My Books of the Summer 2016
There was a time when I devoured books. Prior to 2014, I churned through a novel a week. During one vacation to Hilton Head, I finished four in as many days. And then we had two kids. Now I'm lucky to finish four pages before falling asleep.
Amazingly enough, I've read three books this summer, so they are, by default, my BOOKS OF THE SUMMER 2016. It's a good thing they're also great.
Credit: Grand Central Publishing
"Before The Fall" is written by Noah Hawley, the showrunner behind the best show on TV, FX's Fargo. If you're not already on Amazon ordering your copy, you obviously haven't seen Fargo.. In that case, stop what you're doing and go watch it. I'll wait...
So good, right?
"Before The Fall' is part thriller, part mid-life crisis, and part indictment of the 24-hour news cycle, all centered around the aftermath of a mysterious plane crash. It's a page-turner but it's not fluff. The ending will stick with you for days, and the build-up will make you question your relationship to media and how we process tragedy.
Credit: Blue Rider Press
"But What If We're Wrong?" starts with an interesting premise ("What if we're wrong about our understanding of gravity?") and spins off from there. Author Chuck Klosterman ("Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs") tackles the notion of certainty, and how our views of pop culture, time, sports, and democracy (among several other topics) will likely be vastly different in the next 50 (or 500) years. Along the way, he gets input from author George Saunders, theoretical physicist Brian Greene, singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, filmmaker Richard Linklater, and more.
In one of my favorite passages, he reexamines 1999's "The Matrix" through the vantage point that, since the film's release, both of the film's directors, the Wachowski siblings, have completed their transition from male to female. It adds a whole new level to film loaded with philosophical layers.
"But What If We're Wrong?" is not the simplest read. It's heady and, at times, frustrating, but it's also fascinating, challenging, and ambitious.
Credit: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
We read A LOT of kid books in our house, but very few have the staying power of Scott Campbell's "Hug Machine." My daughter Clara has asked to read it every night for the last nine weeks (not an exaggeration - that's how long I've had it from the library). "Hug Machine" is a simple story of a little boy who is on a unstoppable mission to hug everyone and everything, no matter how big or spiky. It's an instant classic that has been completely embraced (sorry) by the entire C family.