It has been a crazy summer. Lots of work, travel, website redos (crazy…), but also a lot of reading.
With school just about set to open, and football season well under way, I thought I’d throw out a quick and dirty list of books I tackled this summer. There are some really great ones in here, too!
Marlena, by Julie Buntin (Amazon)
I started this one early, probably in late May or June, so I’m not sure it qualifies as summer reading. Maybe we’ll call it early summer reading. Regardless of its label, though, is the fact that this is a very readable, starrk novel about two adolescent girls and their friendship in the face of the hardness of rural Michigan. The book does a super job of digging into its narrator’s psyche as she develops her connection to the eponymously named main character, a young girl struggling with addiction and identity in a really bleak setting. Not feel good reading at all, but a powerful debut novel. It started my reading season off well- I recommended it to my entire family.
Our Souls at Night, by Kent Haruf (Amazon)
This is such a sweet, simple story. It hooked me right away. I got the recommendation from the BookRiot Podcast, something I highly recommend people who love to read listen to. Haruf writes with an elegance that allows readers to fully engage easily with the story, and you just fall in love with the characters. This is soon to be released as a feature film on Netflix.
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders (Amazon)
I loved this book! Considered one of the “big books of the summer,” it did not fail to captivate me with its ingenious storytelling and really fascinating story. Saunders, a short story writer by trade, steps it up in this novel about the grieving president who is mourning the death of his son while the Civil War rages. It’s a big story about grief, love, the afterlife, and the ties that bind us to one another. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel’s short snippets of text offer the reader so many cool voices to interact with. Well done on all counts.
MoonGlow, by Michael Chabon (Amazon)
This was the real wildcard read of the summer. Described by Chabon as “Gravity’s Rainbow fanfiction,” this book is a big, sprawling narrative that covers the life of the narrator’s grandfather. It reads like a biography, the narrator being named Michael Chabon, and it covers the narrator’s grandfather’s exploits from World War II through the space race of the 1960’s to a retirement community in Florida. Broad, far reaching and far flung, this book was a long, luxurious romp. Well worth reading.
Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue (Amazon)
I’m just working through this book, another BookRiot recommendation. It is so well done. I’m enjoying it. This one may take a while to get through, with the demands of school rearing up. I’ll keep you posted.
Have a great fall!
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