Fiction
The Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt “Great family storytelling with Siri Hustvedt's "The Sorrows of An American". What a nuanced telling of an immigrant family, with a little mystery, great page turner.
sorry you are not an instant winner by Doritt Carroll. Another midsummer addition to the 2017 Great Beach Books top picks list! Doritt's poems are powerful, so candid and true. In reviewing one of Doritt's earlier chapbooks, Grace Caveliari of the Washington Independent Review of Books said it best: Doritt "hones each thought diligently until it acts precisely the way she chooses. These are carefully made poems from templates that have antecedents in our craft, but that are particularly targeted on a page that could belong to no one else." I owe Doritt a debt of gratitude. She, along with Kristina Bicher, whose book Just Now Alive was on the list a few years ago, reignited my love of poetry. Poems, I've realized, make great vacation reading, wonderful for digesting and enjoying when our minds have some room to run.
The Sot Weed Factor by John Barth "a really hard read but worth it." From Wiki: A satirical epic set in the 1680s–90s in London and colonial Maryland, the novel tells of a fictionalized Ebenezer Cooke, who is given the title "Poet Laureateof Maryland" by Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore and commissioned to write a Marylandiad to sing the praises of the colony. He undergoes adventures on his journey to and within Maryland while striving to preserve his virginity. The complicated Tom Jones-like plot is interwoven with numerous digressions and stories-within-stories, and is written in a style patterned on the writing of 18th-century novelists such as Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne and Tobias Smollett.
South of Forgiveness: A True Story of Rape and Responsibility. By Elva Thordis and Stranger Tom. The author was date raped her senior of high school. She spirals out, does not do well in life for the most part, but eventually marries and lives a relatively normal existence. Then, thanks to the development of email - she hears from him, her abuser. He (the co-author of the book) confides in her that he has lived his life with regret and torment, realizing as he had children, that what he did to her was wrong. They communicate, via email for EIGHT years, and then finally meet. Their communication eventually frees her of the guilt and doubt she (like any date raped woman) carries about her role in it, etc etc. And he learns, with her permission, to forgive himself and move on as well. The pair did a TED talk about their experience. The book is controversial: feminists saying that it sends a message to people that you can date rape and get forgiven, be 'buddies.' Quite the opposite, their point is that men need to recognize what date rape is, women need to NOT blame themselves or question their role, and, most importantly, if it does happen, one has to reach deep and forgive themselves - both rapist and victim in order to live a healthy life. Fascinating."
A Southern Girl by John Warley. “Set mostly in Charleston, as well as the beach at Sullivan's Island, it tells the story of a conservative, aristocratic southern family's adoption of a Korean orphan and her introduction into Charleston society. You can imagine the tensions, the drama, the conflicts because conservative and aristocratic as the protagonist's family is, he loves his little girl more than anything in the world. It's a great story, beautifully and humanely told, that will appeal to both men and women. It kept me up late turning pages. Plus it is the first book issued by Story River Books, a new imprint edited by Pat Conroy for the U. of S.C. Press, and the endorsements and Word of Mouth on it are really promising.”
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar. "A great book about friendship and class struggle in India." “Set in India about a wealthy woman and her downtrodden servant and their parallel and crossecting lives. I liked the idea of two completely different Indias running side by side - and of course that age old idea that money doesn't buy you happiness.” “A poignant story set in contemporary Bombay, this book tells the story of two women whose lives are intricately bound together through the complicated relationship of master and servant. The trappings of their class differences which both drives them together yet tears them apart is vividly explored through realities of their place in the socially stratified culture of India.”
The Spellmans Strike Again
Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny. This is a "stop the presses" addition to the 2017 top picks list. This novel features my new favorite character in fiction, the pathologically uncensored Audra. It's a wonderfully readable story, tailor-made for the GreatBeachBooks.com crowd. I read most of it on a long flight, and I laughed out loud more times than I can count. Everyone must read it, then we can all get together and talk about who among our mutual acquaintances have strains of Audra running through them. If you want to learn more, read this Washington Post review, which does a good job enumerating the book's virtues.
