Or should they be great books? And is there a difference?"

Charles and Book Riot's Amanda Nelson joined MPR News' Kerri Miller and Stephanie Curtis to discuss memorable summer books, and what's coming up in the fall. Listeners shared their summer reading experiences, from European travels to reading by flashlight.

What to read this summer

Backlist and classics

"In the summer, people tend to read more backlist. They want a paperback they can toss in their bag and take to the beach," said Nelson.

• "Watership Down" by Richard Adams
• "The Group" by Mary McCarthy
• "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig
• Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction favorites
• Agatha Christie's murder mysteries
• Jane Austen — "Just like candy," said a caller
• "The Hotel New Hampshire" by John Irving
• "Xingu" by Edith Wharton — available for free online
• "The Complete Claudine" by Colette
• "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
• "Green Dolphin Street" by Elizabeth Goudge
• "Evensong" by Gail Godwin

New

It's hard to resist the great new books out this season. See our list of Most Anticipated Books of the Summer.

• "The Unfortunates" by Sophie McManus
• "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• "In the Unlikely Event" by Judy Blume
• "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee

Young adult and family favorites

Many listeners recalled reading aloud with their families in the summer. One grandmother, fed up with her family's obsession with the "Hunger Games" books, grabbed a copy and read the ending out loud to speed the process along.

When it comes to reading lists, Charles said, "You have to let kids choose their own books in the summer. It has to be different than high school."

Nelson agreed: "They need to diversify reading lists in several ways to keep teenagers interested."

J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" series and the classic "Nancy Drew" mysteries were all frequently mentioned favorites.

Nonfiction

• "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
• "Men We Reaped" by Jesmyn Ward

Fall books

This fall promises to be a rich reading season with several buzzed-about authors making a return.

• "The Secret Chord" by Geraldine Brooks
• "Purity" by Jonathan Franzen
• "Fates and Furies" by Lauren Groff
• "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• "Slade House" by David Mitchell

What's on your summer reading list? Keep the recommendations coming in the comments below.

Summer reading memories

• "The summer I turned 12 my family moved across the metro area to south St. Paul where I had no friends," wrote Nicole. "I remember the smell of the old house and the woodwork as I read every single mystery, horror, fantasy and teen novel in the tiny library within walking distance. I remember reading the entire Sweet Valley High series even though I hated it, because I'd read everything else except what was in the self-help section."

• "One summer, I had a pretty serious surgery that forced me to stay in bed. Friends sent me some P.G. Wodehouse and the first few novels in Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody mysteries," said Betsy. "Hard to read when it hurts to laugh! I always read Wodehouse over the summer now."

• "When I was 12, over the summer, I checked 'The Godfather,' by Mario Puzo, out of the library and read it cover to cover long before I saw the movie," wrote Michael. "A massive work, it was a glimpse under the rock of the adult world of corruption, betrayal and loyalty."

• "On a beach vacation in Florida, I read 'North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic' by Alvah Simon," wrote Holly E."I got completely immersed in the story, and it was jarring to look up from the book and realize that, unlike the protagonist, who was hunkered down in the dark in his iced-in sailboat, I was baking in the sun on a beach."