Summer offers time to squeeze in books you’ve wanted to read or
something new and quirky. I stock the sunroom bookshelf with short
stories, novels and nonfiction, as well as a stack of unread magazines
and the summer Fiction Issue of The New Yorker.
Too many books,
too little time — so this list is short and by no means exclusive. There
are no baseball memoirs, heavy plots or historical tomes — just a few
good reads.
I’d like to share your suggestion for a great summer
read. Send it to the address below. For the moment, put up your hair,
grab a cold drink and relax.
Jennifer Weiner, “Mrs. Everything”
For
book clubs, this may be a perfect summer read: Jennifer Weiner’s “Mrs.
Everything” penetrates the lives of two sisters from the 1950s to the
present as the world changes around them. This story of women’s lives
over the ’60s and ’70s and later decades, offers more than a light read.
Publication date is June 11. Fiction.
Barbara Bourland, “Fake Like Me”
I
didn’t expect to like this one but ended up devouring it. Bourland
tells a well-informed story about a young artist who loses her work in a
fire three months before a break-out show. Her attempt to recreate
what’s been lost takes her to an artists’ colony where death, ego and
dedication co-exist. The book reveals fascinating, insider details about
the artist’s process, and the callous business of art collecting they
must negotiate. There’s a mystery, too, and a bit of romance amid
details of making art which only the initiated can provide. Fiction.
Jenna Blum, “The Lost Family”
Blum
is out in paperback with the story of a family haunted by World War II
experiences across several decades. There’s guilt and tragic loss, but
also the beginnings of love and hope in a story that penetrates the
shadows of war in succeeding generations. Blum wrote the wonderful
“Those Who Save Us,” so I expect a lot from her in this one. Historical
fiction.
Dani Shapiro, “Inheritance”
DNA
testing seemed like fun in the early days. Now, it’s being used in
criminal investigations and revealing family secrets. Novelist and
memoirist Dani Shapiro took a DNA test casually, only to discover that
her deceased father had not been, in fact, her biological father, and
that her blonde, Scandinavian appearance signaled more than a fluke in
her Orthodox Jewish family. Her search for her past leads her to
memories and questions that unsettle her life. Nonfiction.
Kilgariff and Hardstark, “Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered”
Watch
enough news shows and you’ll run into Karen Kilgariff and Georgia
Hardstark, hosts of the “My Favorite Murder” podcast and now authors of
“Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered.” This book’s packed with humor amid
the in-your-face reality of women’s lives — depression, eating
disorders, addiction and the like. Yet, somehow, it’s funny. For a
sample, tune in to their podcast. Author Jenny Lawson calls it “the best
advice your mother never told you.” Humor.
Elizabeth Gilbert, “City of Girls”
Gilbert’s
“Eat Pray Love” became a best-seller. Now, she switches to the fleeting
nature of life and pleasure in this story of a young woman in 1940s New
York City, who discovers she doesn’t have to be a “good girl” to be a
good person. “City of Girls” is flavored by the impending entry of the
U.S. into World War II.
Enjoy. By the way, if you haven’t yet read them, try: Delia Owens’
“Where the Crawdads Sing;” Martha Hall Kelly’s “Lost Roses;” Louise
Penny’s “Glass Houses” and Susan R. White’s “A Place at the Table.”
