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Summer’s half over, and chances are you’ve barely made a dent in that ambitious reading list you made for yourself in June, back when the thought of three glorious, sun-filled months without classes, deadlines, or exams made you drunk with good intentions. Or perhaps you never even made a list this year, choosing instead to suffer through a vast wasteland of reality-based television, “People” magazine, or other indignities easily foisted upon the uninitiated. Whatever the situation, dB Magazine is here to help. Whether you only read the very latest books to hit the shelves, can’t imagine reading anything too long or serious unless there’s a letter grade at stake, or have been living in a makeshift bomb shelter for the past ten years with a charismatic cult leader who convinced you the world had actually come to an end only to have tunneled out in an act of desperation when you ran out of canned goods to discover that not only does life still exist on Earth, but that apparently some series of novels about a young English magician had replaced “The Chronicles of Narnia” as the most imaginative series of children’s books of all time, we’ve got the book list you’ll need. So get yourself to the nearest library or bookstore and, armed with dB Magazine, make the most of what’s left of those lazy days of summer. Top 10 Recommended Recent Releases 1. CANDY By Mian Mian Little, Brown & Company, 304 pages, $13.95 Shanghai author Mian Mian told the New York Times that she’s been labeled “the poster child for spiritual pollution” by the Chinese government because of this book. Here in California, we say a little spiritual pollution never hurt anybody. -Sommer Mathis

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX By J.K. Rowling Scholastic, 870 pages, $29.99 Harry Potter is a drug. The long-awaited fifth installment of the Harry Potter series has all the excitement, adventure and magic of the last four books that have readers hooked for life. Besides, how better can college students prove their intelligence than by reading a book bigger than the Bible in just a couple of days? -Menaka Fernando

3. LIFE OF PI By Yan Martel Harvest Books, 336 pages, $14.00

4. REEFER MADNESS: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market By Eric Schlosser Houghton Mifflin Co., 320 pages, $23.00

5. MONEYBALL: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis Norton, W.W. & Company, 288 pages, $24.95 “Moneyball” will disprove everything you thought you knew about baseball. Bunting and stealing hurts you, batting averages are useless, and small market teams can win. -Gilbert Qinonez

6. FEAR ITSELF By Walter Mosley Little, Brown & Company, 320 pages, $24.95

7. SUMMERHOUSE, LATER By Judith Hermann Ecco, 224 pages, $12.95

8. ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN By David Lipsky Houghton Mifflin Co., 320 pages, $25.00

9. TRADING UP By Candace Bushnell Hyperion, 416 pages, $24.95

10. DUE PREPARATIONS FOR THE PLAGUE By Janette Turner Hospital Norton, W.W. & Company, 320 pages, $24.95

Top 10 Books To Read At The Beach

1. THE LOCKLEAR LETTERS By Michael Kun MacAdam/Cage Publishing, 341 pages, $19.95 Computer salesman Sid Straw went to UCLA. So did Heather Locklear. One man’s obsession with his former classmate makes for one of the funniest new books of the year. -Sommer Mathis

2. SUMMERLAND By Michael Chabon Talk Miramax Books, 512 pages, $22.95

3. PIECES OF INTELLIGENCE: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld By Hart Seely Free Press, 128 pages, $12.95

4. OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE: Scenes From the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 By Michael Azerrad Little, Brown & Company, 528 pages, $25.95 It’s like Behind the Music you can take to the beach, but without interviews with washed-out Rolling Stone critics. And it sure beats Kurt Cobain’s “Journals.” -Andrew Lee

5. BARREL FEVER By David Sedaris Little, Brown & Company, 196 pages, $12.95

6. THE NANNY DIARIES By Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus St. Martin’s Press, 352 pages, $13.95

7. NOTES FROM A DEFEATIST By Joe Sacco Fantagraphics, 216 pages, $19.95

8. WICKED: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West By Gregory Maguire Harper Collins, 406 pages, $15.00

9. THE INTERPRETER OF MALADIES By Jhumpa Lahiri Houghton Mifflin Co., 160 pages, $13.00 Lahiri’s short stories give the reader an idea of what life is like for an Indian living in America, but anyone can relate to the feelings of loneliness, love, desire, family affiars, and poverty. -Katie Mitchell

10. SMOKESCREEN: A True Adventure By Robert Sabbag Canongate Books, 406 pages, $15.00

Top 10 Achingly Hip Books That All Your Friends Have Read By Now And If You Haven’t Yet You’re A Sad Excuse For A College Student

1. THE CORRECTIONS By Jonathan Franzen Picador, 593 pages, $15.00 Franzen’s behemoth of a book will make you want to sleep with your professor, slip into a terrible depression, and never, ever go home for Christmas again. Trust us, those are all good things. -Sommer Mathis

2. THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING By Milan Kundera Perennial Press, 320 pages, $13.00 A wonderful read about two dysfunctional couples galavanting around Europe and copulating a lot. If you think you’re cool, you’ve probably already lied and told people you love Kundera’s work – now you should actually read it. -Daniel Miller

3. A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS By Dave Eggers Vintage Books, 496 pages, $14.00

4. A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES By John Kennedy Toole Grove Press, 416 pages, $14.00

5. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS By Arundhati Roy Harper Collins, 336 pages, $14.00

6. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY By Douglas Adams Ballantine Books, 224 pages, $7.50

7. LOLITA By Vladimir Nabokov Vintage Books, 336 pages, $13.00

8. NO LOGO By Naomi Klein Picador, 502 pages, $15.00

9. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA By Gabriel Garcia Marquez Viking Penguin, 368 pages, $14.95

10. WHITE TEETH By Zadie Smith Knopf, 464 pages, $14.00