I declare this
the summer of Chris! No, I'm not just sitting at home in my velvet
pajamas all day, calling the store to ask Daniel what's happening. Not yet,
anyway. Rather, I've been at home reading through a stack of this summer's new
releases. This summer, this is me:
Now Boswell's
New and Noteworthy shelves are loaded with my summer recommendations. So here's
a guide to the Summer of Chris reading list:
Novels:
City of
Secrets by Stewart O'Nan
Just after World
War II, holocaust survivor Brand lives in hiding in Jerusalem's walled Old
City and becomes reluctantly involved in the violent resistance to British
colonial rule. The novel is disguised as a historic thriller, and it exposed me
to a troubling chapter in Great Britain's history, but the real story is that of
a man's conflicted heart. O'Nan is particularly adept at delving deep into his
characters' internal conflicts, and explores how much a man can lose and still
fight for life, and how much of his own moral code a man is willing to break for
a larger cause.
Nitro
Mountain by Lee Clay Johnson
Welcome to "the
lost dog capital of the world." This novel, which reads like a hard, classic
country song come to life, follows the doomed-just-for-living lives of two
broke country musicians, one moonshiner full of rage and white lightning, and
the mountain woman who loves them all. The novel is set in the foothills
of Appalachia, the region where I grew up, and comes as close as any book I've
ever read to capturing what we call "Appalachian fatalism" - the bone
deep, born knowledge that if something bad can happen to you, sooner or later it
probably will.
Enchanted
Islands by Allison Amend
Based on the
real life of Frances Conway, a quiet woman turned international spy in the
Galapagos Island during World War II. A beguiling novel of island life and
espionage, friendship, love, and betrayal, Amend's third novel is a exciting
step forward for her career, all of her talents coalescing into a book that
shows a writer coming into her full storytelling
powers.
The
Invoice by Jonas Karlsson
A man with a life
that's average at best is surprised to discover he's officially the happiest man
in the world. He's even more surprised when he's told that happiness
isn't free. Riffing on Kafka but taking things in a new direction, Sweden's most
popular TV-star-turned-bestselling-author has written a quirky book that's at
turns dark and hilarious, anxious and rambunctious, an oddball affirmation of being alive.
Non-Fiction:
Seinfeldia by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
The stories behind the stories of one very, very bad man, a terrible dancer, a pathetic loser, and a hipster doofus. A fascinating history of America's most famous sitcom, from its seat-of-the-pants inception to its culture-shifting influence, this book is so well written that it will give even the most hopeless George at least one conceivable reason to get up in the morning. This book glitters!
The Voyeur's Motel by Gay Talese
A disturbing and controversial book by one of America's preeminent journalists, Talese reconstructs the story of a Colorado motel owner who spent decades spying on his guests through secret vents in his motel rooms' ceilings. Along with the obvious, disturbing implications for the motel industry and its customers, the book raises uncomfortable questions about the writer's ethical, not to mention legal, obligations to the voyeur's victims. Yet even as these questions remain unanswered, the book persists in being compelling, a glimpse into the mind of a man driven by obsession that is at once repulsive and riveting.
After all that
reading, this is pretty much me for the rest of this summer:
