July's Top 10 Reads

Greetings, patient readers. We've been offline for a couple of weeks -- but I want to assure you it's because we've got all kinds of new plans for this site, and we've been working very hard to put them into place. We're looking forward to sharing them all with you soon!

Today I can give you one peek behind the curtain -- an important part of our new content will be our monthly Top 10 Reads list, and below are July's Top Ten Reads. These are the best new books of the month -- the ones you'll want to pick up when wondering "what to read." Feel free to agree, disagree, or comment on these choices below.

In the future, there will be lots more than just a list, but for today, let me remind you of my credentials, so that you will understand that there's a bookish brain behind these choices! However, even the most qualified critic needs backup so we've asked some of today's best book reviewers, bloggers, librarians, and readers to join an advisory council that will help come up with each month's picks. I look forward to telling you more about this valiant band shortly.

Meanwhile, allow me to share the Top Ten Reads of July 2010 and explain briefly why we chose each one. They're listed below in alphabetical order by author -- no need to rank these. You'll win no matter which one you decide to read!

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

Carr, backed up by excellent research into neuroscience, argues that not only are we allowing the Internet to change our brains -- we're forming a new "intellectual ethic." A must read.

The Passage: A Novel by Justin Cronin

You may have heard that this book is about vampires. DO NOT let that put you off! It's really more about survival and scrappiness. 950 pages of summer-reading delight.

A Visit from the Goon Squad: A Novel by Jennifer Egan

This is going to be one of my Top Ten Books of 2010, without a doubt. Egan's story of interconnected lives, modern ineptitude, and the music world is inventive and sympathetic.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, certainly knows a thing or two about "delivering happiness." My full disclosure is that I'm a satisfied Zappos customer! Interesting, low-key biz book.

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick

Even if you don't have a Facebook account -- yet! -- you should read this book, less for its history of the company than for its predictions about how Facebook affects our social lives.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest: Volume 3 of the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

You've been waiting for it, and now it's here -- the final novel about "Kalle Blomkvist" and Lisbeth Salander. There's a conspiracy all right, and a couple of great hospital fight scenes.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel by David Mitchell

Author of the celebrated The Cloud Atlas, Mitchell proves in this quirky, Edo-era Japan historical novel that there is no genre of which he is not a Zen master.

The Nobodies Album: A Novel by Carolyn Parkhurst

What might happen if an author decided to try and finish her unfinished works? Even better, that author -- named Octavia Frost, here -- is in the midst of trying to solve a mystery. Very different.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

Mary Roach's books (Stiff, Bonk) always take a stink-eyed view of things other people take for granted. In this one, she decides to try space simulators and see what they do to an average human.

Mr. Peanut: A Novel by Adam Ross

Just when you think this dark exploration of marriage can't get any darker, it does -- and yes, that's a recommendation! It's based on a family story of the author's, and it's an addicting read.