Edmonton AM's summer reading list

Whether lounging by the lake, suntanning on the beach, or just catching some rays in your own backyard,summer is the perfect time to curl up with a great book.

In search of the perfect summer read, CBC morning show Edmonton AMcalled in some experts.

LibrariansPeter Bailey andJen Waters were happy to share their picks with Edmonton's bookworms.

Bailey's#1pick

The Passage: The City of Mirrors (third in a series)

Author: Justin Cronin

You followed The Passage. You faced The Twelve. Now enter The City of Mirrors for the final reckoning. As the best-selling epic races to its breathtaking finale, Justin Cronin's band of hardened survivors await the second coming of unspeakable darkness. (Ballantine Books)

Why didthis book make your list?

"Sometimes in the summertime, people like to do projects, giants books and giant reads, but I've gone a different way with this pick,"Bailey said.

"Cronin was a literary writer who had written two really well-received, but kind of gentle novels about personal relationships, and then he took a really radical turn and wrote a book about vampires.

"Apparently, he hates people saying it's a vampire book because of the connotations that it's not a serious book. But it's a really well-written series."

Baileysaidhe's just dying to read the long-awaited release.

Bailey's#2 pick

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Author:Iain Reid

In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded in a deserted high school, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned. (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Why did this book make your list?

"This a thriller and it's a really frightening, chilling psychological thriller," Bailey said.

"It's narrated by a young woman and she's driving with her new boyfriend to meet his parents at a secluded farm, and it's winter and dark.

"And you gradually understand that she's unreliable as a narrator, and it's very, very eerie right from page one."

Bailey's#3 pick

Hazel Micallef Mystery series

Author: Inger Ash Wolfe (Michael Redhill)

There were thirteen crime-scene pictures. Dead faces set in grimaces and shouts. Faces howling, whistling, moaning, crying, hissing. Hazel pinned them to the wall and stood back. It was a silent opera of ghosts.Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef has lived all her days in the small town of Port Dundas and is now making her way toward retirement with something less than grace. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Why did this book make your list?

Bailey says this mystery novel was wrapped in a real-worldmystery of its own.Michael Redhill began writing the series under the pseudonymInger Ash Wolfe. And despite widespread critical acclaim, it would be years before the Canadian author would let his readers, and the literary world, in on the secret.

"And everybody wondered, 'Who is this person?' Andeventually, at the third book in the series, he finally revealed himself," Bailey said.

"These are really dark mystery novels. It's a classic thing, with a body at the beginning and a detective going through it and solving the crime, but they're really well-written.

"The main character is fabulous. She holds your interest throughout the book."

Waters'#1 pick

Road Trip Rwanda

Author: Will Feguson

Twenty years after the genocide that left Rwanda in ruins, Giller Prize-winning author Will Ferguson travels deep into the once-mysterious "Land of a Thousand Hills" with his friend and cohort Jean-Claude Munyezamu, a man who escaped Rwanda just months before the killings began.Funny, engaging, poignant, and at times heartbreaking, Road Trip Rwanda is the lively tale of two friends, the open road, and the hidden heart of a continent. (Penguin Books Canada)

Why did this book make your list?

"This is a really interesting book, because Will Ferguson is a comedic writer but this is obviously a very serious subject,"Waters said."It's harrowing and light at the same time, and it's really interesting to see the story of Rwanda from an outsider.

"If you don't know anything about Rwanda, this might be a good place to start."

Waters'#2 pick

The Outside Circle

Author: Patti LaBoucane Benson

Illustrator: Kelly Mellings

In this important graphic novel, two Aboriginal brothers surrounded by poverty, drug abuse, and gang violence, try to overcome centuries of historic trauma in very different ways to bring about positive change in their lives.(House Of Anansi Press Inc)

Why did this book make your list?

"It's an amazing story," Waters said of this Alberta-made graphic novel.

It's really beautifully illustrated, it's heart-wrenchingly told and I find that it really creates a sense of empathy towards a history that a lot probably don't know that much about."

Waters'# 3 pick

Made You Up

Author: Francesca Zappia

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She's pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She's not prepared for normal.(Greenwillow Books)

Why did this book make your list?

"This is a kind of book to give any wannabe teen fiction author an inferiority complex, because this woman was 22 years old when she wrote this book" Waters said."I mean, its just not fair.

"It'ssort of the like the movieHeathersmeets Momento withaSixthSense twist ... . She's definitely an author to watch."