SUMMER READS

[rapa]

This week will hit triple digits here in Texas.  Am happy to be able to stay inside with the company of a good book. Just finished Lisa Scottoline's CORRUPTED. Have found all her books captivating!

Arriving at library today for me is THE SUMMER I MET JACK. This is a ficional story based on JFK.  

What do you recommend for a summer read? I recently returned from a trip to Leesburg, VA, visiting my daughter for a few days. Enjoyed watching The Royal Wedding with her.

Tomorrow my youngest granddaughter graduates from high school here.  All her sibs are flying in to wish her well.  She plans to begin college in the fall majoring in Deaf Studies. She already signs and plans to be an ASL interpreter.    

Wishing all a safe and healthy summer. 

[Apposite]

Thanks for the update RAPA. I don't have anything to report although I did get my copy of "The Great Alone". Must be relegated to summer reading at this point. I have been so fixated on nonfiction and the Civil War I forget what it is like to read for fiction. This one sounds fairly autobiographical though.

[Glenda Scheideler]

Haven't kept up as much as I should, but need to take the time to recommend EDUCATED, a memoir by Tara Westover..her childhood and her self-education. Sounds boring when I put it like that, but it is not...after you read it, you will say they can't make up a story like this.

[rapa]

Thanks, Glenda.  I'll give it a look/see.  It sounds similar to a book I have waiting for me at library:  THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD.....a memoir. by Maude Julien. 

[Baia]

This summer I have plans to binge read the collected works of Walter R. Brooks, that is his Freddy the Pig series of children's books.  This winter I joined the Friends of Freddy when I realized that this group of kindred spirits existed.  I first learned of Freddy through reading an excerpt from "Freddy the Detective" published in the Children's Hour collection purchased by my parents in 1953.  I read through the 16 volumes (which I still own and which have pride of place in the built in bookcases on either side of my living room fireplace) many times over the years and they gave me tastes of other authors and fictional characters that I pursued in whole feasts from my public library.  I read many, if not all of the Freddy books by checking them out from my local branch, but fell away from reading them as I grew older and discovered science fiction and mysteries.  But, it turns out, my literary tastes and my moral compass were set in large part by these children's books which are now considered to be the American counterparts to other English language classics of children's literature such as Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows.

This winter, I went online and searched out copies of all 26 volumes of the Freddy books and now I am leisurely munching away at them.  The large print is soothing to my old eyes and the gentle words are soothing to my soul in this time of over-hyped news and drama. The personalities of the barnyard animals that make up the world of Freddy, an exceptional pig if there ever was one, continue to remind me of people in the world around me.  According to reviews of these books, that was always attractive about them.  Walter Brooks was a writer for the New Yorker in his time and his journalistic skill and observational talent are still treasured in this legacy of his work starting way back in 1927 when the first book mentioning Freddy was published.  Freddy didn't come into his own until the third volume "Freddy the Detective" was published in 1932, but by then, the homespun humor found in the stories featuring a large cast of animal and human characters had become popular with children and the adults who read out loud to them.  All these many years later, Friends of Freddy claim to have been inspired and enriched by their reading experience with this series of books.  They even continue to publish a newsletter and have annual meet-ups that are attended by many generations of fans.  This year their convention is taking place in Seneca Falls, NY in October.  If it weren't for unexpected household expenses this year, I would be attending, but maybe next year in Fresno, CA. 

In the meantime, we still have Facebook!  

[rapa]

Baia, after reading your post I think I need some "Freddy" in my life. Hopefully the books are still available as I have 7 1/2 great grandchildren who I'm sure would enjoy getting to know Freddy and his friends.  Thanks so much so sharing this!!!!

[rapa]

Picked up at library last week:

THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD...a Memoir by Maude JulienThis is an extraordinary,harrowing tale of a French girl, the author Maude,  being raised in the most oppresive and cruel conditions.  

THE PLAGUE  written by Albert Camus who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957

FREDDY the DETECTIVE by Walter R. Brooks.   circa 1932

THE FAVORITE SISTER  by Jessica Knoll

US AGAINST YOU  by Fredrik Backman, author of A MAN CALLED OVE

THE CROOKED STAIRCASE.  by Dean Koontz

How's that for an eclectic TBR stack!  What are your summer reads?

[Ioruach]

This morning I finished Noir by Christopher Moore. It was easily the weirdest novel I have read in a long time, even though it received many positive reviews. I can't begin to adequately describe what it was about. It takes place in San Francisco just after WW II and is written in language that you would expect to hear and read from that period. In short, the main character is a bartender who falls for a beautiful blond who walks into his bar one day and the story goes on from there. An Air Force general also shows up looking for a bunch of girls to provide for a bunch of businessmen at some out-of-the-way place in the hills. It includes the crash of a mysterious aircraft at Roswell New Mexico and men in black suits and dark glasses from Washington D. C. who are looking for a creature who escaped from the aircraft, so they can bring it back to Washington to examine. Then the blond disappears along with a lesbian friend from a gay bar, so the main character, by the name of Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin, goes looking for her. The story even includes a Black Mamba snake ordered by Sammy, that bites and kills the bar owner. I rather enjoyed the book, but it was one that I often had difficulty getting back to the next day. As you can tell, very weird.

Anyway, rapa, that is my contribution, although my reading has slowed down somewhat, what with the many other things I have been doing this summer. I even had to return a book to my library that I had on hold, because I just didn't have time to start it.

[Baia]

I enjoyed reading Christopher Moore's books.  I first learned of him from a friend who recommended "Lamb:  The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal". All of the other books have an interconnected cast of characters with previously minor ones coming to the front to be featured in their own stories.  They are very strong in "what if", my favorite phrase.

I keep a copy of "A Dirty Job" on my kindle just in case I need a Charlie Asher fix.  He's such lovable worry wart. When his wife dies and he finds out that his newborn baby girl is a newly incarnated Grim Reaper, that's when his worrying really takes off.  Reading about Charlie's fears really puts death in perspective for me.  I love the whole series.  I think I have put a library hold on "Noir".  I'll have to check what my position is on the hold list.

[Angharad]

"A Dirty Job" sounds like fun, Baia. I need a lighter perspective on death--something other than, "Oh sh*t!!" ツ  

[rapa]

Last night I finished Fredrik Backman's US AGAINST YOU  the sequel to his BEARTOWN.. Super good read!  The last quarter of book beautifully written and heart rendering!  Backman can really capture a story!

[Ioruach]

I just put both of them on hold at my library. There are 5 ahead of me for Beartown and 11 for Us Against You, so it will be a while.

[rapa]

Am enjoying some good summer reads.  Here are the ones I finished this week.

1. HOW to WALK AWAY..   by Katherine Center.    This one I couldn't put down and highly recommend it.  Serious subject but written with hope and humor. 

2. FAMILY TREES.   By Kerstin March.    Story takes place near Lake Superior and centers on the apple orchards.  Boy meets girl and then the story takes off. 

3.  THE DEATH of MRS. WESTAWAY.  by Ruth Ware who wrote THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10.. The story revolves around Harriet, a tarot card reader, who received a formal letter saying she was due an inheritance from a grandmother.  Although she felt it was sent by mistake she goes to the funeral and then the fireworks begin. 

Today I picked up B. A. Paris's new best seller BRING ME BACK.  . Has good reviews.  Starting it tonight.  It does have a waiting list.

Are any of you doing any summer reading?  Please do share! Miss hearing from you.