The Secrets of Jin Shei, by Alma Alexander The Underneath, Kathi Appelt The Guards, Ken Breuhn Order of the Stick, Rich Burlew The Great Stink, by Clare Clark ( Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, Fumiyo Kouno Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery (harvestar, because I admitted to her this weekend that I’ve never actually read it!) Mark of the Demon, by Diana Rowland The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, by Julian Rubinstein Hope’s Folly, Linnea Sinclair Oliver VII, Antal Szerb The Thief series, Megan Whalen Turner Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld The Shadow Pavilion, Liz Williams (jess_ka) Journey to the West, Wu Cheng’en
“… a beautiful, complex book that, for all its gentleness, had me absolutely riveted.” (
A poetic, deeply mythic bayou fantasy that’s packaged as an animal story (which it also is) and so might get missed by some genre readers. (janni)
“Since I think summertime reading implies a certain lightweight nature, something read “on the beach” … The prose is half poetry, too many pop culture references, and staffed with great, world weary characters.” (loupnoir)
Online web comic also available in book form. “It’s a hilarious send up of D&D, but with some substance. :)” (harvestar)
“Powerful series of three linked stories showing the effects of the bombing of Hiroshima on several generations of the same family, born both before and after the war.” (
Just out! (
“Incompetent Transylvanian hockey goalie takes to robbing banks and post offices in post-Communist Hungary, becomes a popular hero.” (
“… this one hit all my buttons for a summer read: military action, desperate escapes, and romance.” (
“After organizing a coup against himself so he can live peacefully abroad, the king of Alturia falls in with a group of con men, and is forced to impersonate himself when they claim to be organizing a counter-revolution. It’s like a one-person version of Double Star.” (stevendj)
“Thought-provoking easy reads, with a hero you can’t help but love.” (ladyshina)
“I just finished it and immediately thought, this is a young heroine that Tammy (Tamora Pierce) would love. I heart it a lot. Also the science to it is everything I’ve wanted and haven’t gotten from previous steampunk reads.” (supertailz)
“I particularly commend W.F.J. Jenner’s translation.” (
Summer reading recs
Followup from this post — an eclectic mix of summer reading recs from lj-ers–if anyone else has anything to add, let me know!