Pile up the summer reading books
By: Joan Ruddiman
It’s June, and my thoughts are turning to reading for fun. June means the end of school and all those long, lazy summer days that are made for getting lost in a book.
The kids’ summer book lists are out. Some are obligatory reading, but that’s not what we are about. The following titles are suggestions for young adult and adult readers to dive into for sheer fun.
This list doesn’t discriminate by age. Young adult books make great reading for grown-ups and adult books can appeal to teens, though beware of cautionary notes.
It bears reminding readers of all ages that books read in the summer for fun should be abandoned if they don’t fulfill that expectation. To be fair to the author, commit to reading about 50 pages to establish characters, build the story or set that hook. Not every book is for every reader so you shouldn’t feel guilty if you don’t want to see a book to the end.
Exercise your reader’s rights!
The first title is for children, but think of what fun a whole family could have on vacation with the myriad ideas stashed in this treasure. "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Conn and Hal Iggulden (Collins, 2007) is popping up on all lists as it gets good reviews from critics. Even better, it gets rave reviews from kid readers.
The Brothers Iggulden know boy stuff if the reaction of boy readers is any indication. This is one that kids page through for hours. Girls love it, too, though offended that there is not a "dangerous" book for girls.
Famous battles, constellations, pirates, how to … make cloth fireproof, wrap a package, teach a dog tricks talk to girls!
Conn Iggulden is best known as a novelist. His fictive account of Genghis Khan’s early life, "Genghis: Birth of an Empire" (Delacorte, 2007) has been released in the United States after topping Britain’s best seller list last winter at the same time "The Dangerous Book" enjoyed a long run at the top of the non-fiction charts.
Mr. Iggulden is posed to run the Genghis story in a series of books, as he did with Julius Caesar in the best selling Emperor series: "The Gate of Rome" (2003), "The Death of Kings" (2004), "Emperor: The Field of Swords" (2005) and "Emperor: The Gods of War" (2006) all from Delacorte Press.
Summer is perfect for latching onto a series and reading it through. For some fabulous adventures, the whole family should try Patrick O’Brian’s "Master and Commander" ( HarperCollins, 1999). The Jack Aubrey series has been around since the 1970s but is still a lively read full of wonderful characters that do the most daring of daring deeds.
Get the kids hooked and then run to the library for the next in the series. Captain Aubrey and his pal Stephen Maturin the ship’s surgeon and a spy! can keep your troops entertained for the whole summer.
The last Harry Potter is coming out in July! I broke down and pre-ordered this precious piece to be delivered the day it is released. That day is reserved for reading the last of our Harry’s adventures. It is a bittersweet thought.
In the meantime, fantasy fans should know about a new J.R.R. Tolkien. Yes, he died in 1973, but his son, Christopher Tolkien, has compiled and edited a novel his father worked on for decades. "The Children of Hurin," (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) was illustrated by Alan Lee.
We adults laugh about our "beach reading," but we need some downtime, too. Tom Nolan, in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, wrote about the resurgence of crime short story collections. The "tight, well-told story" satisfies readers in about one-tenth of the time of the typical novel.
Look for the "Noir Series" for a vacation/story tie-in. The publisher, Akashic, released the city-themed books in 2006, making good use of some noted authors who edited the anthologies. Laura Lippman, "Baltimore Noir," has fun with her old neighborhoods. George P. Pelecanos, "DC Noir," explores the tony northwest area and politics of that city, while Lawrence Black in "Manhattan Noir" mixes crimes with real estate woes and other urban angst.
The series also includes Dublin and New Orleans if you are going to places further afield.
Otto Penzler serves as editor, publisher and bookseller for his sports-themed anthologies. "Murder at the Racetrack: Original Tales of Mystery and Mayhem Down the Final Stretch for Today’s Great Writers" follows "Murder at the Foul Line: Original Tales of Hoop Dreams and Deaths from Today’s Great Writers" and "Murder in the Rough: Original Tales of Bad Shots, Terrible Lies, and Other Deadly Handicaps from Today’s Great Writers" (all from Mysterious Press, 2006).
Alexander McCall Smith’s latest in his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series is climbing the bestseller lists. Readers will enjoy seeing Precious Ramotswe happily married in "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive" (Pantheon Books, 2007). Not even marriage interferes with her dedication to solving crimes for the people she cares so much for in her homeland.
For something considerably heavier and weirdly entertaining, consider "Jamestown: A Novel" by Matthew Sharpe (Soft Skull Press, 2007). Mr. Sharpe creates a distopian society that weirdly builds on the Jamestown story.
The Manhattan Company, in a world poisoned by war and pollution, seeks new sources of fuel. In a familiar tale of invasive culture meets indigenous people, Johnny Rolfe and company encounter Pocahontas’s father the most powerful king of the Chesapeake and his advisor, Sidney Feingold.
Definitely weird cleverly so and definitely for adults only.
I gravitate to non-fiction and have already collected a few to enjoy in the months ahead.
Richard Preston, author of "The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring" (Random House, 2007), was interviewed a while back on National Public Radio. The Redwoods in California, it seems, host a unique eco-system.
What’s more is that this enchanting forest has the power to enthrall humans who literally lose themselves in the canopies hundreds of feet in the air.
Golfers who need a diversion after the morning round should get "Tales from Q School" by John Feinstein (Little, Brown, 2007). Die-hard golfers know that even the pros have to re-qualify if their standings in the money list slip. But few really know the heartbreak and highs that Mr. Feinstein relates about those who tough it out in Qualifying School.
The name Brooke Astor is familiar to anyone who has followed the New York social scene even if it is just in Liz Smith’s gossip column. The grand dame lives on, now 105 years old, though dementia has shrunk her influence and her world.
Strictly for the local tie-in, "The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story" by Frances Kiernan (Norton, 2007) is on my list. Who knew that before she was Mrs. Astor, or even Mrs. Marshall, the lovely debutante was married to Dryden Kuser of the famed New Jersey Kuser family?
There’s more always more to read. Pile them up now and be ready for those summer days.
Joan Ruddiman, Ed.D., is a teacher and friend of the Allentown Public Library.

