Summer Vacation Reading

Inspired by an essay on The Millions called What I Read on My Summer Vacation, I decided to write what I read on my summer vacation - as it turns out, not that much. However, I can talk about the books that we talked about on my summer vacation:

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany. As this is our current club selection, I dutifully brought it with me to our trip to New Jersey. I'm halfway through, and it's proving to be slow, probably since much of the story takes place around Christmas, which makes for terrible summer vacation reading. But John Irving's a great writer, and Owen Meany is a great character. I'm pushing forward, with high hopes for the latter half.
2. A Widow For One Year. Another John Irving book, this time purchased at an awesome book store in Greenwich Village my wife and I stumbled upon called Three Lives & Company.

It is the quintessential corner bookshop, with low ceilings and dark-wood shelves. I bought the American edition of Widow to mark the event. I have read the book a few times already, so I probably won't actually read this edition, but it already looks great on the shelf.
3. Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. I've been thinking about Salinger a lot lately, for a few reasons. One, I recently reread Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, in which Salinger (or "Jerry") is a main character. Two, I recently rewatched Imagine: John Lennon and could not help but somehow implicate Salinger in Lennon's death, as Mark David Chapman was obsessed with Holden Caulfield and had a copy of Catcher in the Rye in his pocket when he shot Lennon to death. This feeling of tragedy was exacerbated by our visit to The Dakota and Strawberry Fields in Central Park:

Nine Stories is brilliant, however, so I forgave Salinger his involvement in the twisting of Chapman's mind.
4. Housekeeping vs. The Dirt. Nick Hornby's second collection of articles for The Believer are every bit as enjoyable as the other two. I can't really put into words what these books do for me, though "pure enjoyment" comes pretty close. And he talks about Miriam Toews in this one, which gets me even more excited, as I always feel a little bit of excitement whenever a Canadian is featured in an international-type program or book. The same is true for Owen Meany, as the protagonist eventually ends up in Toronto. Even though it's Toronto, I still think to myself, "cool, he's talking about Toronto!" I'm so Canadian.
5. Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Everybody's favourite book about a bookstore became my wife's beach book this summer. Since she liked it, a lot, I am inclined to read it sooner rather than later. In her words, "It's a strange, mysterious mystery. And strange."

6. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson. Another American edition find. I shopped at Borders for this one, and was lucky enough to find an edition that is not available in Canada, making my biblioventure complete. My wife also recently finished this one, and liked it, a lot. It's a dark, dark mystery, set in Sweden and is part one of a trilogy. Part 2 is out now in hardcover, Girl Who Played With Fire, and the third one is set for release next summer. The author wrote the trilogy but died before its publication, and its subsequent translation from Swedish has been an interesting biblioventure in itself, as the entire trilogy, called the Millennium trilogy, has been fully translated into French, but not English. There's also a movie in the pipe, making this a burgeoning franchise opportunity. For all the hype, however, well-deserved, according to my wife.

That's my trip in books - look for less interesting posts in the days to come. Also, it's close to September reading time, so get your thinking caps on for a September book selection.

Summer Reading Pick: A Prayer For Owen Meany

The poll has closed and our choice is clear: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving has been selected as our summer pick. I am happy with this choice, as this is one Irving novel that I have not yet read, and by all accounts it is one of his best. I've seen the movie (Simon Birch), or parts of it, and I liked that, so I know I'll like the book. I also just finished reading Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella (another great summer read - a full post on that later), which prominently features Iowa, writers and/or writing, and New England, three Irving staples.

Given the length of time before our next reading selection (September 1st), we should also try to read as many of the other nominees as possible and write some bonus reviews. As mentioned previously, they're all great reads and should be interesting to read about them.

Summer Reading Poll Open for All

The poll to select our summer reading pick is now up. You'll notice a couple of additions, one at the behest of Jackie, who suggested Lamb by Christopher Moore, and, much to my chagrin, Bonnie's suggestions of Twilight and Sophie Kinsella, as well as Jackie's other suggestion of Charlaine Harris. Who said democracy was easy? Poll closes in a week.

Summer Reading

For the next book selection, I thought we'd focus on summer reads - fun reads you can enjoy while sitting under a tree on a sunny summer day. I also thought that we would choose for two months instead of just one, coming back from summer with a new title for September (this has nothing to do with the fact that I haven't finished Cloud Atlas yet). I've compiled a list of summer reads - granted, "summer reads" have different connotations for different people, but I will try my best:

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

2. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon

3. The Believers - Zoe Heller

4. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I've provided five possibilities, but I invite more, if there are any other suggestions. You'll notice that a few of them are familiar, as they have been previous nominees, but I think they fit the category and would be worthy reads for summer. All have great stories told with humour and are relatively short, with, I think, Eggers' book the longest at 375 pages. However, if I'm right, the pages will fly by as we will all have so much fun while reading. Who could ask for more? I'll set up the poll on Thursday with the list of suggestions.

June's Pick: The Siege of Krishnapur

After a false start and a new suggestion, we have all decided on The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell as our next club selection. It's about war, so that's good, and it is on the shortlist for the Best of Booker prize to be handed out later this summer. Happy reading everyone! While we're waiting for everyone to read and review the book, feel free to post thoughts on everything from movies to the NBA Finals. Just keep it manly. That means no reviews of the Sex and the City movie - I'm looking at you, Hutty. And keep those thinking caps on for suggestions for July's selection.

UPDATE: The Siege of Krishnapur turned out to be our "Summer 2008" selection rather than a strictly "June" selection.