If you love language, you must check out these book picks before your next read! We contacted language authority Erin McKean to ask her for her summer book suggestions. The editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary and the fantastic Dictionary Evangelist website, she graciously sent us this -- amazing -- reply:

I love recommending books about language to people -- even to people who haven't asked for any language book recommendations, and who have, in fact, asked me for something completely different, such as the time, or directions.

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Need some company as you wrestle words to the page? Check out these online communities for writers:

Critters (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror)

Forward Motion For Writers

Toasted Cheese

RAWSISTAZ

I'm in the final stages of writing a book. My working title is: The WriteNow System: 8-1/2 steps to writing better, faster. The work's going well, although not quite as quickly as I'd like, which is kind of embarrassing for someone who bills herself as a writing speed expert.  Continue reading...

Our contributing editor Magda Pecsenye told us about an eventful summer series her book club read a few years ago. It sounded so good we asked her to share it with you:

Our club called the series "Trashy Novels of Yesteryear," picking it because we knew we wouldn't be able to make it through anything more literary during the summer months. But these novels surprised us -- and inspired some of the best discussions we'd ever had. We talked about how the books reflected the social mores and anxieties of the time periods in which they were written, how women's roles have and haven't changed, and how sex and betrayal are timeless themes. Don't rent the movies until after you've read the books.

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For 20 years! Becky, the author of A Book A Week blog, has been reading a book a week for, well, over two decades. Why? Read her captivating essays about "The Beggar Maid," "Hunting Badger," "The Last of Her Kind," and on and on, and you'll begin to understand, and maybe, catch the bug, too...

Ah, summertime. Ah, summer reading time! But what books should your kids bury their noses into this vacation? Enter super librarian Nancy Pearl. A veteran bookophile, commentator on NPR, and the model for a Librarian Action Figure doll (really), Nancy has introduced thousands of kids to great reads. She's the author of the popular Book Lust and Book Crush, which recommends books for elementary to high school students. We talked to Nancy about this summer's reading:  Continue reading...