Looking Back: An August of Reading

Summer has slipped away to somewhere else, and here we are facing down fall: season of crock pots and boots and cardigans and apple cider and really big buzzy books, oh my. But before we wave goodbye to August, a quick recap of some of the best books I read this month:

Week in Reading: August 10th

We had perfect summer weather here this weekend, and I spent most of Saturday outdoors: first running a local 5K, then on a 15' sailboat in perfect wind, learning to sail on the Bay. (I PR'ed the 5K; we only capsized the boat once; I'd call the day a success overall.) I haven't yet perfected the art of running or sailing while reading, though, which meant I didn't get much reading time in (though I did make an entire meal out of various recipes and techniques in The Food Lab last night, and I doubt I'll stop talking about this book for a good long time). Here's what's on deck for this week:

The Best of July

July was a good reading month: #24in48 was a great jumpstart to my review deadlines this month and everything's been pretty damn great since. A few of my favorites:

Looking Ahead: July Books

July is upon us (and then some), with fireworks come and gone, Arthur come and gone, and the first week of July pretty much come and gone. I'm a bit late getting this post up (like last month... the 1st of the month just keeps sneaking past me), but July promises some really great summer reads nonetheless:

California, by Edan Lepucki (Little, Brown, July 8): This book got the coveted Colbert bump when the talk show host encouraged readers to pre-order the book from anywhere but Amazon, adding on to the ongoing drama of the Hachette-Amazon battle. And it promises a hauntingly-dystopian near future, which is right up my alley.

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky, by Lydia Netzer (St. Martin's, July 1): I loved Netzer's debut novel, Shine Shine Shine, so while I haven't a clue what her new book is about, I know I'll be reading it. (Ok, I read the publisher description: it's the tale of two astronomers who meet and fall in love and then find out they were engineered to be each other's perfect match).

Land of Love and Drowning, by Tiphanie Yanique (Riverhead, July 10): The publisher promises echoes of Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garcia Marquez in this multi-generational story set in the Caribbean in the first half of the 20th century. I can't wait to read this on the beach... in the Caribbean.

Season to Taste, by Natalie Young (Little, Brown, July 15): An "unexpectedly" funny novel about a woman who accidentally kills her (not very likeable) husband... and decides to dispose of his body in the only way she knows how: by cooking and eating him.

Crossword Century, by Alan Connor (Gotham, July 10): A history of crosswords from their New York Times debut in 1913 through to today? Ok, yes please.

The Visitors, by Sally Beauman (Harper, July 8): Based on historical fact with fictional characters woven in, Beauman's novel transports readers back to Egypt in the early 20th century--as archaeologists searched for the as-yet undiscovered tomb of King Tut.

Tigerman, by Nick Harkaway (Knopf, July 29): Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker blew my mind a little bit (ok, more than a little bit). Tigerman is strikingly different from Angelmaker... but also blew my mind.

Unruly Places, by Alastair Bonnett (HMH, July 8): A tour of the world's mysterious and unknown places--from lost cities to no-man's land to uninhabited islands.

What's on your radar for July?

Happy 4th and Hurricanes

Happy fourth, all! I don't know what you're all up to, but over here on the East Coast (I'm writing this from Cape Cod...) we're facing down Hurricane Arthur and waiting for the rain to start. And probably drinking hurricanes. I won't have much time to post over the coming week, though I have a few posts brewing. But I will be reading (hopefully a lot). Here's what I've got in my vacation bag:

What are you reading this holiday weekend? And if you're gearing up for/in the midst of Arthur yourself, be safe!

Looking Back: Summer Books I Missed

Now that I've survived my summer of TBR, I'm loosening my belt a little and allowing myself to indulge in a few summer releases I skipped over. Here's a few I can't wait to get my hands on... and since I'm late to this reading party, I'm hoping you all can help tell me where to start!

      

      

      

Summertime, and the Reading is Plentiful

This column originally ran in the June 26, 2012 edition of Shelf Awareness for Readers. Reprinted here with permission. If you haven't already, sign up here for a bi-weekly dose of readerly goodness in your inbox.

You'd be hard-pressed to find any two people who define a beach read in the same way. Is it a book about warm weather and beaches? Or a book set during the summer months? A light, easy read, or is summer the time to tackle a heavy, literary tome?

For those looking to take the beach to the beach, there is no shortage of reading material about sandy shores. J. Courtney Sullivan's Maine is a novel of family and friendship, the story of three generations of Kelleher women as they descend on the family cottage one summer. Its unhurried, thoughtful pace is perfect for lazy days and long summer nights, while the steady unveiling of family secrets is bound to keep readers riveted through whatever beach distractions may present themselves. George Howe Colt takes on a similar subject--the recurring family vacation to a favorite summer spot--in The Big House, part love letter to the past and part history of the American summer home, told through the history of his family's own summer house on Cape Cod.

