Presenting the 2010 Summer Reading Superlatives

Around First Book there is a lot of talk about books. Go figure, right?  We talk about the bilingual edition of Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, Ezra Jack Keat’s Snowy Day, Rosemary Well’s Bunny Money, Curious George, The Cat in the Hat and even what books got us hooked.  And while we spend a lot of time discussing children’s books, we rarely talk about, well, what we’re reading. So I set out to find out what books my fellow First Bookers were reading to wrap up the summer. And so now, I present to you (drumroll, please . . . ) the 2010 Summer Reading Superlatives:

Most Read Around the Office

Committed, a Skeptic’s Guide to Marriage, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Yummiest Reads for Foodies

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan

My Life in France, by Julia Child

A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines, by Anthony Bourdain

Most Likely to Have Been Read in a High School English Class

Native Son, by Richard Wright

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

1984, by George Orwell

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

Best Reads for Sport-Lovers (and Football Season)

The Hurricanes: One High School Team’s Homecoming After Katrina, by Jere Longman

Best Books to Exercise Your Brain

Blink, by Malcom Gladwell

Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs, by Muhammad Yunus

Pink Brain, Blue Brain, by Dr. Lise Eliot

Best Reads for the Worldly Kind

Half the Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Temple of My Familiar, by Alice Walker

The White Night of St. Petersburg, by Prince Michael of Greece

Most Likely to be Read for Professional Development

The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World, by John Elkington

Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh

Best Books to Pair with a Major Motion Picture

Lovely Bones, by Alice Seabold

Up in the Air, by Walter Kirn

So that’s it! We hope this list will help you avoid that sinking feeling when you finish an amazing book and then wonder “What In the world will I read next?  So head to your bookstore or library and dive into one of these First Book Staff recommended books today!

And if you care to share what you are reading, post a comment below . . .  we’d love to hear about it!