By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Seven days is but a fraction of your year. Specifically, it’s 1/52 of the life you’ll have in 2010. It’s just a week for most of us, but you call it vacation and you’re already marking the time until you go.

And who travels without a book, huh? Hardly anybody, that’s who. So why not make the best of your airport waiting, your downtime, your hammock-sitting, your beach reading with a new book by your favorite author.

Ready To Read

You might not know it, but a lot of your favorite authors are ready for your vacation now. Jackie Collins has a new book out. Same for Scott Turow, Chuck Palahniuk and Robert B. Parker. Gail Sheehy, Dave Barry and Jen Lancaster’s books are already in bookstores, as are new ones by Queen Latifah, Emily Giffin, the duo of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Sebastian Junger and Kenneth C. Davis.

The kids will find a new Sandra Boynton book and several new Brainquest activity books. There’s a new bio on Steinbrenner and a new book in the “Sex in the City” saga.

There’s also a new John Sanford thriller, a new Matt Ridley novel, the latest in Jennifer Estep’s series, new books by Sidney Sheldon, Sandra Browne and Mary Monroe.

Summer begins with awesome books by Clive Cussler, Justin Scott, Jeffrey Deaver and Laurell K. Hamilton. Look for a new Anne Brashares novel and a new book by green queen Sophie Uliano. Nelson DeMille and Sherrilyn Kenyon both have new novels, as do Catherine Coulter and Dean Koontz.

There’s a new biography on Ray Charles and one on Liz and Richard. Sonny Barger has a new memoir. So does Pat Benatar, by the way, and you’ll find a new biography about Lance Armstrong, just in time for the Tour de France.

Janet Evanovich presents fans with her latest novel. Danielle Steele, James Rollins and Karen Slaughter have new books coming out, as do Richard North Patterson and Neil Gaiman.

July Releases

You’re not done yet, are you? No, you’re not.

In July, look for new books by Nora Roberts, the duo of Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen, and ReShonda Tate Billingsly. Ayelet Waldman is coming out with a new book, as are Tess Gerritsen, Alexander McCall Smith, W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, and Mary B. Morrison. Look for a new novel by Belinda Acosta and one from MaryJanice Davidson.

I’m excited about the new Paco Underhill book due in July. Carrie Fisher has a new book coming out, and so does Alison Weir.

August Releases

So you’ve planned a late vacation? No problem, there are still plenty of new books coming out in late summer.

How about the latest from the ever-delightful Mary Roach? How about another Sherrilyn Kenyon? You’ll find Phillippa Gregory, W.E.B. Griffin and William Butterworth, Faye Kellerman, Nancy Grace, Nevada Barr and Ridley Pearson all with new books in August, as well as a new biography by Roseanne Cash and two new diet and exercise books coming out.

And even if you’re not on vacation, look for new books by Sandra Brown, Robin Cook, Linda Howard, Larry McMurtry, Fredrick Forsyth, Martin Cruz Smith, R.A. Salvatore, Eric Jerome Dickey, J.A. Jance and Carl Weber.

There are lots of cookbooks being released in August (just in time for end-of-summer grilling) and quite a few books for the kids (just in time for back-to-school).

But Beware …

These release dates, of course, are subject to change. If you head to your favorite bookstore or library and you can’t find what you want, don’t hesitate for one second to ask the librarian or bookseller what they’d recommend. Better yet, ask them what book they’ve recently loved best. You can’t go wrong with a recommendation like that, and trust me, people who make their living working with books like to talk about books.

Have a great summer and happy reading!

The Book Worm

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

The invitations started arriving about a month ago. Your niece on the other side of the country is getting married. The neighbor’s son and his new wife are having a late reception. Three people at work are making you crazy with wedding talk. You’re gay. So when will it ever be your turn?

Marriage for gays, lesbians and transgender people may be more possible than you think. Check out “Making It Legal” by two attorneys, Frederick Hertz and Emily Doskow, and see if wedding bells are in your future.

Though it seems like the issue of gay marriage has been around for ages, Hertz says public relationships between same-sex individuals were unthought of until a few decades ago. Then, in 1969, two Minneapolis men went to City Hall and applied for a marriage license. They were turned down.

Twenty-five years later, the city of Berkeley, Calif., enacted the first domestic partnership ordinance in the U.S. The Netherlands legalized same-sex marriage in 2001, becoming the first country to do so.

But none of that matters to you right now. You want to marry your beloved. How can you make sure that union is legally recognized?

The authors say that making your dream real will take a lot of legwork. Each state has its own laws; some allow marriage, others allow domestic partnerships and different rights are granted in different states. It’s important to know what rules apply in your home state. It’s also important to know what rights can be carried across boundaries, and what happens if you move.

Also at issue — and the authors admit that it’s a strange topic to cover in a book about marriage — is what happens if the union dissolves. Depending on your circumstances and the state where you live, you may have to obtain a divorce. If your state doesn’t recognize gay marriage, though, that doesn’t mean you can blithely walk away, scot-free. You’ll need to go through the proper channels.

Add children and real estate to the union and it gets even more complicated.

While there’s no doubt that “Making It Legal” can help ensure that your marriage is recognized formally and officially, there are a few things you need to know before you use it to start planning.