The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach's much-acclaimed 2011 novel, takes on one of summer's greatest pastimes--baseball. Henry Skrimshader, a young prodigy of a shortstop, is recruited to play baseball for Westish College, where his life quickly becomes intertwined with the lives of four others. Harbach's stunning debut weaves together the narratives of each of these characters seamlessly, building a novel that is as much about baseball as it is about human relationships, love and loyalty.

Justin Cronin's The Passage bears scant resemblance to other vampire novels on the scene today; Cronin's "vampires" are the result of a virus let loose in the U.S., and the consequences are deadly. The plot is relentless, breakneck and, even though it's an 800+ page novel, the ending comes before you know it. With the next volume in the Passage trilogy coming this fall, now's the perfect time to pick up--or revisit--Cronin's nightmarish future.

I Can Do This: A Summer of TBR

I've made commitment after commitment to myself that I will focus on reading books I already own. That I will finally start to tackle the ridiculous collection of tomes that threaten to pull down the Billy Bookcases in my living room. That I will actually acknowledge the existing to-be-read list (which is in no way a literal list) instead of just adding to it.

The time has come for me to make this commitment public. Deep breaths. Here goes.

From now until September 1, I will only read books I already own.* This includes my forays to the library for audiobooks; I will be seeking out audio versions of books that already adorn my shelves.

Wish me luck.

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*I do have a review commitment to Shelf Awareness for Readers, so I will still be reading/reviewing ARCs as assigned... but only as assigned.

Reading Outside Is Better For You, Anyway

This week, the New York Times ran an article on the effects of too much time spent indoors (and therefore with artificial indoor lighting) on myopia. In short, it argued, scientists believe that too much time spent with artificial light, and therefore not enough spent in natural outdoor light, results in higher rates of nearsightedness.*

The suggestion, therefore? A recommendation to "satisfy tiger and soccer moms alike: if your child is going to stick his nose in a book this summer, get him to do it outdoors."

Personally, I love this recommendation. Though Shelf Awareness Pro suggested that instructions to spend more time reading outdoors could mean a higher demand for e-readers than can be read outdoors, I find that my good, ol'-fashioned p-books work just as well indoors as out, and I aim to spend as much time as possible sitting outside reading this summer. Of course, I can't see more than 5 feet away from me without glasses anyway, so maybe it's too late to avoid myopia. But I'll be outdoors with my book(s!) regardless.

What about you? Do you read outdoors when weather permits? Do you have specific books that are better for reading outdoors?

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*In which "eyes fail to grow correctly and the distance between the lens and retina becomes too long, causing far-away objects to look blurry"

On My Radar: Beach Reading

I don't know about other bookworms, but this particular one reads seasonally. I don't believe in reading winter-laden, snow-drifty books in July, or vampire novels in April, or beach-based stories in December. There is a time and a place for every book, and they must match.

And this weekend unofficially kicks off summer, which means I'm officially lusting after new summer reads. Here's what I have my eye on for the beach this year - some old, some new, but all on my radar. Some are probably "summer" reads only in my own little head, but so be it. What am I missing? What are you reading this summer?

Book Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Let me begin by apologizing, because this will be less a review and more an all-out rave. After all, with the incredible collection of bloggers that have already covered The Passage, I'm not sure I have too much more to add, at least not anything too original. So what proceeds will be pure gushing, followed by some commentary on other reviews floating around out there.

Put simply, this book is astounding. It is glorious, brilliant, wonderful, a joy, a pleasure, a feat. The 800-page tome stemmed from Cronin's daughter's suggestion that he "write a book about a girl who saves the world." And, in a roundabout way, that's what this is: Amy, a six-year-old girl with virtually no ties to the world, is injected with an advanced form of a virus that makes her somewhat super-human. When the test subjects for the earlier form of the virus escape from a military compound, bringing down most of humanity with them, Amy is left utterly alone in a post-apocalyptic world in which "virals" roam the land, killing off the population and leaving the United States an empty shell of what it once was.

Worried that I said too much? Don't. That summary is about the first 50 pages. Maybe 100. So there's plenty more to come.

Cronin's imagination must be the size of the Milky Way; he has a stunning ability to look at the world around him - the war against terror, the existing highway system, our dependence on vehicles and foreign oil, the mass populations in cities, the power of the military - and see what could be. In this manner, The Passage is terrifyingly real; more than real, it is relevant.

