Our local fish wrapper challenged its avid readers to come up with their own list of books to read this summer. Here’s my list of ten (10):
Shut Your Eyes Tight: A Novel by John Verdon (July)
The second retired NYPD Detective Dave Gurney novel from the author of the mind-blowing Think of a Number.
Very Bad Men: A Novel by Harry Dolan (July)
Not quite as good as Think of a Number, but a close and exciting runner-up.
Fault Lines: A Novel by Anne Rivers Siddons (January)
From the author of Off Season, it’s set in the redwood country near Santa Cruz, with stops in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Hollywood-Los Angeles.
Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger (June)
The true story of the monumental love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. “Reads like a Shakespearean drama.” USA Today
Skipping a Beat: A Novel by Sarah Pekkanen (February)
Her debut novel, The Opposite of Me, was endorsed by Judith Weiner. Enough said.
Guilt by Association: A Novel by Marcia Clark (April)
I’ve read it, but it was so much fun that I look forward to reading it again!
The American Heiress: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin (June)
What happens after a storybook wedding?
The Astral: A Novel by Kate Christensen (June)
This story has as many weaknesses as it has strengths, but it is highly engaging in an inexplicable way.
Robert Redford: The Biography by Michael Feeney Callan (May)
Biographies of famous but secluded figures tend to be either brilliant or full and complete disasters. I’m interested in seeing which category this one falls into.
Before Ever After: A Novel by Samantha Sotto (August)
A debut novel about a woman who finds out that her dead husband (going on three years) may very well be alive.
Joseph Arellano
Joseph's Reviews 