Ten on Tuesday - 10 Books on Your Summer Reading List

If ever there was a timely list - this is it since I just picked up a few books on my list from the library and I'm ready to dive in since last night I finished reading Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham. It was the second book I read by the author, the first being The Painted Veil which I picked up after reading a review on another blog. I really enjoyed the writing style and the stories in both and I will certainly read more Maugham in the future.

I'm an avid reader and I'm always looking for ideas on new authors and books to read. I keep a little book filled with books that sounded interesting to me and the titles come from all over. Many are found in the People Magazine book reviews but others come from listening to authors on the radio, the NY Times or the blogs. They rarely steer me wrong.

1. 13 1/2 by Nevada Barr - People featured this as one of their "Thrillers For Fall" last October and it sounds very promising. It's set in New Orleans and is centered around a woman who marries a mysterious architect who may have a homicidal past.
2. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny - In the same issue they reviewed this book at length and gave it 3.5 stars. It's set in Quebec in a town the reviewer describes as being "as improbably intrigue-filled as Murder She Wrote's folksier Cabot Cove, Maine." I loved that show.
3. Dexter By Design by Jeff Lindsay - I read the earlier books in this series and I've seen the cleaned up, network broadcast of the show based on them. This is my kind of story. A little twisted and very entertaining but not for the faint of heart.
4. Sophie's Choice by William Styron - this is one that I intend to finish by the end of the summer. I started it a while ago but it's heavy and slow so I put it aside in favor of a mystery that caught my eye. I do that a lot.
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Another one I started and put aside but I'm even more likely to finish this one.
6. 1776 by David McCullough - A little non-fiction to even things out. I bought this a while ago and I still want to read it. I hope that this summer provides the time to do it.
7 & 8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - I've heard a lot about these and they sound like something I'd like. I'll give them a try.
9. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - In truth I probably won't get to this until the fall but I'd like to think that I'll read it soon. It's one of those books that I feel like I ought to have read and I think that reading it will make me a bit more well-rounded.
10. Mysteries!!! In all truth this list could go off the rails at the drop of a hat because I am a huge mystery lover. I could easily go into the library to drop off a book and come out with something by Michael Connelly, Lisa Gardner or Linda Fairstein. Did I mention that Carl Hiaasen and Laura Lippman both have new books coming out! And if all that wasn't enough there's a new Stephanie Plum book - Sizzling Sixteen. Like I said, it wouldn't take much for my plans to go off the rails in a really good way.

So what are you reading and, maybe more importantly, where do you get your best suggestions for what to read next?