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.

Jennifer here, Workman’s traveling summer intern! Last week I told you about my stints in the Gift Sales and Special Markets departments. Read on to find out about my time at Algonquin Books, the fiction and narrative imprint of Workman Publishing.

I spent a lot of the day filing title-specific material like cover proposals and reviews. I also got to sit in on an editorial meeting in which the editors up here in New York discussed prospective novels with their counterparts in North Carolina—Algonquin is originally based in Chapel Hill and still has an office there. One of the great things about being at a more compact publishing house like this one is that even an intern like me is able to interact with the people in charge. Where else would a high school intern be invited into the publisher’s office to sit in on an editorial meeting—and asked her opinion of the proceedings afterward? (Another plus is that there are fewer people to snatch up books in the “Help Yourself” box, so I’ve been able to get books like the fantastic Algonquin title The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, which I finished just yesterday.)

So now you know what I did in Algonquin’s editorial department. Come back next week to find out more about the differences between fiction and nonfiction publishers, when I take a journey into Workman’s editorial department!

—Jennifer

Wicked bugs should always be accompanied by wicked (awesome) cupcakes! (Thanks, Amy!)

And we’re celebrating. In fact, we’re just itching to tell you all about Amy Stewart‘s new book (published by our bookworm friends at Algonquin), Wicked Bugs. There’s quite the buzz already, as the book swarms the Indie Bestseller List, making its debut at #12! Bugs gone wild!

From the most painful hornet to millipedes that stop traffic, from the louse that conquered Napoleon’s army to the Japanese beetles that munch on our roses, these bugs have been very, very bad.

Have you been bitten?

Amy Stewart is also the author of the New York Times Bestsellers Wicked Plants and Flower Confidential, as well as The Earth Moved, and From the Ground Up.

When I flip through catalogs, I like to play this little book-nerdish game wherein I try to identify the books that the stylist chose to use as props. There are particular titles that are common–old favorites like The Catcher in the Rye (the cover by Michael Mitchell is a particularly popular one for its bold color), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, or Where the Wild Things Are. Or sometimes it’s a collection of oversize coffee table books with clean, cool typography to express modern design aesthetics. It’s like spotting a copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting in a movie or TV show involving a character getting knocked up (see The Back-Up Plan and Private Practice for some recent onscreen cameos). In this instance (page 43 from an Urban Outfitters holiday catalog), I scored my first point for recognizing the bright pink (and easily readable) spine of the Butt Book (lying horizontally in the middle, eighth book from the, err… bottom).  But then I spotted a special little gem of a bestseller published by our very own Algonquin Books! Can you spot Water for Elephants on the bookshelf below?

Beyond those two highlights, I squinted and tilted my head a few more times and, with a little bit of research, managed to identify a few more.

A. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen (Did you know the movie is coming out this spring?)

B. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

C. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

D. Any Objections by Mario Testino

E. Red Odyssey: A Journey through the Soviet Republic by Marat Akchurin

F. The Girl by Catherine Cookson

G. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

H. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I. Ireland Rough Guide

J. Madonna: A Biography by Mary Cross

K. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

L. Butt Book by Jop van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers

Can you identify any more book spines? There’s some sort of guide to New York (recognize the fluorescent colors, can’t quite put my finger on it), also an unidentified book by Paulo Coelho, and I’m pretty sure there’s a Toni Morrison in there…  So here goes, bookish brainiacs: In the comments below, correctly identify another book from the scene  and be entered to win a copy of the new movie tie-in edition of Water for Elephants! (See below, right.) And, for a sneak peek of Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, check out the movie trailer here.