Reading Tryst
Unable to commit to summer reading? Just follow our four-step plan
American history will rule this summer thanks to David McCullough's 1776 ($32), a stirring account of the Revolutionary year. "You know how when you walk down the beach and every 20 feet you see the same book? That'll be one of those," says Cathy Langer, buyer for the Tattered Cover bookstores in Denver. But don't make this the summer of just one book, pleads Steve Leveen, author of The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life From Your Books . Some titles may seem overwhelming--even John Irving's fans will be daunted by the 819-page UNTIL I FIND YOU (July 12, $28), about a boy searching for his tattooed, organist father. But packing more books into your schedule is a cinch if you select a "library of candidates," then figure out how those books can fit into your life. One tip: With books, you don't have to finish what you start. "Many people feel guilty about giving up on a book, but that's as wrong as wrong can be," Leveen says. Sample tons, reject a bunch, then stick to what you truly enjoy. (Books noted here are already in stores if no date appears.)
Books you can't put down
When you have a big chunk of time--an airplane ride or a rainy Sunday--you have the chance to devour a book whole. Even if you meant to take a break, you'd probably forget a few pages into NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Cormac McCarthy (July 19, $25). For his first novel in seven years, the author of All The Pretty Horses delivers a modern Western (without quotation marks). The gritty plot follows what happens when a hunter finds a suitcase of dough. The guys who own it really want it back. "This is not a novel of young New Yorkers dealing with their marketing jobs. It's for people who really appreciate a story well told," says Dave Weich, of Powell's Books in Portland, Ore. And it helps not to mind a generous helping of gore. If dirt is more your thing, turn to OH THE GLORY OF IT ALL by Sean Wilsey ($26), already generating buzz for its trash-talking about the San Francisco social set. This no-holds-barred memoir of a spoiled rich kid in boarding school and beyond tracks the childhood of McSweeney's writer Wilsey, who's the product of two royally screwed-up parents--a father who had an affair with Danielle Steel and a mother who attempted to get her son to join her in a suicide pact after her marriage broke up. He reserves most of his scorn, however, for his stepmother, who rivals the wickedest fairy-tale version. For an easy, breezy beach read--and a good laugh--crack open Rodney Rothman's EARLY BIRD: A MEMOIR OF PREMATURE RETIREMENT ($23). It tells the true story of what happens when the former head writer for Late Night With David Letterman burns out on comedy writing and moves to Boca Raton.
Books you can put down
Some books you may want to march straight through; others might be better to sample over a period of time--like FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner ($26). The duo posits some unconventional (and at times controversial) theories--that swimming pools are more dangerous than guns for small children, abortion has brought down the crime rate, and teachers and sumo wrestlers share an incentive to cheat. Each chapter tackles a different topic, so you can take your education in small doses. Melissa Banks, author of The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing , returns with THE WONDER SPOT ($25) and helpfully divides the story of her heroine into snippets ranging from eight pages to 76. Each follows a foible of her life, from developing an odd friendship with her glam college roommate ("men could seem almost angry at her for being so pretty") to dropping by an awkward party in Brooklyn with her much younger boyfriend. Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl, author of More Book Lust: 1,000 New Reading Recommendations for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, opines, "It starts slowly, but let it grow on you. I loved it." Three novellas are stuffed into Jim Harrison's THE SUMMER HE DIDN'T DIE (August 8, $24), making it another convenient on-again, off-again read. In the title selection, a Michigan Indian attempts to raise his stepchildren and still make ends meet.
Books to share
Curling up with a book doesn't have to be a solitary experience. "Reading is a contact sport," says Leveen, who recommends reading books with friends, either in organized book groups or in a more casual way. Talking about literature challenges you to read selections you might not otherwise touch. Besides, you're more inclined to read if you know you'll be discussing your thoughts later. NBC's Today show has already tapped THE HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss ($24) for its book club. The tale introduces Leo Gursky, a Polish Holocaust survivor who made his way to New York, only to learn that his beloved had already married. He believed the book he wrote for her had been lost, but it in fact had fallen into the hands of another family. Krauss whisks readers around the globe and through time to find the story of the book. To be transported to 19th-century China, check out Lisa See's SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN (June 28, $22), which depicts the friendship of two women against a backdrop of foot binding, arranged marriages, and a secret code women used to communicate. It's hard for anyone to resist Nick Hornby, whose latest is A LONG WAY DOWN (June 7, $25). "He's popular among people who don't always read because he's not silly, but still fun," Weich of Powell's Books says. So it shouldn't take too much prodding for your buddies to all pick up this darkly comic story about four people who meet on New Year's when they all try to commit suicide in the same place. They decide to eat pizza and talk instead. More adventurous readers might read (and discuss among themselves) the bizarrely brilliant SPECIMEN DAYS: A NOVEL by Michael Cunningham (June 7, $25), author of The Hours . A young boy, a man, and a woman, appear in three stories set in New York: one during the Industrial Revolution, one in present day, and a third in the future.
Books to hear
Although some say it's cheating to listen to an audiobook, Leveen is a fan. "People have been telling stories for thousands of years," he argues. In the car, on a plane, even on the beach, you may enjoy a book more if you close your eyes and let the narrator whisk you away. Fast-paced fiction, he notes, is especially easy to absorb orally. Elizabeth Kostova starts THE HISTORIAN (June 14, $26; $50 for CD) by teasing her readers with a mysterious letter addressed to "My Dear and Unfortunate Successor." With that, she sucks them into a plot about a woman's quest to understand her family's secrets and connection to Dracula. Similarly seductive, THE TRAVELER by John Twelve Hawks (June 28, $25; $50 for CD) quickly hooks you into its Matrix -esque world, where most "Travelers" live "off the grid" --away from surveillance systems--and "Harlequins" protect them from the menace of the "Tabula." Maya, a reluctant Harlequin, must save two brother Travelers. So the butt-kicking begins. And it seems quite fitting to listen to culture/music critic Chuck Klosterman's KILLING YOURSELF TO LIVE: 85% OF A TRUE STORY (June 28, $23; $30 for CD), as he takes a road trip to the death sites of rock-and-roll legends while pondering tunes and his love life. The best audiobook of the summer though, book-buyer Langer opines, should be HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (July 16, $30; $75 on CD) with legendary reader Jim Dale. "He's a genius," she gushes. And if you listen to it in the car on your family road trip, all of you can crack open more books when you reach your destination.
This story appears in the June 6, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.