Oh, those summer nights... and summer reading

By Helena (Blogger) on Sun, 2011-07-03 19:33
in

There are few things in life that give me more pleasure than deciding what to read for the summer. It’s not just the prospect of idleness, lazy afternoons spent reading on beaches and front porches, drink in hand, that appeals to me. Nope, it’s the whole journey, from tentatively deciding on which lucky books will get to spend the summer with me, to writing lists, browsing and buying, and – finally – settling down to read the books I’ve been dying to read all year. Now, as you are about to discover, I tend to get brutally over-optimistic when it comes to planning my summer reading. Ten mammoth-sized novels in four weeks? No probs! Getting touchy-feely with fantasy, a genre known for many things, short novels not being one of them, as well as catching up on the latest in crime, fiction, and horror? Why, the sky’s the limit! Why not throw in some non-fiction and classics as well, just for the heck of it…?

So, bearing in mind that this list is more aspirational than factual – and also bearing in mind the fact that I absolutely reserve the right to change my reading plans at any given moment – I bring you…

HELENA’S SUMMER READING LIST: THE 2011 EDITITION!

The Passage (Justin Cronin)

The Passage (Justin Cronin) 

Here's a testament to the strength of summer reading plans: I bought The Passage, which has been praised by everyone from Stephen King to numerous Swedish book bloggers with a flair for horror, in January. The tome-esque trade paperback edition, that is. When I started reading, I immediately realised two things. 1: This is, to paraphrase Special Agent Dale Cooper, a damn fine novel. 2: This damn fine novel is too damn big and heavy to fit into my bag. I then decided to put the reading on hold until summer, when I would have time and energy to immerse myself in vampiric apocalypse. Can't wait to read this! And yes, I ended up buying the smaller, more beach-friendly paperback edition. Because a girl can't have too many copies of awesome horror novels, even if they happen to be duplicates.
Salem's Lot (Stephen King)

Salem's Lot (Stephen King) 

Vampires, summertime, can't beat the combo. In August, I will be re-reading King's take on Dracula, originally published in 1975, for my book club. The last time I read it at the tender age of thirteen, I was scared senseless - and irrevocably lured onto the dark and treacherous path that leads to all things horrific... Very anxious to find out whether it has passed the test of time.
Incubus (Carol Goodman) Incubus (Carol Goodman) 
I absolutely, utterly adore Goodman's tales of literary suspense and her latest one, which will be published in July, seems like another winner. We have all the classic Carol Goodman traits: a Gothic setting in the deep, dark woods of upstate New York, a remote progressive arts school, a folklore teacher... and, of course, a mystery. Why change a winning concept?
The Red Garden (Alice Hoffman) The Red Garden (Alice Hoffman) 
When it comes to magical realism in a cosy small town setting, no North American does it better than Alice Hoffman. I've read and enjoyed the vast majority of her beautifully written novels, including Practical Magic and Turtle Moon, but have found her latest novels somewhat lukewarm. Her latest novel, which tells the tale of a New England town during three centuries, sounds like the real deal, though.
The Steel Remains (Richard Morgan) The Steel Remains (Richard Morgan) 
As some of you may already be aware, I've vowed to use this summer to become better acquainted with fantasy. More specifially, the scary kind that features swords and elves (aka, shudder, high fantasy). Richard Morgan was recommended to me by the almighty Jan, and while The Steel Remains does have swords in it, it also has a killer first sentence: ”When a man you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you only have two basic options”. I'm all about killer first sentences, so hopefully Morgan will finish what he started.
The Silent Girl (Tess Gerritsen) The Silent Girl (Tess Gerritsen) 
Sometimes creative to the point of ridicule (modern day mummies, corpses walking out of their own autopsies, etc, etc), Gerritsen is always a fun, scary read. The new instalment in the Rizzoli/Isles series is bound to please lovers of slightly gory thrillers worldwide. Ideal for long, warm summer evenings. American Rust (Philipp Meyer) Picked this up on a whim, knowing absolutely nothing about the writer nor the book. This I know, though: a novel set in a dying Pennsylvania steel town, with echoes of Steinbeck and McCarthy (and, at least from where I'm standing, a bit of Tawni O'Dell, too) sounds too good to ignore.
Boy's Life (Robert McCammon) Boy's Life (Robert McCammon) 
And now we're back to my key argument: the unyielding force of summer reading plans. See, I've had Boy's Life in my book shelf for almost a year now. I KNOW that I will love it. In fact, the very promise of this coming-of-age novel oozes potential Helena favourite. So much so that I've almost been scared to read it (you know how it is with books and impossible expectations). But! I have decided that the summer of 2011 will be the summer of Boy's Life. Come late August, something tells me that I'll have a new favourite.
Karen Campbell's Anna Cameron series (The Twilight Time, After the Fire, Shadowplay) Karen Campbell's Anna Cameron series (The Twilight Time, After the Fire, Shadowplay, Proof of Life)
Because it's about time. And because female Scottish crime writers never disappoint. Never!

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