My summer reading mindset has kicked in, and I've been plowing through books, especially today, when it was too hot to be in the computer room. (Note so self. Do not forget to call a/c installer on Wednesday.)

So, this is what I've read since the last time I remembered to post a reading report. Not the frightful lack of fantasy. Nothing's gripped me lately, I guess.

A Natural History of the Senses, by Diane Ackerman. left a sweet note about this book on one of my entries, and while I've just begun to read this book, I have to say that if ever I write half as vividly as Ms. Ackerman, I'll be extremely happy.

Cranberry Queen, by Kathleen De Marco. It's about relationships breaking up, and healing after. Fiction, of course, but depressing.

Sullivan's Island, by Dorothy Benton Frank. One of my many 'beach novels', and in keeping with a recurring theme in my summer reading over the year, it takes place in the South Carolina Lowcountry. (This is a region I'm much enamoured with, though I have no idea why.) After I started this, I realized I had a copy already, but had never finished it. Now I have.

Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder. Surreal in an Alice in Wonderland sort of way. Midway through the book the story does a flip-flop and you find out the character you think is the 'real' protagonist, is really a character in a book someone else is reading. In addition to being a great story, this book is also a sort of “Philosophy 101” in a fictional format.

The Matter of Grace by Jessica Barksdale Inclan. Give this book to your mother. She's old enough to appreciate it on another level. This is depressing in places, too, but it's also a nice presentation of women's friendships. It made me wish, really, that I wasn't so painfully shy until I was warmed up, and that I was better at having women friends.

Last Chance Saloon, by Marian Keyes. I started this a week ago, then got distracted, then re-started it. The only problem I had with it was that I watched The Diary of Bridget Jones while I was half-way through the book, and the characters became mixed up in my head. That this book is also about British thirty-somethings and their relationships didn't help the confusion. Still, I'd recommend it.

The Beach House, by Mary Alice Monroe. (What is it about Southern women and using their middle names? Not that I don't like it, but my middle name only ever got used when I was about to be punished for something.) Another Lowcountry novel, this time very much about mothers and daughters. One of the sub-plots involves turtle conservation.

Dog Handling, by Clare Naylor. Another “young English women in relationships” novel, except that this one takes place in Australia. Fabulously funny.

Nora, Nora, by Anne Rivers Siddons. I thought I'd read all of her books, but then I saw this on the bargain table. I just started it.

Gift of a Letter, by Alexandra Stoddard. I'm re-reading this for the umpteenth time, because I love writing letters – and I mean on paper, not email – and this book always reminds me of why.

The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler. I still haven't sent this to Editor Plus @ OD. But I did enjoy rediscovering this piece. Somewhat eerily, the movie was playing on cable the weekend I finished reading it.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere, both by Rebecca Wells. I've just re-read both of these as well. If you haven't read them yet, read Altars first, and finish with the other. I really want to see the movie. Maybe this weekend.

I'm now desperate for more to read, and so am begging for more suggestions. Please???