I’ve known for months that I wanted to bring back a new summer reading guide for 2013. And for months, I’ve been reading like it was my job (what a great job!), vetting all the newer books that I thought might be good additions to the guide.

Here’s a sampling of books I once thought would be perfect for the 2013 summer reading guide, but that didn’t make the cut:

MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend, Rachel Bertsche

This memoir about the author’s year of friend-dating (52 weeks, 52 dates) would be an excellent book club pick: conversation starters abound. But with no book club in sight, it wasn’t strong enough to earn a spot in the Memoir category.

Pat of Silver Bush, L. M. Montgomery

I loved the idea of including an L. M. Montgomery book in the Kit Lit category for Anne of Green Gables fans who were ready to branch out. Pat is a sweet story, but the dialogue gets a little precious in places (a lot of places) and I just couldn’t get excited about recommending it for your summer reading.

Love in the Time of Algorithms: What Technology Does to Meeting and Mating, Dan Slater

I’m a little obsessed with cultural trends pertaining to marriage and family, and I thought this new release sounded like a perfect pick for the Nerdy Nonfiction category. But instead, it felt a little icky…and then I abandoned it.

What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Economic Disaster, Jonathan Last

I was eyeing this book for the Nerdy Nonfiction category. Last’s scholarly exploration of demographical trends in America and abroad is interesting, but it’s not beach reading. (Also? Terrific title.)

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Don’t laugh–I seriously considered putting this runaway bestseller in this year’s guide as an Easy Reading Novel. But then I came to my senses, and realized you all already know about this book and don’t need me to recommend it. Besides, it was in last year’s guide.

Get your copy of the 2013 MMD summer reading guide here. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm–and kind words–on this year’s guide! 

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If you’re at all like me, you think beach chairs and pool decks are made for reading. But nothing is more frustrating than taking a much talked-about book on vacation only to realize it’s terrible and you’re stuck with nothing.

Anybody can browse a bestseller list, but just because a book is a best seller doesn’t mean that you will want to read it. (Hello, Fifty Shades of Grey.)

You all know I love to read, and read a lot. You know where I’m coming from. If you like this blog, I think you’ll find something perfect for you in this guide.

I’ve chosen some bestsellers that are actually good. I’ve also tried hard to give you some fabulous reads that you’ve never heard of. I’ve personally read every book on this list (often more than once). I can vouch for them, and answer any questions you have. (Like, how’s the language? Or, Do I really want to read this right now?)

The books are divided by category, so you can flip right to the section that interests you most.

I also share tips I’ve figured out through years of dealing with summer reading’s challenges: sun, water, sand, travel. (Has anyone else ever recommended throwaway books before?)

Praise for the 2012 edition

Sound good? Sign up here to get your free copy. 

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I’d love to hear your feedback when you’re done reading your guide! Come back and comment on your favorite summer read right here, or follow the hashtag #beachreading on twitter.

Happy summer, and happy reading!

The 2013 summer reading guide is launching tomorrow, and I can’t wait to share it with you. It has…

• 26 pages
• 5000 words
• 11 categories (6 new!)
• 3 books published before 1900
• 7 books published in 2013
• my favorite sleeper hits
• 2 Kindle singles
• one book of poetry
• and it’s all been carefully curated for YOU.

You can get your copy tomorrow. In the meantime, this little 3-minute video will give you the lowdown on the guide. Thanks for watching!

The guide is totally free for subscribers to my new and monthly-ish newsletter. Sign up here and a link to download the guide will appear in your inbox tomorrow.

Thanks so much! I hope you love it.

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A few weeks ago, my husband and I got to hear Wendell Berry interview Michael Pollan about his new book Cooked: A History of Transformation.

Wendell Berry is a fellow Kentuckian and long-time favorite of mine; one of his novels appears in the MMD summer reading guide.

I’ve admired Pollan’s work since The Omnivore’s Dilemma exploded onto the scene in 2007, and have been looking forward to his latest (which is also in the summer reading guide) for what seems like forever. He dedicated Cooked to Wendell Berry, explaining at the event that Berry’s philosophy seeped into every book he’d ever written, especially his famous declaration, “Eating is an agricultural act.”

Pollan has written about how food is grown; he’s written about the importance of how and what we consume. In Cooked, Pollan completes the narrative arc by tackling the middle link of the food chain: cooking, which he calls “the link that connects culture and nature.”

(Pollan fans, take notice: he dropped a hint that his next book will radically differ from his previous works, and if he ever comes back to food it will be from an international perspective.)

I expected these two authors to be interesting, and they were. They were also funny: the two topics they kept circling back to were peeing on fires and breastfeeding.

It was a ticketed event, and each attendee received a signed copy of Cooked. Which means I have an extra copy for one of you. (And don’t worry: I mean signed by Michael Pollan, not by me. )

Cooked is terrific. I think you’re gonna like it.

To enter to win, just leave a comment before Tuesday at midnight.

UPDATED: The winner is @angelin_…

This promotion is open until Tuesday, May 21 at 11:59 pm EST and is limited to those 18 years or older. The winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Continental U.S. only–I can’t afford to ship anywhere else! Please respond within 48 hours to claim your prize. This post will be updated with the beginning of the winner’s email addresses. This post contains my affiliate links.

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summer reading guide in progress. only two of the books pictured made the cut. 

Last year’s summer reading guide was a big hit, so I’m doing it again. You can get your 2013 edition of Ultimate Beach Reading next Wednesday on the blog. And just like last year, it will be free!

In last year’s guide, I included some books in the “new releases” section that hadn’t yet been released–so I hadn’t read them yet. But since the early press looked good and I was very much looking forward to reading them, I included them in the guide.

That turned out to be a mistake.

(If you read Drop Dead Healthy last year on my recommendation, I’m really sorry. I thought it was pretty stupid after I actually read it, and many of you agreed. And yet it has 165 reviews on Amazon with a 4-star average. I guess that goes to show the value of a trusted reading guide, huh?)

This year’s summer reading guide also has a new releases category, but this year I only included books that came out in late spring that I actually read. 

And yet, it’s fun to talk about the books we’re looking forward to for summer reading, and I’ve listed some ones I’m excited about below. But I’m not recommending them…yet.

The Lucy Variations, Sara Zarr

I like a good coming-of-age story, and this YA novel sounds like the competitive piano version of Save the Last Dance .

Homeward Bound: Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity, Emily Matchar

I am definitely intrigued…but then again I thought Radical Homemakers sounded really interesting, too–and I hated it. And the buzz that’s starting to leak out from bloggers I know isn’t exactly complimentary.

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris

I actually finished this one since I finalized the summer reading guide, and there’s no way it would have made the cut. It’s not his best work, and way too crude to recommend. There were several essays I didn’t bother to finish. Of course David Sedaris isn’t for everyone, but I wouldn’t recommend this collection to any but his most devoted fans.

The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Strength, Faith, and the Power of Family, Josh Hanagarne

This brand new memoir sounds almost too outrageous to be true. A weightlifting librarian’s memoir of overcoming adversity? Yes please!

And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Houssini

Everyone has high hopes for Houssini’s latest. But let’s be honest: I abandoned The Kite Runner 50 pages in because of the thematic content. I’m proceeding with caution on this one.

Have you read any of these yet?

In comments tell us 1. a book you’re looking forward to reading this summer or 2. a time you were really looking forward to reading a new book…and it disappointed you. 

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