Doesn't this cover scream "summer?"

Memorial Day has come and gone, which can only mean one thing—summer’s here! Time for backyard barbecues, campfires, baseball games, and the beach. I’m very, very ready to grab a towel, smear on some sunscreen and head outside. My favorite thing to do? Pour myself some lemonade, lie on a lounger and read a great book. Which novels are going to be my poolside companions? Check out my summer reading list:

What do you get when you mix a plane crash, national beauty pageant contestants, a secret militaristic corporation, and desert island survival? You get Beauty Queens, the newest book from New York Times bestselling author and Printz Award-winner Libba Bray. When the Miss Teen Dream Pageant plane goes down over the ocean, there are only a handful of survivors. The girls are divided over what to do next. Should they stick to their routines and wait for rescue? Or should they try to survive the tropical jungle? Lord of the Flies with pirates and pageant contestants? Pass the sunscreen and count me in!

I will be the first to admit that I love a good vampire story. While I eagerly await the return of “The Vampire Diaries” on TV, I can’t wait to spend my summer checking out Allison van Diepen’s newest novel, The Vampire Stalker. Kind of like my slight (read: big) obsession with the vampire Damon Salvatore, Allison’s protagonist Amy is in love with someone who doesn’t exist: Alexander Banks, the dashing vampire hunter in a popular series of vampire novels. Then one night, Amy meets a boy who bears an eerie resemblance to Alexander. In fact, he IS Alexander, who has escaped from the pages of the book and is in hot pursuit of a wicked vampire named Vigo… it’s a cool read that’s perfect for hot days, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

When summer begins, the days are long and relaxing and seem to go on forever. So you can bet I’m counting down the days until the release of the final book in the New York Times bestselling Shiver trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater. (See, you don’t need to choose between vampires and werewolves. With summer reading, you can have ‘em both!) In Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger they fought to be together. In Forever, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been…

Finally, a book set at the beach, to read on the beach. In Clarity, by Kim Harrington, Clare Fern and her “family of freaks” are psychics in Cape Cod, MA — the ultimate summer destination! They pay the rent by doing readings for the summer tourists that frequent the shore. When a teenager is found murdered during the height of tourist season, Clare’s ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case — but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare’s brother, who has supernatural gifts of his own, becomes the prime suspect and Clare can no longer look away.

Tell me OOM readers, what’s on your summer reading list?