This summer is shaping up to be one of the better reading seasons. Cool. I've heard/read good things re: Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids. I'm not a big memoir fan -- too much in them sounds like fiction. But I like to branch out into nonfiction, and Just Kids seems like the branch to take.

The new Matt Scudder title, A Drop of the Hard Stuff is out. I love the older Scudder books (When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes!), and this one promises a return to those hardboiled days. I'm like #157 in the holds queue at our library.

Mixing in a few classics appeals to me. Curiosity often sends me prowling the fiction stacks to browse. Nothing too long, though. This isn't the summer to read a tome like I did one summer with Richard Price's excellent Clockers. The D.C. writer Ward Just springs to mind. His new one is Rodin's Debutante.

Summer is a time to laugh. Charles Willeford hits my funny bone. His earthy humor is just outrageous enough. Scout's truth. I almost peed my pants once while reading one of his books.

Note to self: read more lady authors. My recent fun books have included Dorothy Uhnak, Sophia Littlefield, and Hilary Davidson, so I'm headed in the right direction there. Sue Grafton is always a summer read. If I ever got sent to the Big House, I'd sit in my cell and read from A through whatever letter she's at now (U, I think).

The bummer is I've already finished the new Walter Mosely PI book. I'm a long-time fan of his work. Maybe I'll reread one of the Easy Rawlins classics.

Happy reading and safe travel to your summer, all.

Ed Lynskey
twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles now available for your summer reading list!