We Asked, You Answered: What You're Reading This Summer
Each summer, the O book editors pore over hundreds of books to come up with a summer reading list so good, so delicious, so irresistible, it's impossible to read just one. Then, this year, we decided to ask some of our favorite authors what's next on their lists. They came up with some great classics, but that got us thinking: What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
A Fierce RadianceBy Lauren Belfer
Harper
About the book: "Lauren Belfer's panoramic new novel is a love story wrapped around a spy story with a pivotal medical breakthrough at its center..." Read more
Vickie M. chose Belfer's new novel straight off of O's June reading list. "It's the story of the birth of penicillin at the time our country was going into World War II. [The main character] Claire is a strong, independent woman who will not allow herself to be broken. I have already suggested this book to several friends and I'm only on page 117!"
What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
The Invisible BridgeBy Julie Orringer
Knopf
About the book: "An old-fashioned romantic drama, Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge is as rich in historical detail as it is human in its cast of sympathetic characters..." Read more
"I was drawn to The Invisible Bridge for two reasons," says Lydia S. "One, I studied the history and literature of the Holocaust and part of the required coursework were books by Elie Wiesel and I became enamored with his work....I still gravitate toward tales of the Holocaust, both fiction and non-fiction. And two, my surrogate mother, as I like to call her, is a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust. When I read the review I knew this story would be captivating."
What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
Let the Great World SpinBy Colum McCann
Random House
About the book: "This novel, with its web of disparate but connected characters—including a God-battered Irish monk, a swashbuckling prostitute, an artist with a guilty secret, a mother grieving her war dead—is an act of pure bravado..." Read more
Winning a Man Booker Prize will get you noticed by O reader Eliana L., who was blown away by McCann's 2009 novel (included in last year's summer reading list). "The pure raw emotion and humanity McCann evokes from his characters is amazing," she says. "They are so rich and complete. Some nights I was moved to laugh; others I was moved to cry. Anyone who reads this book will not be disappointed."
Read an excerpt
What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
Orange is the New BlackBy Piper Kerman
Spiegel & Grau
About the book: Go inside the walls of a Danbury, CT, women's prison with Piper Kerman, a well-educated 34-year-old locked up on a 2003 conviction of drug smuggling and money laundering.
Gayle H. has just begun Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman's memoir recounting her year in a women's correctional facility. "Here is this lovely gal, living a happy, regular life and the Feds find, prosecute and sentence her for a years-old drug charge. Blond, blue-eyed and smart, she goes on to detail her life behind the fence. "Fascinating," says Hodgins.
What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
The Girl With the Dragon TattooThe Girl Who Played With Fire
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
By Stieg Larsson
Vintage
About the book: Prior to Stieg Larsson's sudden death of a heart attack in 2004, he finished these three detective novels to create the Millennium-trilogy, which was published posthumously. Altogether, they have sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.
Larsson's popular whodunnit trilogy won the "most frequent mention" award on our informal summer reading Facebook poll. Anita R. bought Dragon Tattoo when a weekly gossip magazine ran a story on who should play the leading role in the upcoming film adaptation. "That elevated it to "must-read" status," she says. "I'm one of those people who has to read the story before watching the movie."
What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
Women, Food and GodBy Geneen Roth
Scribner
About the book: "This provocative new book reveals the self-defeating truth about dieting, while lighting the path to a full and healthy life. Says Oprah, 'This book is an opportunity to finally end the war with weight and unlock the door to freedom.'" Read more
Haley B. wrote, "I almost feel as if I didn't choose Women, Food and God, but that it chose me." Brueck has battled compulsive eating since childhood, so when her best friend Beth sent her an excerpt from O magazine, she was hooked. "I ordered the book immediately and haven't put it down since," she says. "I feel like a new person now. I don't just like the book, I LOVE (her caps!) it. She is genius!"
Read Oprah's interview with Geneen Roth
Read an excerpt
What are you reading? We took to Facebook and you answered...
Kings of the EarthBy Jon Clinch
Random House
About the book: "In his masterful and compassionate new novel, Clinch borrows again, this time from a true-life case of possible fratricide in 1990." Read more
Lynne H. was one of the lucky few to get an advanced copy of Jon Clinch's suspenseful novel, Kings of the Earth (now in stores). "From the moment I began reading it I was drawn into the lives of the Proctor family, and their neighbors and relatives," she says.
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