Are you tempted to stay inside this weekend? To curl up with a good book? Well, you’re in luck, because, after a particularly dreary week, we thought it would be a good time to round up some hibernation fare for you. Oh, my little lambs, hunker down and get these books read, for soon we will be roaring into Spring!

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As summer winds down, more and more people are heading out of the office and away from the city to get in some pre-Labor-Day vacation time. We’ve got a short list this week, which goes to show that people are out on the beach reading books rather than their emails. Good for them!

What are you reading this week?

• Last Bite: A Novel of Culinary Romance, by Nancy Verde Barr
  
• The Feast of Love, by Charles Baxter
• Werewolves in Their Youth, by Michael Chabon
• A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel, by Lee Child
• 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction, by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
  
• Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King
• We Sinners, by Hanna Pylväine
• Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
• The Art Forger, by B.A. Shaprio
• Scoop, by Evelyn Waugh

After reading Gabrielle Hamilton’s memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter, I’m dying to have brunch at her restaurant, Prune.
—Emily P.

I’m on vacation, so I’m reading Stephen King’s 11/22/63, as is much of Cape Cod. Looking down the beach, one  saw that enormous tome in many people’s hands. That, or Fifty Shades.
—Suzie

I’m less than halfway through 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, but I’m already fairly addicted to its characters as they wade, awkwardly and enthusiastically, in alternating and parallel fashion, through issues of faith, reason, morality, and purpose. It sounds heavy, and Goldstein’s approach is dense on the intellect, but her short chapters—and irreverent academic humor—make for incredibly fun(ny) and digestible subway reading. I’m looking forward to what I expect will be a very lively book club discussion…
—Megan

I’ve finally gotten around to reading The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter, after a friend recommended it to me years ago. It’s a series of interconnected love stories played out by average, middle-class Americans in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2007 the book was made into a movie starring Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. Perhaps that will be next on my Netflix queue.
—Erin

I’m partway through an advance reader’s edition of the new Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child (A Wanted Man, coming next month). A sales department favorite—James has been overheard saying, “What would Reacher do?” Fast-paced,  well written, and the coolest good guy in print!
—Page

I’m reading Swamplandia! but I just got started and I’m not loving it yet.  I think once I get some solid reading time in that will change—for the better, I hope.  I do tend to read books all the way through one way or the other.
—Suzanne

As for me, I’m reading We Sinners, Hanna Pylväine’s debut novel about a Finnish-American family of 11 and their relationship with their community and church. It’s a poignant family drama with lots of intricately drawn characters.

—Avery, who wouldn’t mind taking this book to the beach

The Olympics may be playing on every TV (and computer screen) across the globe, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have time to get in some Friday reading! Below, Workman’s Friday Reads list for this week. Happy reading! And tell us what you’re reading in the comments!

• A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez
  
• The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
• In the Kingdom of Men: A Novel by Kim Barnes
• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
• The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
• A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
• Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• No Regrets by Ace Frehley
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Iron Man by Tony Iommi
• The Ambassadors by Henry James
• Grounded by Kate Klise
• 40 Things I Want to Tell You by Alice Kuipers
• The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
• The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
• Snow White and Russian Red by Dorota Masłowska
• It’s So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• After Claude by Iris Owens
• The End of Men by Hanna Rosin
• Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson
• Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

And in their own words:

I mainly read biographies of rock musicians. I just finished It’s So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan  (Guns and Roses) and Iron Man by Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath). Currently I’m reading No Regrets by Ace Frehley (Kiss).
—Anthony

I’m in the middle of Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child. 63% done, to be exact. It’s incredibly detailed! I’ll know everything there is to know about Julia and Paul Child once I’m done.
—Bintal

I’m reading The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  It’s concisely written and complicated. Highly recommend it.
—Pat

My current subway read is The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, which is excellent—clear, efficient language and ruthless logic.
—Sarah G.

Just finished The Underwater Welder, a new graphic novel by Jeff Lemire. It was somber and haunting, two qualities I fall for every time. I’m currently reading Snow White and Russian Red by Dorota Masłowska. It’s an impressive debut novel. When it was released in 2002, Ms. Masłowska was heralded as the new face of the Polish literary world. A few pages in, it’s clear why.
—Randall

I’m reading A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge which is fabulous and weird.
—Leslie

In the Kingdom of Men: A Novel by Kim Barnes. Gorgeously written story of a small-town Oklahoma woman’s move to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1960s when her husband gets a job with an oil company there—superbly etched characters and setting. Barnes is the author of two previous novels, and two memoirs, one of which, In the Wilderness (which I edited), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Next up: something I have been pretending to have read for years—David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (after that trailer, how could I not?).
—Bruce

