Pat Taub
In these dark times slow reading or embracing books with paper pages can be a source of resistance and a place of refuge. I breathe easier when I turn away from the Internet to read real books in real time. Summer reading makes it possible to revisit a time when reading was leisurely.
Slow reading captures the essence of summer.
My picks of summer books runs the gamut from thrillers to absorb you on a noisy beach or in a crowded airport; novels by renowned authors to savor during a rainy day or in a self-imposed retreat; an inspirational memoir by a young Iranian activist; and a few books hot off the press that beckon.
For a recent trip to London I packed the gothic mystery, The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware.The protagonist, Hal is a tarot reader who at the book’s opening is trying to fend off a loan shark when she receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. Hal realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person, but decides to play along, hoping the inheritance will keep the loan shark at bay. Great plot twists with plenty of creepy characters occupying a decrepit mansion reminiscent of Charles Addams.
The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles by Katherine Pancol was a runaway best seller in France; and is now available in English. This funny, offbeat page-turner centers around the bleak life of medieval history scholar, Josephine Cortes, who lives in a tiny Paris walk-up with her chronically unemployed husband and their two daughters, a sexy, bratty teen and her younger preteen sister.
The book opens with the husband announcing he’s taking off to start a crocodile farm in Kenya with his mistress, leaving our protagonist scrambling to adjust to life as a single mother on a paltry salary. Thanks to a supportive feminist neighbor and a happy turn of events, Josephine comes into her own.
For writing chock full of sentences to take your breath away, open up William Trevor’s last short story collection, aptly titled, Last Stories. The New York Times Sunday Book Review section gave this posthumous collection a stellar front-page review. That was enough for me. I wasn’t disappointed in the beautifully crafted stories of ordinary Irish men and women in long-dead marriages and fizzled-out affairs.
After reading a special 12-page New York Times supplement of Rachel Kushner’s latest novel, The Mars Room I’ve added it to this list. The novel opens with the protagonist, Romy handcuffed and riding on a bus with other women prisoners on their way to a hellhole of a prison for lifers. This gritty book with strongly drawn characters chronicles the injustices and hardships of prison life, while offering plenty of dark humor. Kushner is a hypnotic storyteller.
I heartily recommend the gripping memoir, The Wind in My Hair by the Iranian activist and journalist, Masih Alinejad. I don’t see how anyone can read this book without being inspired by Aiinejad’s bold spirit. It’s the perfect antidote to the widespread despair consuming our country right now.
Masih Alinejad, author of “The Wind in My Hair” celebrating her hair freed from a hijab.
Alinejad’s repeated challenges to the Iranian government’s injustices and treatment of women landed her in jail and eventually made her life so unsafe that she was forced to leave Iran. Alinejad now lives in Brooklyn where she continues to fight for the rights of Iranian women through her Facebook page which launched the campaign, “My Stealthy Freedom,” encouraging Iranian women to cast off their hijabs and post pictures of their uncovered hair. Iranian women bravely took up the challenge, risking arrest and making Alinejad a feminist celebrity in Iran and around the world. Her Facebook page is one of the most visited in Facebook’s history!
An Iranian woman brazenly flying her hijab as part of “My Stealthy Freedom” campaign
On my short list is My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh, where a 20-something woman unhappy with her life decides to take a year off and just sleep. I can’t wait to enter into this darkly comic world to learn how it all turns out.
It’s nearly impossible to live in Maine and not read Stephen King. His latest book, The Outsider, promises classic King thrills and chills. Needing to parcel out my scary encounters, I plan to read The Outsider after I watch the finale of “A Handmaid’s Tale!”
HAPPY READING TO ALL!
