When I was a kid, I’d read long after lights out under the covers with a flashlight. As an adult, time was limited raising kids and teaching full-time. But, then there was summer. Is there anything better than lounging at the beach under the umbrella reading for hours on end?
After the last day of school, I’d treat my little ones to a trip to the local book warehouse, telling them to load up on paperbacks or workbooks or whatever they wanted. They grew into bibliophiles, too. No surprise there!
Now, reading is electronic. I swore I’d never get a Kindle but the best retirement gift I got was a Kindle and I’m addicted. Got the app on my phone and laptop. I read an actual book, occasionally, but I’m not one of those “gotta hold it in my hands” type readers. I like that 700 pages weighs the same as 100. Not easy taking those tomes on planes!
I have absolutely no idea how many books I’ve read in the past five years. I probably couldn’t even name most of them. Nor could I tell you what they were about. I have friends who keep a journal with the titles and a one line summary to conjure up that particular read. I even went so far as to buy a reading journal so I could keep track. I wrote exactly one summary. Way too much trouble…I was already in the next book and didn’t want to stop. Of course, the down side to that is reading the same book and thinking about 20 pages into it….hmmm, this is so familiar.
Hence the KIndle. So, what are you reading this summer? Here are some of my absolute favorites …. you know they have to good if I remember them…lol!
MYSTERY GENRE
I have three go-to writers: Kathryn Wall, Randy Wayne, White and Robert Parker.
* Kathryn Wall moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina after she retired after 25 years as an accountant. In 2002, she wrote her first book in a series about Bay Tanner, woman detective with man troubles, an unresolved relationship with her late mother, a lingering love for a cigarette every now and then. She’s a tough nut with squishy insides. Just about perfect in every way!
After Kathryn Wall’s husband passed in 2011, she couldn’t write. Our worst fears were upended when she published the next book in the series, St. John’s Folly, last year. Welcome back, Kathryn!!!
* Randy Wayne White graduated from high school in 1968 and “traveled” aka “bummed around” for five years, ending up on the southwest coast of Florida. He worked for a Ft. Myers newspaper for four years and got a captain’s license. After buying a used charter boat, he worked as a fishing guide for 14 years and started writing.
Well, someone had to take over John D. MacDonald’s territory and Randy Wayne has done it in spades. His Doc Ford series (21 books and counting!) is my favorite. Doc is an ex-CIA agent marine biologist who finds all kinds of trouble in and around Sanibel Island. He’s also written 20 other crime fiction books and seven non-fiction books, including two cookbooks! The guy is nothing if not prolific!!!
* Robert Parker. What can I say about Robert Parker, the dean of crime fiction? When he died suddenly of a heart attach at the age of 77 in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, townhouse, I was crestfallen. What a life, what a man, what a legacy. After graduating from Colby College and getting his master’s at Boston University, he became a professor at Northeastern University and started writing the Spenser series. A decade later, we were watching Spenser on ABC.
I’ve probably read 20 Spenser books and haven’t made a dent. There’s also the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall series but, in my opinion, Spenser is far superior. Parker was among the first writers to fully embrace inclusion. In the early 70s, Spenser’s best buds, Hawk and Chollo were African American and Mexican American, respectively. Then, there was his Jewish girlfriend, Susan, who didn’t believe in living together or apparently marriage, so they kept separate residences, although they were totally committed to each other.
At the age of 24, he married his wife, Joan. They were raised in the same neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts and supposedly met as toddlers at a birthday party. Their living arrangement might strike some as unusual. In their townhouse, she lived on one floor, he on another and they shared the common areas. “I want to make love to my wife for the rest of my life, but I never want to sleep with her again.”
I get such a kick out of that quote. Young people probably think it’s unthinkable, but I have a whole lot of friends that would LOVE that arrangement!!!
Okay, here’s some abbreviated recommendations.
MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY
My Cross to Bear, Gregg Allman’s autobiography. Yes, I’m a huge fan but he is nothing if not honest. A fascinating read about a tragic yet exhilarating ride. Also enjoyed Skydog by Randy Poe, the story of Duane Allman, one of the world’s greatest guitar players, who lost his life in a motorcycle crash at the age of 25. You just want to want to shake him, “What were you thinking, man?” But, then, I was doing the same stupid things back then, too. I was the lucky survivor.
Back to the Garden by Pete Fornatale. A backstage look at Woodstock takes you through each day and every artist. If you ever wanted to go or did go, this is your book!
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray. If you ever thought you had a tough childhood, you’ll do a 180 after reading this.
This memoir makes Jeannette Walls’ parents in The Glass Castle look like the Cleavers on ‘Leave It to Beaver.’ What a triumph of spirit!
Nora Ephron. Every aging woman’s heroine. When she died in 2012 shortly after her 71st birthday, I burst into tears. There is no one like her. Yes, she penned some huge hits like ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ ‘You’ve Got Mail,’ Sleepless in Seattle’ and ‘Heartburn.’ (I bet Carl Bernstein’s still rueing that affair with Margaret Jay, the daughter of the British prime minister.)
But, what I loved were I Remember Nothing and I Feel Bad About My Neck. Yes, we’re aging; yes, we’re falling apart, but you might as well find some humor along the way. No writer could make me laugh out loud like she did.
OMG! I have so much more but I’ll save it for another day. In the meantime, get out that sangria, hit the beach and relax with a good read!
