Well, folks, summer’s here, and it was time for me to start jotting down books for my summer reading list. I’ve been meaning to get around to reading the books that my readers had recommended in the past, so I started to jot down all the recommendations my readers had left in the comments of past book recommendation posts. Then, as I was writing up this list, I realized that such a list would be incredibly helpful to all of you, too. So, I’ve listed all the books that my readers have recommend in the past below.
Enjoy and happy summer reading!
much love,
Ollin
100 Books You MUST Read This Summer
FICTION BOOKS
Recommendations taken from 5 Books You MUST Read Before You Die and 5 Underrated Books You Think Deserve More Attention
It by Stephen King
Generica by Will Ferguson
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Youth In Revolt by C.D. Payne
Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Exodus by Leon Uris
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Elegance of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Dune by Frank Herbert
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close by Johnathan Safran Foer
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Brothers K by David James Duncan
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Transmetropolitan Series by Warren Ellis
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman
Death at Intervals by Jose Saramago
The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner
Lord of The Flies by William Golding
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis by Dave Eggars
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingslover
Anything by Kathleen Woodiwiss
Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi
NON-FICTION BOOKS
Recommendations taken from 5 Books You MUST Read Before You Die (Non-Fiction)
You Were Born For This: 7 Keys to A Life of Predictable Miracles by Bruce Wilkinson
Local Wonders by Ted Kooser
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst The Rwandan Holocast by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
Stiff by Mary Roach
Ava’s Man by Rick Bragg
All Over But The Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
1 Dead In The Attic by Chris Rose
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
GOOD BOOKS FOR NIGHT READING
Recommendations taken from 5 Books To Read During Long, Sleepless Nights
Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
Anything by Mary Higgins Clark
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Tales of Unease by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Strange Happenings by Avi
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Grimm’s Fairytales by The Brother’s Grimm
Homeland by R.A. Salvatore
The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
The Lazarus Effect by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
The Huanting of Alaizable Cray by Chris Wooding
BOOKS FOR STUDYING CHARACTER
Recommendations taken from 5 Characters You MUST Meet Before You Die
Up Country by Nelson Demille
Anything by Michael Connelly
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Notes From The Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Milagro Bean Field War by John Nicholis
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Sherlock Homes by Sir Athur Conan Doyle
No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
PLAYS
Recommendations from 5 Plays You MUST Read Before You Die
Othello by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by William Shakesperae
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller
A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
Wit by Margaret Edison
A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
BOOKS ON WRITING
Recommendations taken from 5 Books You MUST Read Before You Die (Non-Fiction), The Book That Every Beginning Writer Needs to Read, and The Book That Every Writer Editing Their Book Needs to Read
Story by Robert McKee
Your Writing Coach by Jurgen Wolff
How to Write A Damn Good Novel, II by James N. Frey
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
Double Your Creative Power by S. L. Stebel
The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters by Wendy Burt-Thomas
Book Proposals That Sell by W. Terry Whalin
How To Write Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Characters and Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card
I would also add Kathryn Stockett’s The Help if you haven’t read it yet – it’s my new all-time favorite. Beautifully rendered characters, incredible theme, funny and meaningful.
Also anything by Edith Wharton.
Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about that book, especially with the movie coming out. Can’t wait to read it! Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks for this awesome list Ollin!
Here’s a question for you and your readers though – how many books can you get through in a regular week? I’m just interested because I need to step up my reading.
Chloe xx
Well, for me, it depends on how busy I am. A great book of about 300 pages I can get through in a day–if I have nothing else to do. Say on the weekend. Otherwise, if I’m busy it may take me up to a week. But in college I used to average a couple books a week. I have no idea how I did that, now that I think about it. I probably wasn’t paying attention most of the time and skimmed. But these days I really try to get the whole book in, I don’t skim, and sometimes I go back and re-read passages I just read to fully understand them. For me, that’s part of the joy of reading.
As far as my readers, I’ll let them tell you.
Thanks for that…it’s been a long time since I read that much, but maybe your list will help inspire me again!
Have a great day!
Chloe xx
Great books on that list. I won’t argue with any of them.
Thanks!
Wonderful collection of lists. (gotta agree about “The Help” mentioned above
also the best I’ve read recently is “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy
Man, I can’t wait to read the Help! I wonder, should I read the book first then watch the movie? Or do you think it matters?
Hi Ollin. I recently linked to your blog and gave it an award! http://lexisjen.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/a-blog-award/
Wow, thanks Alexis! I’m honored!
I am glad to say that I’ve already read many of these books! I lack many of the “how to write” books, as that is the genre I made up to list them in. Ha. Sometimes I find it difficult to read those books, because they feel gimmicky to me or something. But there are a few here that I will check out!
Wow. You are way ahead of me. I haven’t read most of the books here. I got to catch up! How fast to you read, by the way, if you don’t mind me asking?
It depends on the book and my mood, to be honest. LoL But collectively, I can read up to 4-5 books a week. (Oh, and I hope you know I meant that I’ve read most of these books over time, not this summer! XD )
xoxoxo
The Poisonwood Bible is my absolute favorite book. I love it so much. It’s a wonderful read.
I’m excited to get around to it soon! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I LOVE it when people get passionate about books.
[...] many books can you read in 3 months? Well, Ollin Morales has a list of 100 Books You Must Read This Summer. You’ll find at least a few you’ll want to pick [...]
[...] weeks ago, I shared a list of my readers ALL-TIME favorite books. My readers love sharing their favorite books–but they also love blowing raspberries at some [...]
This was fascinating, Ollin, to see what your readers recommend. What I read is so far off, I won’t even mention them. It fascinates me to see what others read.
Yeah, many of these titles I had never head of before. But so far I started reading them and I am very satisfied. My readers have great taste!