Summer time.... and the reading is eeezy.....

I thought about including an audio clip of the great Gershwin song about easy summers, but decided that was too much effort and would cancel out the whole point of this post.  During the upcoming week, I'm going to be offering you comments about one of the most relaxing summers I've had in several years - at least in terms of reading. As you know, the Tutu household recently retired from a host of civic and volunteer duties and we've been spending our time settling into a more retiring retirement. Yes, Mr. Bob is still writing the sequel to his first book Strike from the Deep, and I'm still swimming and gardening, and even managed to get some more needlework done, but I'm being more laid back about reading for awhile.

When my all time favorite Louise Penny, announced her summer re-read of the Chief Inspector Gamache series, leading up to the release of her next volume in August, I had just received an ARC of The Long Road Home  and decided to put it on the shelf until I'd read the whole series in order. That was a fantastic decision, a super fun read, and following along on the various blog posts and comments from other readers not only gave me new insights into this marvelous cast of characters, but also an even greater appreciation for Louise's writing. Bob and I are thrilled to have tickets to her mini-tour to release the paperback edition of How the Light Gets In, later this week in Portland. I've gotten hubbie hooked on the series also, and we're still hoping to be able to get to Quebec in the next couple months to take the Bury Your Dead tour.

Re-reading Louise Penny led me to go back to several other series I've enjoyed over the years, to find where I stopped, and explore whether or not they were worth continuing. Among my favorites are the Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George, the Gray Whale Inn series by Karen MacInerney, the Joanne Fluke Hannah Swenson murder mysteries, Kate Wilhelm, Juliet Keller, Andrea Camillieri and many others. I'll be giving you some series updates on these in the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, I do have several other ARCs I want to get to, four upcoming TLC Blog Tours (including an interview with Wiley Cash of Dark Side of Mercy and A Land More Kind than Home fame). Now suitably refreshed, I'll be settling down to some serious literary fiction reading by September as the long list of choices for the Maine Readers Choice comes out.  I'll also be awaiting the birth of new grandson due in mid-October!!

So drop in and tell us what you've been reading this summer, and don't forget to enter the drawing for Strike from the Deep.  Entries close July 31st at 6:30pm EDT.  Good luck.