Charles Taylor, reviewing the book on the B&N blog, argues that Cronin's book is a service: "He's working for the reader, he wants to immerse whoever picks up the book and, to quote from Stephen King's advance praise, to make the ordinary world disappear." To me, that's just what he did. My ordinary world was taken up by Cronin's prose, and now I want to sleep with the lights on. I'm afraid to walk home from the subway at night. Last night, after finishing the novel, my roommate and I heard a weird noise in the kitchen - and proceeded to huddle together to see what was moving out there. It was the cat. Yes, we were that freaked out.

Ron Charles, at The Washington Post, calls it "a macabre pleasure to see what a really talented novelist can do with these old Transylvanian tropes" - and he's not wrong. Sure, it's a "vampire novel." But to call it such is to lump it in with the world of Twilight, True Blood and even Dracula, and The Passage is So. Much. More. Than. That.

Blogger Rachel on Home Between the Pages called the book "totally uncategorizable." She hit the nail on the head. It offers, all in one lump 800-page clunker, a mystery, adventure, horror, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, futuristic, romance, action, and so much more.

Not everyone loved it, though. Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea couldn't finish it, and Caitlin at Chaotic Compendiums found it disjointed and far too long. I would disagree (in case you couldn't already guess that) - yes, the book is long and a bit daunting, but it sweeps you up, carries you along in a forceful current of events that require attention and puzzling out and mulling over. And yes, the first half is beautifully done, with character and world development happening seamlessly, and by default, it gets more complicated after the world has been established and the plot takes over the wheel. And yes, the book is somewhat disjointed, in that it carries within it multiple stories, characters and over 100 years of history - but isn't that, to an extent, what an epic does?

Bottom line: I'm still just gushing. I found this worth the 3 lbs it added to my bag (for the two days it took me to finish), worth the 2 solid days of reading I gave it (I devoured it). Forgiving a few cliche cliffhanger chapter endings, the writing was strong and original. For the first in a trilogy, the book is startling satisfying - tying up enough loose ends to leave the reader content to re-trace the storyline and try to puzzle out what has happened - and yet enough questions go unanswered to provide a solid set-up for the next books in the trilogy. I am literally sitting on the edge of my seat thinking about the next two in the trilogy. Write faster, Mr. Cronin, write faster.

What about you? Thoughts? Have you read it? Will you read it? Are you put off by the hype (I was, but I'm glad I got over it), or the vampire element (don't be)?

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Note: Thank you to Random House for sending me an ARC to review.

Book Review: One Day by David Nicholls

I started David Nichol's One Day during my reading slump last week - I had recently read a good bit about it on the Dewey Divas blog and figured I might as well give it a try. Lucky me! It did the trick.

One Day is, in brief, the story of two college friends - Emma and Dexter - and the ways their lives continue to overlap through the years. With some of the most epic bad timing I've seen in characters recently, they continually need each other, miss each other, find each other, love each other and lose each other in a veritable plethora of combinations.

The premise sounds simple, and rather chick-lit-esque, at that, but I assure you, it is far from it.* Nichols' story is heartbreaking, touching and important in every way.

The genius of Nichols' writing lies in his presentation: each chapter is July 15th - St. Swithin's Day, apparently - of a proceeding year. And so the reader is told the story of Dex and Em, Em and Dex in snapshots of one day over the years. The title, therefore, is fitting, both because of this unique writing style and for other reasons that I won't explore here in fear of spoilers.

The initial buzz for the book - first released in the UK (it's a British book,** so be prepared for British spellings and the like) - calls the book "roaringly funny" (The Guardian) and "funny" (The Times). I couldn't disagree more, but maybe that's a difference in British vs American humor (humour?). I would, however, agree that it is "heartbreaking" (Tony Parsons) and "wise... perceptive, compassionate and often unbearably sad." (The Times again).

Bottom line: The lack of (understandable) humor and substantial amount of heavy subject matter is in no way a detraction from the value of the book. Nichols has crafted a poignant, lingering story of love, friendship and life in his unique novel. One Day would qualify (to me, at least) as ideal beach reading, perfect distraction, easy to put down and pick up again, and yet substantial, satisfying, and not a throwaway of time and energy. Highly recommend.

* Note to marketing personnel: You need to work on the back cover copy for the ARC. The copy floating around the internet on Amazon and Indiebound is better, at least, but the back cover blurb I read before picking this up almost convinced me not to read it.

** Originally published in England, the book is out in the US (as a Vintage Paperback) this month.

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Note: I received a review copy of this title from Random House when at the offices for a sales meeting.

