Memorial Day marks the start of summer in the U.S. So, by June 1st, I like to have my spiffy summer reading list put together. Not that I'll stick to it since I like to skip around on a whim, or whatever piques my interest at the time. Summertime is all about having fun in your leisure anyway. So, without further ado...

Nonfiction. I don't read as much as I'd like to since I write novels. The Carole King biography, A Natural Woman: A Memoir, out this spring looks like a winner. Her music is mellow and upbeat. Earlier, I read Just Kids by Patti Smith, another musician, and liked it. Since I'm a baseball fan, I'll check around for some biographies of star ball players. Or perhaps I'll reread Jim Bouton's classic Ball Four.

Fiction. David Goodis: Five Noir Novels of the 1940s and 50s published this year by Library of America bundles five of his novels. STREET OF NO RETURN I just finished is quite good if vintage noir is your cup of tea. Since my own mob book SKIN IN THE GAME will be out later this year, I'll read Ed Falco's The Family Corleone. John D. MacDonald attracts me for summer reading. Anything pre-Travis McGee is on my radar. The same deal goes for Sue Grafton's Alphabet Series.

Kindle. I've got a bunch of ebooks on my basic Kindle reader. I heard a statistic that only 10% of books on readers' Kindles actually ever get read. Anyway, I hope to do a little better than that. I used to read my Kindle before bedtime, but since I start my writing at 4 A.M., I've had to cut back on my Kindle reading.

So, there's a sampling of my book list. Happy reading to your own summer reading!