Because laws seem to change almost weekly, this book may be dated before you pull it off the shelf. But fear not, the publisher offers legal updates on its website.

Hertz and Doskow seem to dwell on the dissolution of marriage, which isn’t exactly what you’re thinking about now, but it’s important. Getting out of a union may be more complicated than getting in. Because of that, the authors go to great lengths to get you to think about what you’re really doing, and if marriage is right for you.

Overall, this may not be the last word in gay marriage, but it comes as close as possible. If you’re planning a romantic ceremony this summer, “Make It Legal” will help you make it right.

Terri Schlichenmeyer collects books, tigers, trivia and book bags. She has also been accused of collecting dust now and then.

The Book Warm

By Terri Slichenmyer

. You’re running out of room for your collection, and you need more places to put things. The silly truth is that you never really wanted to start this, but somebody gave you one item, which begets another and another, and there you go.

Your sister likes angels. Dad collected tools. Little Jackie collects trees, and she has a map to keep track of them. But in the new novel “One Bloody Thing After Another” by Joey Comeau, Jackie isn’t the only collector in the neighborhood.

Jackie never meant to throw rocks through Mrs. Hubert’s car window, but it wasn’t exactly an accident, either. When Jackie saw that the first-kiss tree was missing, well, she just lost her mind. She was sure that she should care about a first kiss, but she didn’t really like boys so the tree wasn’t as important as, say, the broken-arm tree or some of the others. But cutting it down like that? Not good at all.

After she was arrested, Jackie asked to go to the bathroom, where she said the magic word and became invisible. Her dead mother’s ghost came, just like she usually did, to throw up in the toilet.

Across town, Jackie’s best friend, Ann, had her own problems. It started when her mother took to the basement and howled all night. Ann and her sister, Margaret, had to find meat to keep their mother fed, and it wasn’t easy. Rats and mice weren’t enough, so they captured other animals. And then, Mother bit Margaret.

At the retirement home, Charlie had a routine. Each day, he’d walk Mitchie, the world’s stupidest dog. Then they would follow the headless ghost up to Mrs. Richards’ apartment.

When Jackie can’t find the dead-mother tree, Ann can’t find enough to feed her family, and Charlie can’t find Mitchie, everybody finds a happy ending. More or less.

“One Bloody Thing After Another” is a quick read and Comeau’s characters are quirky enough to keep your interest. There are a few chuckles and a creepy undertone of malevolence that makes you want to squirm. But it’s beyond weird. Weird like, did I miss something?

This isn’t a book for everyone. If you need a story that makes total sense, pass on this one. But if your literary tastes run to the oddly macabre, move your other novels aside.

Terri Schlichenmeyer collects books, tigers, trivia and book bags. She has also been accused of collecting dust now and then.

The Book Worm

Terri Schlichenmeyer

Much to your spouse’s chagrin, you can’t remember your anniversary. When asked, you can rattle off your phone number if you think about it first. Your birthdate is an easy one, but your kids’? Not so much.

Your favorite baseball player’s batting average, you know that. And your team’s league standing? Piece o’ cake.

If you’re a diehard baseball fan, you probably barely notice what your player looks like, focusing instead on what he can do with a bat, ball or glove. In “Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert” by Timothy M. Gay, you’ll read about men whose careers proved that stats speak louder than skin.

Although Jackie Robinson is usually credited for breaking baseball’s color barrier, the fact is that black ballplayers and white ballplayers shared the field for years before Robinson’s time. Traveling around the country to various communities, all-black “barnstormers” challenged all-white teams and drew crowds that were often bigger than series attendance. And three headliners drew the biggest crowds of all.

Leroy “Satchel” Paige, one of the best pitchers of the Negro Leagues, was born into poverty. Because his family needed the income, Satch didn’t go far in school; instead, he took a job that exposed him to baseball. Intrigued, and too poor to afford a ball, Satch practiced by lobbing rocks.

When he was 12-years-old, Satch was nabbed for petty theft and sent to the Industrial School for Negro Children at Mount Miegs, Ala. The discipline he learned there changed his life. The coaching he got there made his career.

Satch’s foe and friend Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean also came from lean roots.

Born of sharecroppers, Diz was too poor to afford shoes as a boy, and learned to perch on the pitcher’s mound, barefoot. But once his talent was discovered, he never had to worry about shoes again. Dizzy Dean became a star, although not a humble one: he was known for driving his car around town, offering autographs.

But as Dizzy and Satch aged, there was a newcomer on the horizon.

Bobby Feller was apple-cheeked and perfect, every mother’s dream. He was a baseball manager’s dream, too, because Feller could pitch a ball so fast it almost sizzled. A life of baseball was what Feller had wanted since he was young. Signed to play while he was still in high school, “Rapid Robert” couldn’t wait to start barnstorming.

Does summer equal baseball in your mind? Then “Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert” will be a big home run for you.

With a fans’eye view, fast-play excitement and a casual 1930s feel, Gay puts readers in the bleachers with this well-researched book. What I particularly liked is that Gay told the story of his three subjects, but he didn’t ignore other key people of the era. Sometimes this is missing in books of this genre, but not here.

If you’re root-root-rooting for something good to read, catch “Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert.”