After falling hard and fast for Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I’m continuing the love affair with her new book Tiny Beautiful Things. It’s a collection of the advice columns Cheryl has written for the past few years as the formerly-anonymous advice giver Dear Sugar on The Rumpus. The depth of her empathy and honesty is life-affirming. To say I’m a fan is an understatement.
—Erin

Went to Paris recently, and brought along The Ambassadors by Henry James. Didn’t get much into it there (spent all free reading time perusing Paris restaurant blogs…), but upon returning, well, it’s un-put-downable. Am three-quarters of the way through and can’t wait to find out what happens. Imagine that: Henry James, page-turner.
—David

A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers (hero reviewer of Just Ride).  Sad, smart, informative, short, moving, compelling. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is next in line!
—Mary Ellen

Recently read Gone Girl (along with everyone else!) and was pretty riveted. Am currently perusing The End of Men by Hanna Rosin (fascinating and depressing and empowering all at once) and about to start The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson,  an novel told from the point of view of a young girl about what happens when the earth’s rotation slows.
—Margot

I’m reading After Claude by Iris Owens. Over the top, bizarre, and very funny. It’s refreshing to read a female protagonist who is foul-mouthed, hostile, and totally crazy.
—Maisie

The Hare with Amber Eyes—on the face of it, a true story of a collection of Japanese netsuke passed from generation to generation, but really a wonderfully absorbing social history of a fabulously wealthy Russian Jewish family and the journey of one of their descendents to unravel their personal triumphs and tragedies since 1871.  I can’t wait to finish it!
—Carol S.

Here at Workman we’re devouring books right and left at a voracious pace. Don’t take my  word for it–check out this unprecedented #FridayReads list!!

Here’s the quick run-down:

Albert of Adelaide, by Howard Anderson
The Manhattan Monologues, by Louis Auchincloss
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
The Perfect Scent, Chandler Burr
Wherever I Wind Up, by R.A. Dickey
The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (x2!)
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
Profiles in Courage, by John F. Kennedy
Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer
Defending Jacob, by William Landay
The End of Normal, by Stephanie Madoff Mack
A Ship Without a Sail: The Life of Lorenz Hart, by Gary Marmorstein
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty
Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes
Bel Canto, by Anne Patchett
Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry, by Leanne Shapton
Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America, by Russell Short
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
Just Kids, by Patti Smith
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
The Age of Miracles, by  Karen Thompson Walker (x2!)
Perfumes, the A to Z Guide, by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez
Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein
The Family Fang, by Kevin Wilson
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, by Jeanette Winterson
Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back, by Andrew Zolli

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And in our own words:

The Manhattan Monologues by Louis Auchincloss.  He was a chronicler of Manhattan society—as well as being of that society himself. He’d published something like 75 books before he died a few years ago.  This book is a collection of monologues—short stories of one character talking to the reader about his or her life in Manhattan—starting at the beginning of the 20^th century and going up to the end.  Each one is like a delicious, sophisticated cocktail. Also, thanks to Erin K., I’m reading Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton. It’s a fictional love story told in the form of an auction catalog, describing the objects that were part of the building up and breaking down of a relationship. It’s the most unusual and creative approach to story telling.  It’s the answer to the literary cry: “show me something I haven’t seen before!” –Mary Ellen

Unbroken. Fabulous book. Just finished Island at the Center of the World. Anyone who lives in NY or environs should read this. –Janet H.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. So good! –Zatio

After having it on my nightstand for nearly two years (which included one move to a new home), I finally read Just Kids. What an incredible story of friendship, unconditional love, creativity, passion, belief, innocence (and its loss), and art. As beautiful as I hoped it would be. –Elise

I’m reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed. It is just as good, and heartbreaking, as I imagined it would be. –Leslie

I’m currently in love with Albert of Adelaide by Howard Anderson. Imagine a western, set in Australia, with a platypus as the protagonist. –John D.

Just downloaded Wherever I Wind Up by Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.  Can’t wait to get started. –Ian

I stayed up until 2 a.m. last Sunday night to finishGone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  If you like untrustworthy narrators (Presumed Innocent,A Simple Plan, etc…), well…let’s just say that this novel takes untrustworthiness to a whole new level. –Bob

I am reading Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back, by Andrew Zolli (Free Press).  It’s a fascinating read that connects scientific data, social innovations, stories and experiences to create a road map of how to handle crisis.  It also shows the intricate balance of decision making, influence, and how to be of service to the community at large.  An eye-opener. –Kate T

I’m on a Jeffrey Eugenides kick, apparently, because after reading The Marriage Plot the other week I read The Virgin Suicides. Now it’s on to another dysfunctional family story: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson, a novel about a couple of performance artists who force their children to act as tools in their bizarre publicity stunts/art pieces. –Avery

I just finished reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (a great find at BEA!).  –June

Just finished What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and Age of Miracles by  Karen Thompson Walker. Both amazing, fast quality reads, you’ll be sad when they’re over.  –John J.

