Front of Book: Summer's Last Hurrah

The best—and worst—book picks of the month from our favorite magazines.

Summer is winding down, but time still remains to cram in a few, last good reads before your tan fades or you exchange novels for textbooks.

Oprah typically has a lot to say on the subject. This month’s issue of O has many promising, if not a little heavy, suggestions. On that score there’s Methland by Nick Reding, about a small town in Iowa where images of quiet Main Street and wide open fields are replaced by the horrors of a methamphetamine epidemic. Reding doesn’t shy away from any details about this very real tragedy, but he also doesn’t remove himself from compassion and empathy for those who are embroiled in it. On the lighter side is Thomas Pynchon’s latest, Inherent Vice. While I’m not an avid mystery reader, a detective story with an intriguing hero (“a blend of classic California noir hero and committed hippie stoner”), a gripping and intricate plot, and the evocation of years past—the novel is set in the ‘60s—is just the recipe for a last end of summer getaway that starts and ends on your front porch.

One pick I’m not quite sure about is The Magicians by Lev Grossman, which at first skim reads like Harry Potter, except that the protagonist and his entourage live in Manhattan, move past first base, and drop F-bombs rather than “you-know-who”'s. A modern fantasy novel meets coming of age story, this doesn’t look like the Pulitzer, but if you’re itching for something to fill the void that J.K. Rowling so callously left after book number seven, this might be a good bet.

Catching on to the latest "Mad Men" buzz, O also features John Hamm’s book picks. Among this suave and serious actor’s recommendations is The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene, a tome about string theory and the laws of the universe that has been sitting on my shelf for years. I swear I’ll get to it one day. Hamm also suggests Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, the modern classic about an aging writer who just can’t find the words, sure to satisfy any bibliophile.

Over at Vanity Fair, the magazine’s Fanfair culture section takes us to elite beach clubs, dim sum, and dirty martinis before arriving at their short and sweet book feature. After reading an excerpt in The New York Times magazine, I’m right beside them in recommending food writer Frank Bruni’s memoir Born Round. Instead of imitating a foodie’s passion à la Meryl Streep, Bruni displays it with exuberance, along with humor, pathos, and a touch of David Sedaris-like self-deprecation, making this a read you’ll want to eat up in one bite. Less digestible but equally engaging is Love is a Four-Letter Word, a collection of short stories about break-ups. Don’t expect pints of Ben & Jerry’s and gallons of self-pity: the stories are sharp, poignant, and recounted with candor and wit. The collection also includes two mini graphic novels, by Emily Flake and Lynda Barry.

Elle gives us three books that won their Reader’s Prize 2009: Laura Moriarty’s While I’m Falling, Cathy Marie Buchanan’s The Day the Falls Stood Still, and Sarah Dunant’s Sacred Hearts. The first two are undeniably well-written, but the basic premise of female protagonists whose lives are falling to pieces—in Moriarty’s, a young woman in college and in Buchanan’s, a girl from a well-to-do but ailing family in Niagara Falls who falls inevitably in love—don’t pique my interest for a last summer page turner. I’m voting for Dunant’s Sacred Hearts, sucker as I am for period drama. The book takes place in an Italian convent where things are not as holy as they seem. Careful research and plot drama make things come to life behind this convent’s walls.

Here’s to summer’s last few rays.

--Allison Geller

Front of Book: Great Escapes

The best—and worst—book picks of the month from our favorite magazines.

As summer sets in, the common thread in this month’s magazines’ book picks was getting away—to a beach, an exotic locale, or a long forgotten era. Some recommendations are promising, while others beg the reader to keep their sweet distance.

The worst of the lot comes, predictably, from Cosmopolitan. First, of course, is the steamy excerpt from the latest endorsed trashy novel—Jill Sorenson’s Crash Into Me. It’s about a detective who finds herself falling for the suspected murderer she’s supposed to be investigating (like you didn’t see that one coming). As if the title weren’t bad enough, the excerpt actually contains the phrase “convulsing in ecstasy” and ends with the main character’s realization of what “she’d known all along: she was in love with him. If only she could prove his innocence…” If only. The other four books that Cosmo proclaims make up “Your Summer Reading List” include Paula Froelich’s Mercury in Retrograde, Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places, and Jennifer Manske Fenske’s The Wide Smiles of Girls. The first is unqualified chick lit, the second’s a thriller, and the third is a tear-fest. Froelich’s Mercury, about three diverse women in one New York apartment complex, has the Erica Jong seal of approval, so I’d call it your best bet. The icing on the cake, however, is the fourth book to complete your Cosmo-approved beach bag essentials—Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits, by Jack Murnighan. Ugh, as if we really need another breezy idiot’s guide on "How to Pretend to Be Well-Read." I’m panning that one so hard it could be served with bacon on the side.

The getaway theme continues at Vogue, the (much more promising) list entitled “Be Transported.” They suggest: Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, Aleksandar Hermon’s Love and Obstacles, Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, and Monica Ali’s In the Kitchen. See’s Shanghai Girls is undoubtedly a good pick, following her bestselling Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Toibin’s novel, about an Irish immigrant girl in 1950’s New York, is allegedly beautifully written with a provocative ending. Hermon and Adichie’s books are both collections of short stories; the former set in war-torn Bosnia and the latter in both America and Nigeria. But when it comes to prime summer reading, my vote is for Ali’s In the Kitchen. The English writer won awards for her last novel, and this one, about the increasingly complicated life of its protagonist, an executive chef at a posh hotel, is sure to be a good read.

At Essence, the trend continues with “Great Escapes.” It recommends that on your summer trip to the Vineyard you take along Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead. This one’s already gotten a lot of buzz, and from what I’ve read, deservedly so. Before meeting up with long last pals, the mag advises you to pick up Connie Briscoe’s Sisters and Husbands, the sequel to her '90’s bestseller Sisters and Lovers. I’m questioning the scenarios, but the books seem like ideal summer reading.

The magazine also proclaims that “African writers are experiencing an overdue renaissance”, citing the Rob Spillman-edited collection of stories, Gods and Soldiers, new writer Kwei Quartey’s Wife of the Gods, Adaobi Tricia Nwauban’s I Do Not Come to You by Chance. Short stories seem to be in this month. However, I’m most excited about Nwauban’s novel, for its unique premise—it’s about Nigerian Internet scammers—as much as for the writer’s present under-the-radar status.

So prepare yourself for your summer literary getaway—it starts at the library and ends with a tan.


--Allison Geller


Photo courtesy of Media Bistro.