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day means summer, right? Yes, of course, it also means remembering those who have fought for our country; I work for a military history publisher, I haven't forgotten that. But more immediately, it also means barbeques, cookouts, beer, beaches, flip flops, bathing suits, etc.

So... Happy Summer! Any great summer reads lined up? I'm looking forward to The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno and The Passage myself. I'm also learning to sail this summer - my dad is in the midst of planning his retirement onto a sailboat, so I figured it was time to learn - so I have The Complete Sailor in my to-read stack in the first weeks of summer as well.

But for now, I'm off to enjoy one more day on the Cape... Happy Memorial Day, all, and for those with the day off - enjoy it!

Where Summer Reading Belongs (Quote of the Day)

"There is a temperate zone in the mind, between luxurious indolence and exacting work; and it is to this region, just between laziness and labor, that summer reading belongs." - Henry Ward Beecher

Book Pairings

I can think of few things I like more than books, but people who come up with new, creative and interesting ideas for books might rank up there. And Gary Vaynerchuk, host of WineLibrary TV, has done just that. With the Daily Beast, he will now be releasing a weekly wine & book pairing - and really, what more could you ask for? His first article is here on the Book Beast.

I'm on vacation this week, pairing Beautiful Swimmers with Sam Adams Summer Ale. Maybe not as fancy as Gary's suggestions, but fun nonetheless.

James Michener's Chesapeake

A shocking number of reviews of this title begin with some statement alluding to its dull, boring nature, but I would argue that to call Chesapeake boring is to miss the beauty of his novel completely. In this sweeping, almost epic, 975-page volume, Michener covers the history of the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay from the Native Americans and John Smith up to the developments being built in 1978. Not once does he miss a beat as his story plods along - and true, it plods. Characters are brought up in a matter of sentences, formed in a matter of pages, and killed off again within a chapter; contrary to some reviewers' opinions, this felt intentional on Michener's part, and served only to emphasize the fact that while this is a humanized version of history, the main players of the novel are in no way humans.

Rather, Michener's extensive research is highlighted by his continued emphasis on three strains: the importance of human tolerance, the nature of life and death, and, perhaps most importantly, the invaluable role of ecology and the environment in our daily lives.

Furthermore, his understanding of the sea and all of its related activities - boating, fishing, crabbing, etc - reveals the extent to which he came to know and love this magnificent body of water during his study of it. In fact, he cannot hide this love; his writing is passionate albeit removed. But this removal allows him a clearer view of his subject, missing no detail, however small or trivial it may be.

Bottom line: Forget the rest of them. If you appreciate, in any way, human history, American history, boating, or nature, and don't mind what some might call "tedious" (and mind you, even Tolkien can be tedious at times, and no one calls Lord of the Rings boring), this is for you. You'll never find yourself more fascinated by the molting of a crab's hard shell or the migration patterns of a goose, or more captivated by the utterly human tales of trials and hardships, or more struck by the pains of our continued mistreatment of the environment.

Testdrive Before You... Roadtrip? Decisions!

The finalists were Mary Roach and Peter Behrens. I'm beginning to think Behrens is more of a fall read, though Roach is perfect for the beach - enough forward movement to keep you engaged coupled with the perfect balance of interesting facts, wit and humor to keep you entertained. Plus it's about sex, and there's something particularly sexy about the beach, in the way that everyone walks around with no clothes on like it's the most perfect thing in the world (just think, if all those bathing suits turned instantly to Hanes cotton undies and boxers, it would be deemed downright inapproprite, no?)


Oh god, I just sent the link to this blog to my parents...

Full review of Chesapeake and Bonk to follow when finished! Now, it's off to the beach. Yes, that beach pictured. Jealous?

Testdrive Before You... Roadtrip?

I'm heading to the beach tomorrow for a quick weekend on the Jersey shore. I'll be spending two glorious days in a large empty house three blocks from the ocean, and I will conveniently assign myself the bedroom with water views and water breezes so I can wake up, not move, and launch into my books.

The trouble: which books to bring? I only have about 100 pages left in Michener's Chesapeake (review to follow; preview = fantastic), and find myself debating which books make it into the suitcase and which stay. The four contenders are:

Mr. Muo's Traveling Couch - Dai Sijie
Bonk - Mary Roach
The Law of Dreams - Peter Behrens
A People's History of the American Revolution - Ray Raphael

I've decided tonight to read the first chapter of each before committing myself to a weekend one-on-one with the new title of my choosing - much like dating, I would not want to find myself stuck on the Jersey shore with little to do but wallow away the hours with a book (or man) I do not enjoy, let alone relish.

Does anyone else test-drive before a vacation? If not, how do you decide which books ultimately make the cut - and do you ever regret your decisions?