Looking for a good book this summer? Here’s a selection from those in the know.
Roberto Bolaño’s Fiction: An Expanding Universe by Chris Andrews (Columbia Univ., July). Few authors cause such brain-itching mania in readers as Roberto Bolaño—and who better to answer all the questions you’ll surely have upon finishing 2666 (such as, what is the secret of the universe?) than Chris Andrews, the translator of 10 of the Chilean writer’s books. This first big book of Bolaño criticism sets a very high bar. —Gabe Habash, deputy reviews editor
Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique (Riverhead, July). I’ve been hearing great things about Tiphanie Yanique’s debut novel, which is set in the Virgin Islands and covers three generations of love, loss, magic, and drama in the Bradshaw family. Summer always makes me want to travel, and even if I’ll be staying close to home this year, I can still take an emotional and mental trip via this beautiful book. —Jessamine Chan, reviews editor
Qur’an in Conversation by Michael Birkel (Baylor Univ., Aug.). My Muslim friends and colleagues have been able to explain a lot to me about Islam, but I confess to being puzzled by the Qur’an because its literary form and references are unfamiliar. So I look forward to the friendly guidance of Michael Birkel, who is a Friend (that is, a member of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers) and teacher of religion at Earlham College. Birkel allows readers to overhear the conversations about Islam’s sacred text among North American religion scholars and other influential Muslims. Many of the contributors are young and come from a variety of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Sacred texts fascinate me in the way they compel attention and shape cultures. Nope, it’s not a beach read, but fiction will have to take a back seat to this one on my summer reading list. —Marcia Z. Nelson, religion reviews editor
Angelica’s Smile by Andrea Camilleri, trans. from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli (Penguin, June). Each Montalbano mystery from Camilleri signals summer’s arrival for me, as it’s my ideal vacation read. Whether the aging, hard-edged inspector is on the case solving murders in remote mountain caves or along the Mafia-controlled ports, he always has time in his seaside town of Vigàta to duck into a restaurant for a meal of squid ink pasta or caponata di melanzane. He’s dedicated to his girlfriend in Rome, but finds temptation close by—and in this 17th installment, it’s the charming smile of an angelic woman, the victim of a burglary. —Mark Rotella, senior editor
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie (Del Ray, July). I’d been saving up this morsel until I had time to properly savor it, and then I opened it just to take a taste and couldn’t stop reading. Abercrombie’s greatest gift is for description that brings you fully into his gritty, bloody fantasy world of battle and intrigue. A ship captain’s cabin is “cramped and garish, gloomy.... The place smelled of tar, salt and incense, stale sweat and stale wine.” Abercrombie takes the time to immerse the reader, making everything—including the action, which is fast-paced and violent—feel more real. Even with all the description, Half a King has about half the page count of Abercrombie’s previous fantasy novels, but it still contains plenty of his trademark wry wit and appealing characters, so it’s a terrific introduction to his work. —Rose Fox, reviews editor
Agostino by Alberto Moravia, trans. from the Italian by Michael F. Moore (NYRB Classic, (July). Moravia is one of the great post-WWII Italian writers, and this is one of his masterpieces; censored by the Fascists in 1941 and not published until 1944, it made Moravia’s reputation. A young boy on the edge of adolescence is spending the summer at the beach with his young, beautiful, widowed mother. Agostino adores his mother until the intrusion of a young suitor sends him reeling and into a love-hate relationship with a crude gang of boys who humiliate him and initiate him into the ugliness of poverty and adulthood. This new translation is brilliant, as is the story, told in only 100 perfect pages. You’ll wish you were on that Mediterranean beach, and then again, maybe not, but you will never forget Agostino’s summer. —Louisa Ermelino, reviews director
