Submitted by Bethanne on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 5:16pm
You won't get much more from me today besides this list of links, because (as you know if you follow me on Twitter, or just read my Twitter feed on this page) my parents-in-law are here for a visit -- and they arrived an hour early this afternoon. While I'm technically Still Working, every married or partnered person out there knows that this will only win me about 15 minutes.
Suffice to say that I am pretty happy with this list -- and I hope you will be, too. I'll add all of the squibs tomorrow so you'll know what I think of these titles, but each of them is so good that you really can't go wrong. Want a great thriller? Pick the Slaughter! Compelling photos? Try the Franzen. Suspense? Carter's your man. And so on...
Many thanks for reading and re-tweeting! I'll be back tomorrow with my August picks, but if you're already on your way out of town, Happy Happy Fourth.
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
If you haven't already devoured Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- well, what are you waiting for? These are smart, modern, fast, and deliciously complicated mysteries with melancholic Scandinavian overtones. There's a third one on the way, but that's it -- Larsson died in 2004.
Jericho’s Fall by Stephen L. Carter
So okay, so all right, this isn't the Stephen Carter of New England White or Palace Council. It's still Stephen Carter, the incredibly smart and thoughtful law professor and novelist. I'd rather spend time with his attempt at a thriller than with a plethora of lukewarm literary fiction novels.
Sarah Dunant has grown as a novelist in the years since she first began publishing, and In the Company of the Courtesan was one of my favorite books of 2006. Dunant is back with another stunning read, this one about a 16th-century Italian convent. Truly gorgeous; don't miss it.
A gorgeous debut, Keegan's novel about a landlocked swimming star who must finally come to terms with the toll her training exacted on her life and emotional development is as absorbing as they come. It's refreshing to read about a precocious athlete rather than a precocious writer.
If I could, I would sit you down with all of Karin Slaughter's books and beg you to read them in order, just so you could see a) how fine a writer she was, is, and will be and b) her characters' stories unfold. But just read this one, from her Grant County series, and be dazzled.
One of the reasons I admire Unbridled Books is its ability to pick out reads that resonate with our love of genre -- yet twist each genre's formula while keeping the narrative strong. Barnes's suspense novel is a great example. It's all about a business that is all about illusion -- or is it?
The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
Its subtitle is irresistible -- "The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal." Mezrich, a Harvard alum like Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg, understands the world of the "Final Clubs" in which Saverin believed and Zuckerberg flouted. Cool fun.
Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich
I've said before that I'm wary of memoirs. This one and its story of the "monsoon of words" Rich confronted during a year-long language course in Udaipur, India, will be added to my list of 25 Memoirs Worth Reading (a blog post I'll write; I promise). A gorgeous story of metamorphosis.
CHEAP: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell
The Atlantic Magazine correspondent Ellen Ruppel Shell looks behind the very American love for bargains and uncovers some rather sad truths about wages, benefits, and quality of goods and products. Her conclusions may be depressing, but the food for thought is rich and well-researched.
The Regulars by Jonathan Franzen and Sarah Stolfa
This collection of photographic portraits of "regulars" at McGlinchey's Bar in Philadelphia is haunting in the best sense of that word: The people inside will stay with you, remind you of yourself and your near and dear, and make you wonder about who they are when they're outside.
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