I hate being asked to recommend books. It's bad enough asking
people to spend their hard earned cash on my own novels, but
advising them on other authors' work is almost beyond me. Books are
so personal, one man's fabulous read is another's waste of pen and
ink and, besides, I read practically nothing but the classics and
modern crime in the style I write myself.
So, being asked by my US publishers to recommend five Summer
Read books for a New York public radio show practically gave me an
attack of the vapours. I mean to say, who am I? Richard and Judy?
You can't turn these invitations down though, so after much heart
searching (and frantic checking on Amazon.com to make sure they
really are out in the US) here is the SJ Bolton New York Summer
Book Club recommendations:
TOLSTOY AND THE PURPLE CHAIR
Nina Sankovitch, Harper, June 7
When the author lost her sister to cancer at the age of 46,
grief threatened to overwhelm her. Taking a time-honoured path, she
used endless family-centred activity to keep the heartache at bay.
At last, close to exhaustion, she turned to something she had
always been able to rely on - books. For the next 365 days she
read, and reviewed, a different book each day. Tolstoy and the
Purple Chair is not only her account of that year, it is a unique
celebration of life, love and literature.
DEXTER IS DELICIOUS
Jeff Lyndsay, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, July 12
Every now and again, crime writers come across an idea that has
us kicking our own shins and stamping down hard on our own feet,
muttering: why the bugger didn't I think of that? The notion of a
superhero serial-killer is one such. Dexter Morgan works for the
Miami police department as a blood spatter analyst by day: by night
he roams the dark recesses of town like a born again Robin Hood
with a chainsaw and an attitude. These books are beautifully
constructed, packed with pace and character and darkly hilarious.
Dexter is Delicious is the fifth in the series and sees our Dark
Avenger trying to be a good husband and father, and to plaster a
human face over his monstrous inner core.
THE DISTANT HOURS
Kate Morton, Washington Square Press, July 12
On a trip to meet with a potential author, Edie Burchill
discovers Milderhurst Castle and its decidedly odd occupants. As
the castle's secrets slowly reveal themselves, Edie discovers a
family victimized by its own history and haunted by memories. In
the tradition of the classic gothic novels, The Distant Hours is
spellbinding, haunting and totally engrossing.
STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG
Kate Atkinson, Reagan Arthur Books
If you like your crime sharp and original, entertaining rather
than terrifying, and sprinkled with Dickensian wit and wisdom,
Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels are for you. This, the fourth in
the series, sees our hero returning to his native Yorkshire to
trace a missing girl.
and the one classic I couldn't resist:
THE ENCHANTED APRIL
Elizabeth Von Armin, Virago Press
Four women, strangers to each other at the outset, vacation
together at an Italian Castle and become firm friends. Almost
nothing happens in this book, and yet it has the capacity to make
the reader feel sheer joy. Universally loved since its publication
in 1922 this has to be the perfect romantic summer read.