Summer Reads
Elizabeth Strout’s linked collection of short stories just won the Pulitzer.
"The Story Sisters" is being called Hoffman’s finest in years.
Michael Connelly's newest follows Jack McEvoy instead of Harry Bosch for a page-turning thriller about a nasty serial killer.
Now known as “True Blood” on HBO, the Sookie Stackhouse novels are about a waitress with paranormal capabilities and her love affair with a blood-sucking vampire.
It’s summer time and if you’re like me, the living isn’t easy until you find a great summer read. The kind that sucks you in and keeps you up late at night, regardless of storm or scorching heat.
This summer, there are several tempting new titles worth slipping into your beach bag:
Olive Kitteridge (Random House, $14)
Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Strout’s linked collection of short stories just won the Pulitzer. Find out what all the fuss is about in "Olive Kitteridge." “Perceptive, deeply empathetic . . . Olive is the axis around which these thirteen complex, relentlessly human narratives spin themselves into Elizabeth Strout’s unforgettable novel in stories.” – O: The Oprah Magazine
The Story Sisters (Shaye Areheart Books, $25)
Alice Hoffman
Fans of “Practical Magic” and “Here On Earth” will be excited by Alice Hoffman’s latest dreamy, lush, romantic novel “The Story Sisters.” Elv, Meg, and Claire, are three dark-haired sisters who live in the attic of their old Long Island house. They live in a grim fairy-tale dream world of their own making, until one of the sisters spends time in Paris and comes back a changed girl by sex, drugs and love. It’s being called Hoffman’s finest in years, with beautiful writing and spell-binding spectacular characters. When Hoffman does the dream well, she does it exquisitely well. “The sisters’struggle to grow and thrive in the real world will keep you riveted to the pages of this heartbreaking novel about the powers and limits of love.” - Redbook
The Scarecrow (Little Brown $27.99)
Michael Connelly
Jack McEvoy, the reporter protagonist from “The Poet,” returns in Connelly’s latest page turner. This time, McEvoy’s been downsized from his job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Still, he’s hot on the trail of a new serial killer known as “The Scarecrow.” This is no Harry Bosch, but it’s a welcome respite and just in time for the beach.
Dead and Gone ($25.95)
Sookie Stackhouse
Now known as “True Blood” on HBO, the Sookie Stackhouse novels are light, funny, effervescent reads about a waitress with paranormal capabilities and her love affair with a blood-sucking vampire -- perfect for summer. In this latest installment, the Were people are about to reveal themselves to humanity.
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti (Grand Central Publishing $23.99)
Giulia Melucci
If you’re a fan of books that combine food and love (think Ruth Reichl’s “Comfort Me With Apples” or Julie Powell’s “Julie & Julia”), this new memoir is for you. "This delectable memoir follows New Yorker Melucci through failed relationships from college to midlife, detailing the recipes she used to reel the men in, sustain the romances, then comfort herself when they fizzled out. The book's heart lies in Melucci's gradual accretion of culinary wisdom, which leads her to acknowledge her identity as a writer. Anyone who has wondered, "Will I ever find Mr. Right?" will appreciate this sprightly debut." -Library Journal (starred review)
The Strain,
By Guillermo del Toro (William Morrow, $26.99)
Movie director Guillermo del Toro tries his hand at a vampire novel (with the help of Chuck Hogan) and it gets great reviews. In “The Strain,” vampirism is a virus that infects New York and it’s up to Dr. Eph Goodweather, and his motley crew of vampire hunters, to save the city – as well as the good doctor’s wife and son.
Mary Gaitskill
Don’t Cry: Stories, (Pantheon, $23.99)
Mary Gaitskill’s new collection, “Don’t Cry,” came out in March, but there’s much to carry this collection over to the beach. Dubbed the “downtown princess of darkness” by New York Magazine for her disturbing and utterly fascinating short stories exploring the dark side of love, her latest collection explores more than just the seamy side of sex. Stories of love, adoption, feminism, prostitution, and one-night stands, “Don’t Cry” received rave reviews from Newsweek to the Los Angeles Times.
Shanghai Girls
Lisa See (Random House, $25)
Lisa See has written captivating novels about the exotic East with her previous “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.” She returns with “Shanghai Girls” about two beautiful sisters who leave their homeland for arranged marriages in Los Angeles.
Also worth checking out:
Nobody Move
Denis Johnson (FSG $23)
Johnson's latest which was serialized in Playboy. I just started this, it moves fast and has Johnson's dry, sardonic wit. "Jesus's Son" fans won't be disappointed.
One D.O.A. and One On the Way
Mary Robison (Counterpoint, $23)
I just finished this. It was the first hardcover I've treated myself to in a long time. I love Robison's writing style -- minimal, shocking and beautiful. The ending was a little "oh really?", but the ride was a good one.
Lost Hearts in Italy
Andrea Lee (Random House, $13)
This isn't a new one, it was originally published in 2007, but I'm including it here because it's the best book I've read in a long time and one that perfectly fits the summer read category: it's got romance, exotic locale, great writing and expert plotting. Pick this one up in paperback. You won't be disappointed.
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