In case my position here was not already evident enough, I'll say it explicitly: I am a book nerd.  Ever since I learned how to read, I've loved it.  Reading is my constant companion, and reading fiction (especially SF) has been one of the few things I've consistently enjoyed.  There is very little in this life more satisfying than the reassuring pressure of a 6" x 4" paperback against my thigh or a hulking hardcover in my hand as I walk down the street.  It means that now matter what I'm doing that day, I'm never bored or lonely.   I can remember walking around day camp in the summer time with an Animorphs book taking up an entire cargo pocket in my shorts, making my walk limp to one side as the top scraped my leg.  If you're about my age (early 20's) you'll probably remember these -- they were to SF what Goosebumps were to horror: a young adult or children's series that at the time I read them was really awesome.  I mean, seriously, just look at the cover of book 1:

There were all sorts of wonderful, pulpy, exciting things going on in that series, and an early love for books like those, ones that are just for fun, continues with me to this day and my summers have always been full of them.  

Summer has usually been a time for vacationing, and by extension, reading.  My Dad and I used to take turns reading books aloud to each other; this is how I read The Perfect Storm, The Lost World, and a number of other books.  We used to take long car rides and I'd go to the library and get a couple of books on cassette tape.  I've never really read Huck Finn or 1984 or The Island of Dr. Moreau -- I listened to a jovial old man read them to me across long stretches of highway staring out the tinted windows of my family's various Minivans.    

So, with the end of another school year rapidly approaching, especially for those of us attending a university here in the US, we come upon that most important of annual summer rituals for the book nerd: choosing the books you'll spend the summer reading.  This is not, nor should it be, an easy task but I hope to lay out some 'good' books to read on hot summer days by the ocean or cool summer evenings on the lawn.  I have three selection criteria I'll work from: 

1) Genre: The selection must be Science Fiction or Fantasy.

2) Length: The selection must span more than one volume or in some way be part of a series.

3) Level of Engagement: The selection must not be overly concerned with far reaching socio-political or philosophical issues.  It's summertime! Relax, give your brain a rest and don't worry so much about "big ideas."  Just sit back and enjoy.  I'm looking for pulps, 8 dollar mass market paperbacks. You know, fluff. 

(For instance: Frank Herbert's Dune, Issac Asimov's Foundation, and Neil Stephenson's Baroque Cycle all fail to meet this criteria because they're expansive, visionary works.) 

This criteria leads me to walk the line a little. I'm looking for SF that is entertaining and engaging without being too taxing intellectually.  Ultimately this means I'm looking for a sort of middle ground, pulp without being trash, good without being great.  It's too hot during the summer for heavy duty thinking so I'm going to pick series that just fun to read.  Expect a few recommendations here over the course of the next week or so.