On the advent of the longest day of the year and the true beginning of summer, here's a list of books to cherry pick for your summer reading. They are riveting, involving, devastating or simply delightfully satisfying. But if you're looking for new releases, they're not here.
The beast in the west
"West" is a slim, first novel written with such beautiful, captivating prose it makes a memorable impression on one's reading life. Truly a one-of-kind story.
What’s your favorite book?
PBS launched The Great American Read with a list of America’s 100 favorite books compiled from a national survey. You can now vote for your favorites on the list, in this search for the best loved novel.
Get a grip and lighten up
Sloane Crosley's “Look Alive Out There” showcases this talented humorist’s ability to embrace unpredictability with wit and whimsy. The 16 new essays vary in topic and enrich us with laughter and insight.
The evolution of Dr. Francine Burk
Audrey Schulman’s new novel “Theory of Bastards” tells the story of a compelling research celebrity, the bonobos she’s observing and a catastrophic technology breakdown. An innovative story that slowly builds into an absorbing reading experience.
The art of restitution and deception
Mark Sarvas’s novel "Memento Park" tells the story of a Hungarian painting that was traded to the Nazis during World War II in exchange for freedom, and of its return to the rightful owner.
Jon McGregor’s superb “Reservoir 13”
Truly a unique novel, one of the best I’ve read in a long time. How and why a teen-aged girl disappears becomes secondary to the impact on the nearby English village.
Why “Black Boy” still matters
Published in 1945, Richard Wright's classic childhood autobiography vividly reveals what it was like growing up black and poor in the Jim Crow South long before the Civil Rights Movement. It’s an unsentimental but moving and distressing travel back in time that should not be missed.
The power of books and giving one’s time
The beauty of this memoir lies in large part with Kuo's soul-searching about the Mississippi Delta region.
A bookshop closes
Much of my book collecting mania got spent at Acorn Bookshop that’s now going out of business. Here are a few of the treasures I found, in this tribute.
The eyes of a Texas Ranger
"Bluebird Bluebird" is Attica Locke's exciting new crime novel, the first of a proposed trilogy.
Top five fiction books in 2017
I cross referenced several 2017 best fiction lists. Here are the results.
Getting to know Ross Macdonald
“It’s All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives” by Paul Nelson and Kevin Avery is this year’s Christmas present to myself.
My most given books
A comment during an interview with author Mark Helprin turned my thinking to the books I’ve given most as gifts. Here they are.
The power of love and conscience
If you’re looking for a novel to get lost in or for a holiday gift, here’s a recommendation: “Paris in the Present Tense” by Mark Helprin.
The Longest Chapter 