Usually every summer there is at least one book that is marketed to death and talked about endlessly--people either hate it or love it when they read it, but it usually makes big (book) headlines. The books that come to my mind from the last few years are The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Did I miss something this summer? I suppose J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would qualify as the big read this summer (and the build up for it was quite big!). I was thinking of a book specifically marketed for adults, however. Did I miss it?
I ask this question as I have just picked up the most recent BookPage from my library. The one full page ad is for M.J. Rose's The Reincarnationist. I'm not sure if this title really appeals to me, and it doesn't strike me as necessarily the blockbuster of the summer. As a matter of fact I really haven't had a lot of luck with finding really good things in BookPage this summer. Of course now I am actually turning my thoughts toward fall reads. I have noted a few possibilities, however:
- The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (has anyone read A Natural History of the Senses?--I loved that book, I really need to reread it). Her new one is set during WWII in Poland.
- Interred with the Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell. This one is a murder mystery involving a lost play by Shakespeare.
- Away by Amy Bloom. This novel concerns one woman's journey across the US, though Alaska and into Russia in the 1920s in search of her daughter.
I'm afraid that's the extent of my list. It's probably just as well that I only found three titles. I have plenty to keep me busy these days. Did I mention that I have discovered the place on my library's website where you can suggest books to be purchased? I requested three and two have been ordered.
- Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. I have heard nothing but good things about this book (by a Norwegian author) from other bloggers. It's written by a Norwegian author. The story is about an older man looking back on a "transformative summer" of his youth.
- The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy. Choy's novel is set in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 40s and 50s. It sounds as though it is interrelated short stories.
These days my (new) book ideas/recommendations seem to trickle in here and there. Of course it's amazing what a trickle can amount to--I have something like 35 book and movie (more books than movies) titles on my library wishlist. Hopefully they won't all come in at once!