June 10, 2008
A Novel Idea
Summer Reading Roundup
For a novel experience, we asked the brains behind Books & Books for summer’s best (nonglossy) reads.
Turns out: characters? They’re just like celebs.
They Lie
When caught breaking curfew during the German occupation of the Channel Islands, the characters in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (July 29) use the impromptu name as an alibi. Annie Fiery Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer’s novel unfolds in letters exchanged by the club’s charming members.
They Get Lost
In 1980, Kate Meaney and her toy monkey disappear in a mall in Catherine O’Flynn’s gripping novel, What Was Lost (June 24). Twenty years later, a sleep-deprived security guard and a disillusioned music store manager spot the same young girl on the mall’s closed circuit TV.
They Date Idiots
The title of Liz Tuccillo’s outrageous novel, How to Be Single (June 10), sounds like dreaded chick lit. But look closer: The refreshingly honest debut is more about embracing singledom, friendship, and your late 30s than landing a man or a ring. Holla.
They Go Insane
Local literati John Dufresne’s new novel is no less absurd than his previous works. Requiem, Mass. (July 21) tells the story of a mother on the verge, who thinks her quirky tots, Johnny and Audrey, have been replaced by aliens.
They Social Climb
Ethan Canin’s juicy story, America, America (June 24), follows Corey Sifter as he makes his way up in the world. From small town to boarding school to politics, the higher he goes, the dirtier he gets. Nothing like ’70s-era lust and greed.
Available at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables (305-442-4408); 9700 Collins Avenue, Bal Harbour (305-864-4241 or booksandbooks.com).
