No I mean this riddle was already solved. Why do people keep guessing?

Some people don't like to read the spoilers and want to know if they have the correct answer without outside help.

Ha, guess I could actually put in a little explanation!

Everyone laughs and children play as though they're all on holiday. -- They're fun for everyone, & a lot of people are on vacation.

Grab hold slowly, and don't let go! With a lurch and a screech, we're off! -- The cars move by gripping the underground cable, and they do tend to screech.

Up and down the streets we travel, following the turning lines. -- Lots of hills in SF, and the cars only go where the cables lines are.

Ding! and slow, Ding! let go, shriek and -- The Gripmen ring the bell to signal their stops, and also let go of the cable and use the brakes to slow/stop the car.

Stop.

Grab on anew until the end, then turn around and go again! -- You can ride the cars from one end of the line to the other, but when you reach the end you have to get off, & they use a turn-table to turn the cars around and head them back down the line.

I find it difficult to not be amused by the way the lady thinks.

I have absolutely NO IDEA what you're talking about. Honestly. No clue. What were we discussing again?

San Francisco cable car tour. actually, my first impression was car race.

Yes indeed, it is

San Francisco Cable Car!

"motorized cable cars" that are buses made to look like the traditional cars, which is why that answer isn't correct. The cable cars do not use a motor, but an underground cable network (hence Cable, not Trolley) to move.

You can see more about them

SF Cable Car Website

And if you're traveling in The City,

cable cars, not trolleys, or any native will know you're a tourist!

You are both close

sex, drugs, AND rock 'n roll

okay...

San Francisco Motorized Cable Car

"Rice-a-roni, The San Fran-cis-co treat! Ding-ding!" Is that where you guys are headed? Sounds like fun

Unfortunately, that was the wrong word. But again, this is really really close! I'm honestly not being "nit picky" because there is a difference!

let's pretend - anything's possible with a little imagination.

I guess I should be more specific in just HOW close Typical was.

It was

Spoiler for all the right words,:

just 1 too many!

Pillars of the Earth

Correct!

take that!

Oprah's book club?

If so, she's really opened up the genres & topics ... Nope, 'fraid not!

that these were all New York Times Best sellers for their categories.

I'll give HG a high 5, but sorry, you can't get a Woot! They were indeed all on NYT bestsellers list, but they're also on an even more specific list.

Well at least now I can get past the obvious

stuck in an elevator

6. Playing for Pizza

9. Audition

13. Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Yes indeedy, you have 6,9,13!

Microwave?

I've been wondering similarly

microwave or oven

The "pop" tends to make me think of microwavable popcorn, but I've seen things explode in an oven too!

Are these right...

2. Last Lecture

3. Idea of a First Date

5. Globe Magazine

12. In the Heights

#2 is correct, though I think your guess for #3 is hilarious.

I did an edit Tiger_LiL..

Trolley Car

I saw & edited my reply. (So many things lost in cross-writing!)

This one is not quite the true answer,

your first one was closer

San Francisco Motorized Cable Car Tour or more simply a Trolley Car

So very very close!

letters(or, words)?

No it's not.

Everyone laughs and children play as though they're all on holiday.

Grab hold slowly, and don't let go! With a lurch and a screech, we're off!

Up and down the streets we travel, following the turning lines.

Ding! and slow, Ding! let go, shriek and

Stop.

Grab on anew until the end, then turn around and go again!

1. Breaking Dawn

4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

6. Dancing for Danger ?

9. The Trial ?

11. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

Correct for 1,4,11

Can you determine the titles? A Bonus "Woot!" if you can also get what they all have in common!

1. Crack Aurora

2. Final Talking-To

3. Notions of a Procreator

4. Chronicles of a Milksop Baby Goat

5. Sphere's Posts

6. Cavorting for Famous Chicago or New York Styles

7. K/M Sublime Fusion Reactors

8. Undisclosed Continuance of Antiquated Community Gatherings

9. Tryout

10. That Which Can Be Forecast While You Wait

11. Reminiscence Supervisor's Lass

12. Enter the Untouched

13. Sweltering Planar Horde

14. Personal Nun's Attendant

15. Expired Up To Opacity

(NOTE: a few liberties have been taken with verb tenses)

You're Linus, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to rise from the pumpkin patch on Halloween Night in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"

So is the riddle title supposed to reference

racecar?

thunderstorms, but not the tornadoes that often accompany them in your neck of the woods!

Just one more, couldn't resist ...

roto-dial phone?