Need more fiction ideas?? You're so demanding! I'll even throw in one more non-fiction at the end, because you're worth it! (Spoiler: guys, these are good, but I'm working on another list for you.)

If you like light, cozy-style mysteries, and you haven't read the Goldy Bear (get it? Of course you do...) series by Diane Mott Davidson, start with Catering to Nobody. Goldy's a single mom with a teenage son, Arch, and a nasty ex-husband she calls The Jerk. She makes her living catering, but somehow someone is always dropping dead at her functions and Goldy ends up solving the crime. Frankly, considering the death toll, it's amazing anyone still hires her...but this is fiction, after all. Of course there's a lovable cop, Tom Schulz, who promises to stick around for the series. Davidson's a Colorado author who, like her heroine, has been known to show up at functions with her baked goodies! All the books include recipes, which is nice, because all that cooking (not to mention all the espresso Goldy drinks) will give you a serious case of the munchies!

First line: (okay...so I can't give you the first line because Amazon won't let me "Look Inside" (how rude) and I loaned that book out to someone who never returned it. Oh, like that hasn't happened to you? So, here's the first line from her 2 nd book in the series, Dying for Chocolate.) Brunch is a killer. (It still works.)

Need something fun to pass the time waiting for the next Goldy Schulz book? Read the Aunt Dimity books by Nancy Atherton. Start at the beginning with Aunt Dimity's Death. They are set, for the most part, in England and, though they are technically contemporary tales, they have the feel of the old Agatha Christies. While Atherton is no Christie, she's light and lots of fun. I was turned onto the series by my writer's critique group! Goes to show you we don't all read Kafka and James!

First line: When I learned of Aunt Dimity's death, I was stunned. Not because she was dead, but because I had never known she'd been alive.

Since we're on a roll with light and fun, Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (her cat) write the Mrs. Murphy series-lots of fun. Our heroine, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, runs the post office in rural Crozet, Virginia. There are always plenty of interesting characters with more than enough motive for murder to go around. Each book spells out the cast in the front pages, which can be very helpful. Someone's always dropping in and dropping dead, and Harry and her cats and dog are busy finding the murderer. The animals have their conversations too, and usually are way ahead of the people-sounds odd, but it works and it's fun.

You could start with anyone of them, but there are relationships that develop along the way, so you might want to pick the first one, Wish You Were Here.

First line: Mary Minor Haristeen, Harry to her friends, trotted along the railroad track. Following at her heels were Mrs. Murphy, her wise and willful tiger cat, and Tee Tucker, her Welsh corgi.

Still want fun, but with a serious vein running through it? Check out Fannie Flagg's Welcome to The World, Baby Girl! Dena Nordstrom is a big city newscaster--think Katie Couric type popularity--but she comes from one off kilter but lovable town, Elmwood Springs, Missouri, which is a good thing when her life nearly spins out of control for good. This book, like any self respecting hometown, is filled with wacky folks, despite some very serious moments.

You may know Flagg as an actress and comic from years past, and as the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe (and the movie with the shorter title). If you liked those, or if you like the Mitford series (we'll cover cottage industry another day!), by Jan Karon, I think you'll like this--maybe even more.

First line: Everyone in Elmwood Springs and thereabouts remembers the day they put the radio tower in Neighbor Dorothy's backyard, and how excited they were that night when they first saw the bright red bulb on top of the tower, glowing like a cherry-red Christmas light way up in the black Missouri sky.

Okay, one more; I've saved the best for last, and it's not fiction-so what! A good book is a good book. Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (yes, the wife of THAT Lindbergh). This small book is loaded with timely and insightful wisdom for women of all ages, and that's an amazing thing considering she wrote it in 1955. Every woman should have a copy stashed nearby to pull out in times of trouble. Open to any page and you will find inspiration. Lindbergh, a gifted writer of many books, used a contemplative trip to pre-tourist Sanibel Island, Florida as the inspiration for a book which compares the chapters of a woman's life to the shells of the sea. She finds in the channeled whelk, the moon shell and others, inspiration for living the joys and sorrows of "a life of multiplicity".

First line...sorta...:The shell in my hand is deserted. It once housed a whelk, a snail like creature, and then temporarily, after the death of the first occupant, a little hermit crab, who has run away, leaving his tracks behind him like a delicate vine on the sand...I too have run away, I realize, I have shed the shell of my life, for these few weeks of vacation.

P.S. Guys, this is kind of a chick's list, but I haven't forgotten you. Look for a more manly summer reading list coming soon. In the meantime, get in touch with your feminine side, who knows, you might enjoy it!