There’s too much stuff in your house.

Too much stuff leads to frustration. Frustration leads to cleaning. Cleaning leads to finding (more) stuff you forgot you had… like the bookstore gift certificate you got seven months ago.

Uh oh.

So now what? You’ve read all the Buzz Books – so what to get with that new-found gift certificate treasure? Read on for some great ideas….

Could you survive in the wilderness? That’s a question that’s asked of a college sophomore after a plane crash in Girl, Underwater by Claire Kells. Life is good for nineteen-year-old Avery Delacorte but on her way home from school, the plane she’s on crashes and she’s one of a handful of survivors. So is an irritating fellow member of her swim team… Pair it up with Stella Rose by Tammy Flanders Hetrick, a book about a woman who tries to raise a teenager after the girl’s mother has died. She barely knows the girl… but how much did she really know about the teen’s mother?

If you’re still in need of a beach read, look for Soil by Jamie Kornegay, the story of a scientist who tries to live off the grid and instead dies. When his corpse shows up on a farm, well, read the book and find out… When you’re done with it, try Aquarium by David Vann, the story of a friendship between a lonely little girl and an old man who meet because of their love for the fish at a local aquarium. Hint: what happens is not anything that’s good….

Oh, how I love a good old-fashioned western. If you do, too, then look for Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral by Mary Doria Russell. It’s the story of that one day in Tombstone, and its aftermath. Well-researched, it reads like a novel but feels like a history book.

The news has been filled all year long with extreme weather stories but What Stands in a Storm by Kim Cross tells the story of one for the record books. It was April 27, four years ago, when Alabama was hit. And hit. And hit. This isn’t a book for the faint of heart, but weather fans will want to read it.

Summertime is a great time to read, but if you feel as though you can’t find even a few minutes for a book, then peek at 100 Things You Will Never Find by Daniel Smith is a book about lost treasure, lost cities, and lost artifacts. Start it, and you’ll lose track of time.

Round off your reading with Between You and Me by Mary Norris, a book about words, language, and punctuation (or irritating lack thereof).

Now the literary housekeeping: titles change. Books go out of print. Things happen, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask the nice lady or gentleman at the bookstore for their recommendations and expertise… because they really ARE the experts.

And there you are: a whole bunch of ideas for you to look for, add to your I-want-to-read-this list, or to find at your bookstore or library.

Happy Reading!