Today, the guys in the Goodreads Top 5 Wednesday group had a great topic: Summer Reads.  This can include beach reads, fun reads, or any book you associate with summer for whatever reason!  And since my idea of summer fun is sitting under an umbrella by the pool or at the beach, I always like my summer reads to be filled with action and excitement, but not so dark or brooding that it saps my fun.

5. OLD MAN’S WAR

Actually, this is a really easy pick for me, because I read this novel a few years ago at the beach.  The military science fiction setting and the concept of old people (I’m not a young guy anymore, so the old characters are beginning to appeal more to me.) really kept me turning the pages, even as the sarcasm and quick wits of the main character won me over.  Sure, I lost my love for the series after a few books, but this first novel is a really fun, light way to enjoy the time slowly slipping by.

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4. DRAGONSBANE

Nothing more relaxing yet exciting than following along behind a person hunting a dragon.  When that guy happens to be an unorthodox lords from the wrong side of the border who is half barbarian and half intellectual, it makes things even more interesting.  Throw in a nice journey of discovery, a very different kind of dragon, and Barbara Hambly’s writing and this is a summer read without compare.

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3. THEFT OF SWORDS

A classic buddy story with an intricate, complex plot which changes and grows throughout the course of the whole series.  The main characters are brave, idiotic, funny, and ridiculous in the perfect mixture to make even the most routine fantasy exploits pop off the page.  Or to put it another way, this is delicious, sugar-coated fantasy crack for those addicts who just can’t get enough.

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2. THE BLACK COMPANY

This is yet another book which I read at the beach.  Of course, I was about sixteen at the time, but this story about a mercenary company, its cynical chronicler Croaker, and their employer the mysterious Lady and her Taken was so cool, so mesmerizing that it subdued my raging hormones for almost an entire trip.  And whenever I pick it up again, it is still almost that good.

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1. THE HOBBIT

This grand quest by Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Thorin and all the rest to reach the Lonely Mountain and confront a dragon is a classic.  The child-like and daring-do never gets old, and it reads very well when it is just too hot outside to do anything.

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