The Wide Guide to Late Summer Reading

The forecast for the next week calls for two things: lots of sun and kids back in school. What a combination.

With all that time on your hands and plenty of beach weather left before fall arrives, may we suggest reading some or all of the books you should have read this summer, but never got around to?

Many thanks to the absurdly well-read staff at the Wilton Library for helping us compile the list.

Wilton Library's Books of the Month

Every month, the library selects a book to feature. Below are June, July and August's selections accompanied by the library's catalogue descriptions.

• The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller - Four characters in Miller's latest are bound together by the events of 9/11. The novel moves from the woods of Vermont to the streets of Boston as the lives of Billy, Leslie, Rafe and Sam intersect. Miller has a "Chekhovian understanding of missed connections, lost opportunities, and closely held memories that mutate slowly over time," according to The New York Times.
• The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan - In this collection by Ryan, the current Poet Laureate of the United States, readers will find both earlier work as well as many new poems. This retrospective is powerful to longtime followers and to those who may not read much poetry.
• That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo - This Pulitzer Prize-winning author writes a novel of deep introspection with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter's new life and, finally, what it was he thought he wanted and what in fact he has. Russo appeared in person at the library on June 27.

Editor's Picks

Admittedly, foisting my own literary proclivities on Patch readers is perhaps not the best way to go about this. Tough tarts. You're getting my summer reading and my effort at concise commentary on it.

• The Rabbit Series by John Updike - Composed of four books (Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich, Rabbit at Rest) and one novella (Rabbit Remembered), the series is made up of what is arguably the late author's most famous work. In Updike's unmistakably lyrical prose, the works trace the main character, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom's, life from early adulthood through to his posthumous legacy. The Angstrom character is a thinly veiled autobiographical recreation of Updike with a few tweaks, creating an interesting author/reader power play that complicates already poignant looks into suburban life in the mid to late 20th century. There is much to read for here: the mundanity of life and the various characters' coping mechanisms, loss, heartache, passion, perversion. Or if any of the subject matter seems droll or off-putting, that's the wonder of Updike- you can read solely for the way the words sing on the page and take away plenty.
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - You don't read this one for its fluidity. One of Faulkner's most well known works is also one of his most stilted. It is characterized by choppy, often short stream-of-consciousness chapters that represent various characters' internal monologues. Still, there is an elegance in the way Faulkner defines his characters more through their unique voices and what is left unsaid, rather than typical third-person omniscient descriptive narration. The beauty, here, is Faulkner's almost schizophrenic ability to shift authorial voices and how those voices coalesce into the larger body. Plus, it includes one of the shortest chapters in all of literature at five words.
• A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols - The account of the quest to tackle the world's first solo circumnavigation of the globe, this book is as much for the landlubber as the oldest of salts. Harrowing accounts from high seas, sailors slipping into madness, the nonfiction work is a perfect beach read. The strong story-telling melds the tale's true yet fantastical aspects together with compelling characters, there are heroes and villains alike, as it recounts nine men's journeys and the ripple effects of each. Fair warning: it will make you want to pick up sailing if you don't already.

Wilton Library Staff Suggests - Fiction

• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese - A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel–an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home. Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and their father's disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics–their passion for the same woman–that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him–nearly destroying him–Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him. An unforgettable journey into one man's remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel. Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption. From the Trade Paperback edition.
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man, Thomas Cromwell, dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power. In inimitable style, Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage.
• As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs - A rare mix of wit, social satire, and suspense, along with characters who leap from the page to speak directly to the reader--a moving story about a love that just won't give up--"As Husbands Go" is the latest from critically acclaimed, bestselling author Isaacs.
• 61 hours by Lee Child - Jack Reacher is back. The countdown has begun. Get ready for the most exciting 61 hours of your life. #1New York Times bestselling author Lee Child's latest thriller is a ticking time bomb of suspense that builds electric tension on every page. Sixty-one hours. Not a minute to spare. A tour bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she's going to live long enough to testify, she'll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses. Reacher's original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed-but so is the woman whose life he'll risk his own to save. In 61 Hours, Lee Child has written a showdown thriller with an explosive ending that readers will talk about for a long time to come. From the Hardcover edition.
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. - This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklistcalls "Anne Lamott's hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister") is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.
• Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. - The first novel in The Century Trilogy follows the fates of five interrelated families--American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh--as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
• The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory - Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort never surrenders her belief that her house is the true ruler of England and that she has a great destiny before her. Her ambitions are disappointed when her sainted cousin Henry VI fails to recognize her as a kindred spirit, and she is even more dismayed when he sinks into madness. Her mother mocks her plans, revealing that Margaret will always be burdened with the reputation of her father, one of the most famously incompetent English commanders in France. But worst of all for Margaret is when she discovers that her mother is sending her to a loveless marriage in remote Wales. Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at only fourteen, Margaret is determined to turn her lonely life into a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son on the throne of England regardless of the cost to herself, to England, and even to the little boy. Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power of the York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy Elizabeth of York's daughter. As the political tides constantly move and shift, Margaret charts her own way through another loveless marriage, treacherous alliances, and secret plots. She feigns loyalty to the usurper Richard III and even carries his wife's train at her coronation. Widowed a second time, Margaret marries the ruthless, deceitful Thomas, Lord Stanley, and her fate stands on the knife edge of his will. Gambling her life that he will support her, she then masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of the time - all the while knowing that her son has grown to manhood, recruited an army, and now waits for his opportunity to win the greatest prize. In a novel of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition, number one bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life the story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the course of history.

Wilton Library Staff Suggests - Nonfiction

• Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin. - Acclaimed "New York Times" reporter Sorkin delivers the first true, behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami.
• The Big Short by Michael Lewis. - The housing bubble and the 2008 crash of the U.S. stock market has been the topic of choice for a growing number of authors and pundits. But non-fiction author and financial writer Lewis shines his singularly insightful and frequently humorous light on questions like "Who knew?" and "Who got it right?" While the unprincipled villains who raked in vast amounts of money are certainly present and accounted for, Lewis also finds the heroes of the story, as unlikely as they may be. It's fresh, smart, informed writing. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
• Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. - Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it's possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA's new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.