Pride and Prejudice (—not even Pride and Prejudice and Zombies…I’m going straight-up old school! –Jean-Marc

Okay, we mean run for the poolside cabana, don’t jump in with your precious pages, or, even worse, that expensive e-reader! (Cannonball!) From the freezing air-conditioned Workman offices, we will now bring to you a short update to our last #FridayReads: Heat Wave Edition, with this late-breaking news: It’s still hot!*

Let us know what you’re reading in the comments!

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (someone confessed!)

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter by Dr. Meg Jay

To add to that, we’re happy to divulge that some non-Workman employees have our books on their reading lists! Linkage below:

• Whitney Port shares her love of Arlo Needs Glasses. (<3)**

• Kristen Kemp reports that Steal Like an Artist is on the Facebook/Goodreads list of best books for summer.

And, speaking of heat waves, I’m headed to Florida this weekend for a wedding, and plan to make a dent in my summer read, A Game of Thrones (I know, people, I’m late to the party! But best get started before WINTER COMES, right? Eh?).

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*It honestly is not that bad in New York, as compared to other places… though I’m sure others everyone else will disagree with me; I was raised in the desert, after all.

**Alert! Alert! PUT GLASSES ON YOUR DOG!

You probably don’t need me to remind you, but it bears repeating: It’s hot out there, folks! So we here at Workman are keeping our minds off the triple-digits temperatures the best way we know how: by delving into some great books.

Below is our list of Friday reads, followed by some commentary from the avid readers themselves. What are you reading this weekend? Tell us in the comments. And if it’s not yet sweltering where you are—enjoy it while it lasts!

The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld, Herbert Asbury

The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester

Full Service, Scotty Bowers

Possession, A.S. Byatt

Death By Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, Neil deGrasse Tyson

The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides

Gould’s Book of Fish, Richard Flannigan

The Red House, Mark Haddon

All My Friends are Superheroes, Andrew Kaufman

Measuring the World, Daniel Kehlmann (trans. Carol Brown Janeway)

The City & The City, China Miéville

Skippy Dies, Paul Murray

Wonder, R.J. Palacio

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, Anna Quindlen

The Invention of Curried Sausage, Uwe Timm (trans. Leila Vennewitz)

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I just finished The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, a ridiculously impressive 50s sci fi novel. The ending is so strong that I wanted to start reading from page 1 as soon as I finished just so I could get to it again.
—Randall

I’m reading Full Service by Scotty Bowers and I can’t put it down.
—Millie

I’m reading Death By Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson. It’s a collection of my favorite astrophysicist’s essays on space. So nerdy, so good!
—Katelyn

I’m reading Gould’s Book of Fish by Richard Flannigan which I was absolutely positive I would hate (inner monologues of old-timey misanthropes is usually not my thing). But I was wrong, I LOVE it. I’m too much in awe of Flannigan and his novel to say anything smart or interesting about it so I’ll just give you the plot: Crusty, sad-sack prisoner in a brutal 18th century Australian prison (excuse me, gaol) paints fish and pontificates. And shares a cell with a dead man he calls “The King.” Oh my goodness, just read it.
—Maisie

I just finished Measuring the World, by Daniel Kehlmann (translated by my buddy, Carol Janeway) and have begun The Invention of Curried Sausage, by Uwe Timm. Both were presents from house guests from Hamburg, who thought my reading of Austrian and German literature was not au courant, as my last was decades ago. They were right.
—Michael

I’m reading The City & The City by China Miéville and it’s one of those books that effortlessly throws you into another world. I’m also reading Possession by A.S. Byatt for my book club. It’s a contemporary classic that I’ve always wanted to read.
—Leslie

I’ve just ordered a copy of Wonder by R.J. Palacio on the recommendation of a friend, who posted on Facebook: “Please, I beg of you, read this book this summer! It’s the middle school read for Pressman. As an adult I loved it, and my now 4th grader said that it’s the best book he’s ever read.”
—Kendra

I just finished Anna Quindlen’s new books of essays Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. She is so wise about life, work, and family that I am sorry not to be spending the upcoming weekend with her!
—Page

And I’m finally reading The Marriage Plot, the latest book from Jeffrey Eugenides. I avoided it for a while because I wasn’t sure I wanted to buy into the hype, but now that I’ve picked it up I’m totally immersed. It’s got so many elements of some of my favorite books: college life, travel, and really intimate exploration of well developed characters. Highly recommended.
—Avery