Sarah Weinman has a link to Time’s survey of writers and their “guilty pleasures” for summer reading. I can’t understand why anyone ever feels guilty about reading anything. I feel guilty about not reading. But, pretty soon, I'm going to atone.

I have seven books ready for a week-long trip and it’s my plan to discard of at least four of them upon finishing, leaving them in places where they might find new homes – and freeing up space for some of the novels I hope to procure, especially Mark Billingham’s latest.

My reading list is:

The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy, with a new introduction by Terry Teachout. I probably won’t discard this one, as the book has never been out of print in the UK. But I may give it to one of the American attendees at Harrogate.

Flower Children, by Maxine Swann.

Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson. (Sue me, I'm late to him.)

A galley for a Book I Know I’m Going to Love.

City of Tiny Lights, by Patrick Neate. I enjoyed his company mightily at our panel at the LA Times Book Festival. Not sure the feeling was mutual, but so it goes.

Therapy, by David Lodge

Ghost Wars, by Steve Coll. I asked my SO to pick out a nonfiction book that he thought I should read. Man, wait until the tables are turned, and I pick out a novel for him. We own this in hardcover, so I would be glad to make a gift of my trade paperback, but it’s almost 600 pages. I’m going to be reading this forever.

I'd love to hear others' summer reading lists, past, current or future. I think I already told the story here about how I got stuck at the beach when I was 11, with only Walter Farley books – and it turns out I hated Walter Farley. (I wasn't much for horses. I couldn't get through Black Beauty or Misty of Chincoteauge.) You’ll note that I learned the lesson that variety is key in a summer reading list.