Keeton if you are looking for some good summer reading and interested in short stories I would recommend The Science Fiction Century as compiled and edited by David Hartwell. There are some great short stories. My favorite is called Time In Advance. The premise is that if you serve a prison sentence in advance of a premediated murder you only have to serve half the sentence. Granted you serve it on some of the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy, but if you survive you can commit one murder without any retribution because you've already served the time.
Jeremy really liked that story too, and there are some other great short stories in the compilation.
As far as books and novels go, I am partial to Heinlein -- Stranger in a Strange Land is probably my favorite Sci-Fi book.
If you're into military and military Sci-Fi Timothy Zahn is pretty good.