The Starboard Sea
Startup by Doree Shafrir. "Debut novel from Buzzed writer/editor Doree Shafrir chronicles start-up life in NY. Office hookups, tech journalism, smoke breaks … a quick and easy read. Well written".
State of Wonder
The Status of All Things by Liz Fenton. "Main character’s fiance dumps her at the altar. She uses social media to change her life. Dumb and fun."
The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg. This is the third mystery written by this Swedish author who has exceeded Stieg Larsson (“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, etc.) in sales. It is also the third mystery (after “The Ice Princess” and “The Preacher”) that the author has set in Fjallbacka, Sweden. Some critics have hailed it as the best of all three. It is a page turner and a great diversion from more serious subjects.
Stoner by John Williams. “Beautifully, simply written story about college professor's difficult life (book published in 1970s).”
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. “This is a feel-good novel, very beachy. It’s been compared to the Book Thief, but I think you’ll be disappointed if that’s what you’re expecting. It’s about a very crabby widowed bookseller. An abandoned baby comes into his life and everything changes. It sounds schmaltzy, but it’s really not. Okay, maybe a tiny bit schmaltzy, but not maudlin. How’s that for a review? Just read it if you haven’t already, it’s good for the beach.” “Every now and then I find a book where the words just leap off the page into my eyes as if it's reading itself. This delightful little wisp of a book is almost too fairy tale perfect. There is a cantankerous but loving bookseller, a smarter than average abandoned baby girl, a love story, a scoundrel, a comeuppance, a sad story, a happy story...every single thing you would want in a book that will whisk you away to a perfect little New England island world for a few hours."
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. "I read all bazillion pages in about four days (on vacation). I liked it (loved it even), but rather wish I'd known it was based on Hamlet." "I would put it at the top of my list. Absolute favorite book of the last few years. It is one of those absorbing books where you can actually ignore everything around you and read. Perfect vacation book! Amazing character development and story line. I wish I could write or even just imagine like him." From Amazon: "Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar's mother's affections. Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward."
The Storyteller
The Strangler Vine by MJ Carter. “India, 1837: William Avery is a young soldier with few prospects except rotting away in campaigns in India; Jeremiah Blake is a secret political agent gone native, a genius at languages and disguises, disenchanted with the whole ethos of British rule, but who cannot resist the challenge of an unresolved mystery. What starts as a wild goose chase for this unlikely pair—trying to track down a missing writer who lifts the lid on Calcutta society—becomes very much more sinister as Blake and Avery get sucked into the mysterious Thuggee cult and its even more ominous suppression. There are shades of Heart of Darkness, sly references to Conan Doyle, that bring brilliantly to life the India of the 1830s with its urban squalor, glamorous princely courts and bazaars, and the ambiguous presence of the British overlords—the officers of the East India Company—who have their own predatory ambitions beyond London's oversight."
The Submission by Amy Waldman (from my publishing insider – release date 8/2/2011) “About the Book: Claire Harwell hasn’t settled into grief; events haven’t let her. Cool, eloquent, raising two fatherless children, Claire has emerged as the most visible of the widows who became a potent political force in the aftermath of the catastrophe. She longs for her husband, but she has found her mission: she sits on a jury charged with selecting a fitting memorial for the victims of the attack. Of the thousands of anonymous submissions that she and her fellow jurors examine, one transfixes Claire: a garden on whose walls the names of the dead are inscribed. But when the winning envelope is opened, they find the designer is Mohammad Khan—Mo—an enigmatic Muslim-American who, it seems, feels no need to represent anyone’s beliefs except his own. When the design and its creator are leaked, a media firestorm erupts, and Claire finds herself trying to balance principles against emotions amid escalating tensions about the place of Islam in America.”
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door: Stories