With summer comes sunshine, idle afternoons, and book lists meant to fill up sunny, idle afternoons with reading. We decided to make a one-stop location — a list of lists, if you will— to help navigate your page-turning adventures this season. Expect a radiant dose of business, politics, education, and pure pleasure to accompany your beach blanket and sunscreen. Leave a comment with a link — or just a few suggestions — if you’ve a summer reading list you’d like to share.

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Stephen Elliott’s new book The Adderall Diaries: A Memoir of Moods, Masochism, and Murder expertly weaves together the story of the author’s writer’s block (a byproduct of his relationship with his abusive father) with the trial of Hans Reiser — a computer programmer accused of murdering his wife, Nina. The linchpin: Sean Sturgeon, Hans’ former best friend, Nina’s former lover, and a former member of San Francisco’s underground S&M scene. Now a born-again Christian, he claims to have committed eight and a half murders. Could this be one of them? Read More »

Today at Flavorpill, we experienced The Final Four Of Everything. We were as disgusted as the A.V. Club at the prospect of an American Gladiators movie. We grabbed the new Animal Collective song, “Bleed,” and then checked out Rihanna’s comeback track, “Silly Boy.” (No, we weren’t juxtaposing these for irony, but now that you mention it…) We were surprised to learn that Nobel laureate Derek Walcott was stopped from joining Oxford’s faculty by an anonymous letter campaign. (He was accused of sexually harassing a Harvard student in the ’80s. But seriously, who knew that those work?) We felt bad for the gay porn mags. We downloaded this podcast where Tobias Wolff reads a Denis Johnson story. We enjoyed this behind-the-scenes interview about the making of “Motherlover.” It just reaffirms our Patricia Clarkson love. And finally, we decided this 19th century pregnancy doll might be the best birth control we’ve ever seen. Yikes.