NPR recently featured The Fly List - suggested summer reading involving travel by plane; "Books About Takeoffs, Landings And Bumpy Rides" (There are links to other collections of books around other transportation modes as well)
Having given the list a quick perusal, I thought I'd add a few suggestions of my own. More below the Orange Omnilepticon.
I'm going to throw out a few suggestions for aviation-related books that I've read and enjoyed. Most of these are old, but several are recent. I'll start out with the newbies.
The Arsenal of Democracy - FDR, Ford Motor Company, and their Epic Quest to Arm an America at War, by A.J. Baime. This is an incredible tale on multiple levels. It ranges from the air battles of WW II, the insider politics of Washington DC, the dynastic struggles within the dysfunctional Ford family (Edsel Ford is a tragically unsung hero in this book), the saga of getting the Willow Run factory complex up and running, the transformation of Detroit into an even bigger manufacturing metropolis than the auto industry had made it, and through it all, the race to get the B-24 Liberator into production to help win the war. (There's been a big campaign to save a piece of Willow Run, which is going ahead after a cliff-hanger of a fund raising drive - and they can use more help.)
Birdmen - The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies, by Lawrence Goldstone. Chances are, you learned in school that the Wright Brothers invented the airplane, and not much more. This book is an eye opener. The early years of flight saw many people around the world working on the problem, some brilliant, some not, and some outright scoundrels. The Wright Brothers developed some key insights and put them into practice - and then it got interesting. If you've not heard about Glenn Curtiss, he and the Wrights became locked in an epic struggle that would drag through the courts for years as the Wrights attempted to establish a monopoly on powered flight through patents they'd held. The Wrights would lose their technical lead in the obsession to obtain what they thought were their just rewards, American aviation would be held back for years, and it would eventually take World War I to shake things loose. Along the way the tale includes legendary pilots like Lincoln Beachy, Eugene Ely, Harriet Quimby, and many more. Tragedy, farce, genius, fanaticism, sex - it's all in there and it's an amazing tale.
Flying Fortress - The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them, by Edward Jablonski. When it says biography, they're not kidding. This book is a rich history of one of the most iconic planes of World War II, from its genesis, it's early years, and its evolution into a deadly fighting machine. There are loads of photographs and illustrations from aircraft manuals. The book includes the stories of the groups that flew it into combat and the great bombing campaigns they carried out. Published in 1965, your best bet is to find a used copy - but it looks like there are quite a few out there. This book is regarded as definitive and well worth getting a copy. If there's a problem with this as a summer read, it's that it's a good sized book, all the better to pack in those photos, if a bit hard for casual lugging-around
Bax Seat: Log of a Pasture Pilot, by Gordon Baxter. This is a 1978 collection of stories the late Gordon Baxter first published in Flying Magazine. Baxter strings them together with some additional info about how they came to be written, his struggles to write up to the level Flying Magazine was looking for, and his maturation into an accomplished author and raconteur. "Bax" as he was affectionately known had a gift for translating the joy of flying at its most personal level into a shared intimate experience, and some of it is funny as Hell too! His encounters with weather, Stearman biplanes, Mooneys, pilots who kept a B-25 for a pet, getting an IFR rating, encounters with weather - all this and more makes for some really good reading. Again, out of print but there are used copies to be found out there. I'm rather afraid Baxter's tales of life at little airports is of a time that has gone by, but he captured it like few others.
Stranger To The Ground, by Richard Bach. Before he became a flying guru/love god, before he chronicled the spiritual journey of a young herring gull, Richard Bach was an Air Force National Guard pilot flying early jets. Called up during the Berlin Crisis, this is his story of a night flight in an F-84 across Europe at the height of the Cold War. Published in 1963, it was available in print as late as 1990; copies are still widely available and it's also available in eBook formats, here and here for example. In the course of the flight - at one point getting tossed around by a thunderstorm - Bach reminisces about the events that put him in a war machine, looks back at key moments in that journey, and muses about flying and the larger scheme of things. It's a compelling work on a number of levels.
Victory Through Air Power, by Arnold P. de Seversky. Long out of print, this was a mass-market best seller in 1942 in which de Seversky argued that air power was the key to winning World War II. The strategic concepts he promoted still have a place in the modern world, although they now have to include the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads, things he could not have anticipated. I had an original copy with a number of photographs and illustrations; definitely from another era but of historical interest. In 1943 the book was turned into a film by Walt Disney; the whole thing can be found on Youtube. (http://youtu.be/...) If you want an understanding of the fight air power had to be taken seriously by the battleship admirals and ground pounding generals, this will do it from the viewpoint of a true believer. It looks like a web version can be borrowed here; there are used copies out there too.
Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West--One Meal at a Time, by Stephen Fried. (2010) No, this isn't about flying, but I thought I'd throw it in for some contrast. As railroads opened up America, travelers had a basic problem: FOOD! Fred Harvey was the man who answered that call in what would prove to be a legendary manner. He established a brand, set high standards, and developed a chain of restaurants and hotels, some of which are still around today, although the Harvey empire is gone. If you've ever 'enjoyed' airliner food, you'll be amazed at what rail passengers once could look forward to in their travels. The logistic challenges, the labor issues, the financial dealings, and the dynastic elements - this book would make an interesting mini series. And there is one aviation related tie-in. A Beech Staggerwing would be central to the final unraveling of the Harvey family empire. It's available in both print and eBook formats. As a further bonus, the book includes some recipes from the Harvey menu in the back which might prove a tempting challenge.
If you're traveling anywhere this summer, this should give something to fill those periods when you just want to sit back with a good book. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Thanks to those who got this up on Community Spotlight. This morning I remembered one other book I'd meant to include, so here goes.
Reach for the Sky, by Paul Brickhill. This 1954 biography is the true story of Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, a World War II British ace with a difference. An outstanding pilot and commander, he was an ace credited with shooting down 20 German aircraft before eventually being forced to bail out over occupied territory. As a POW he made repeated escape attempts that eventually got him sent to the legendary Colditz Castle prison as an incorrigible. What would have been an impressive career by any measure is made more so by one additional fact: he'd lost both legs in an airplane crash in 1931. Retired with a medical disability, he reapplied for RAF service when the war broke out, and was accepted back into service where he performed brilliantly, despite having to wear prosthetic legs. Besides the book (available used from a number of editions) there is a film of his story as well. This 2014 Daily Mail story recaps his story with photos and some newly discovered old movie footage transferred to video. It's a remarkable story of a real hero of the Battle of Britain who still can inspire people today.