The Waning Days of Summer Reading

Our summer days are limited and we will soon need sweaters, blankets and hot tea on hand (which is exciting for me and I have my supplies at the ready). But regardless of the weather, there is reading to do my friends. Some of my reading this summer has been a bit rough. There are truly some really bad books out there being thrown at us by the marketing gods. But that said there have been three books that I have read recently that, even as whiny and critical as I have been, I really enjoyed.

“The Book of Essie” by Meghan Weir is a fast read and is really engaging.  Essie is the youngest daughter of a religious reality show family.  She finds herself at 17 years old pregnant and the family very quickly has to deal with the potential PR nightmare.  That in and of itself makes this book interesting but Weir digs quite a bit deeper. There is so much social commentary in this book that makes it really compelling – not just about religion but also about our fascination with being sold glossy stories by our media. Balanced, as always, with how quickly we swarm when we find out a star is about to fall.

“The Nix” by Nathan Hill is not a fast read. It is a beast of a book. Simply put the story is about Professor Samuel Andresen-Anderson whose mother walked out the door when he was ten years old. It seems she has reemerged in a fairly dramatic way by throwing small rocks at a political candidate.  Sam has been asked by his mother’s attorney to write a letter to the judge detailing what a good citizen and mother she is – which, considering he has not seen her in over twenty years, seems a bit presumptuous.  This book is just so much more than a simple story.  It is packed, and I mean packed, with funny vignettes, uncomfortable characters who eat stringy nachos and don’t shower, and cringe worthy critiques of academia and politics (which are also hilarious and/or disturbing).   It will take time to dig through but it is well worth it.

“All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother” by Danielle Teller is a part of a genre that I admit to often snubbing my nose at. Telling a well-known story from a different character’s prospective seems overdone at this point. That horse has been beaten, buried, dug-up and trotted around too many times (poor horse). All of that said, this book is exceptionally well written.  It would be a good story regardless of the Cinderella tie in and, frankly, it really doesn’t need it except those darn marketing gods.  It has a historical fiction feel to it and Teller truly has the ability to balance good character development with a solid descriptive narrative.  I am excited to see what she does next and I am hopeful it will be an original story all the way through. Her writing really deserves is on story.

I hope to stumble on more books that make me smile as we finish our days of warm sunshine.  Enjoy your weekend – hopefully there is a pajamas only, sunshine-filled, deep-breath taking, book-in-hand kind of day in it.