Monday, June 13, 2011

Summer Reading

What to read this summer? I have just finished four great books in a row.  Must be my lucky month because I often set aside books if they do not grab me.  But my fab four are:

1. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Scientist braves the Amazon jungle to find out what happened to her colleague who has been reported dead.

2. Life Class by Pat Barker A 1914 love story. Two artists meet and one goes to war.

3. One Man's Trash by Ivan E. Coyote.  Light, funny, quick, insightful stories by the mistress of stories.

2. Old Filth by Jane Gardam.  A aging British barrister looks back on his life in Hong Kong and England, so  uneventful to his friends, but, in reality,  fraught with event and suffering. 

The last book was recommended to me by the clerk in Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais.  Drury Lane is one of those pleasant browsing places with a great selection, a perfect small bookstore and an independent book store at that.

To help with my summer reading, I picked up their newsletter which provides a handy  list of the shop's  twenty best selling novels for last year.  Some I have read.  The Steig Larsson trilogy, (good if a bit gruesome)  The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry, (excellent)The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.  (so-so)

But also on the list were two recommended by my book club.: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, Litle Bee by Chris CleveJohnathan Franzen's Freedom got mixed reviews from the club but I liked his novel, The Corrections,  so it will go into the summer pile.

Joan Drury made the list twice with Closed in Silence, and Silent Words and for this reason, I will hunt her up.  Still Life by Louise Penny (who once lived in Thunder Bay,) made the list and is already down on mine.

For the entire list

The Girl with the Fragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson
The Girl who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson
Silent Words by Joan Drury
The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steif Larsson
Return to Willow Water by Jean Husby
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Murierl Barbery
Hanuted Ground by Erin Hart
The Florist's Daughter by Patricia Hampl
Absolutely True Dairy of a Part Time Indian
Teh Help by Kathryn Stockett
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
The False Mermian by Erin Hart
Vermillion Drift by William Kent Krueger
Good Night Minnesota by Gamble and Veno
Closed in Silence by Joan Drury
Still Life by Louise Penny
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verhese

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