Where are you spending your summer vacation? For David Enyeart of Common Good Books, St. Paul, Minn., this year's destination is directly connected to his choice of "mountain read."
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| David Enyeart's summer reading getaway spot in Montana. |
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"I am eagerly anticipating a galley of All the Wrong Places: A Life Lost and Found by Philip Connors," he said. "I'll be reading it on vacation in a decommissioned fire lookout in the mountains of Montana, and I'm going there in large part because I read and loved Connors's previous book, Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout. That first book tells of his time honing his writing craft while working as a firespotter in New Mexico. In his new memoir, Connors looks back a bit farther, to the period when he'd lost his way in the wake of his brother's suicide at 22 and was struggling (and failing) to connect with people, work and his new home."
It's hard to top a decommissioned fire lookout in the mountains of Montana as a reading venue, so let's backtrack momentarily to where we left off last week and share three personal favorites from Emily Crowe of the Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Mass., beginning with The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan. 
"Full disclosure: this book is the debut novel from my co-worker," Crowe admitted. "But even if I didn't work with Chrysler, I would have thought that The Hawley Book of the Dead was fun from start to finish. Filled with 'real magicalism,' including a mysterious falconer, a prognosticating length of twine, and names brimming with double entendre, this debut novel is an uncanny blend of The Night Circus meets The Crucible.
"David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks was like nothing I've ever read before. I'm told that if you loved Cloud Atlas, then there's an excellent chance that you'll love this one, too, so now it's time for me to read some David Mitchell backlist. The character of Holly Sykes is one of the great females of 21st-century literature so far. I don't read very much short fiction, as I prefer to really sink my teeth into a book and get absorbed by its world. However, if all short stories were as good as Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's Invisible Loves, I would have to change my reading habits. These stories are exquisite, elegant, and enchanting--perfect little gems of literature that are full of philosophy and quiet moments of epiphany."
Two booksellers praised Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. Sarah Pishko of Prince Books, Norfolk, Va., said the author's "writing is beautiful and very evocative about a girl amidst the backdrop of World War II." And Lynne Reed of Misty Valley Books, Chester, Vt., called it a "lyrical story of how war affects two young people from opposing sides."
"Why would you choose light reading, when your vacation is the only time you have to really get into a wonderful book?' Reed asked. "I'm always looking for that one (or two) book that is different." Her other selection was I'm Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum, a "love story in reverse between a British artist husband who tries to woo back his wonderful French lawyer wife (and their child) after an affair. It could be a trite book but it's not, and I couldn't put it down, wondering if he'd get her back... you'll root for both of them! A great summer read."
Matt Norcross of McLean & Eakin Bookstore, Petoskey, Mich., said his "great escape this summer has been Lev Grossman's The Magician's Land. It's not fair, you see; I've been pre-wired to love this series. At age eight, I was given the complete Chronicles of Narnia on tape and literally wore out the cassettes that gave me the adventures of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. Lev's series has brilliantly brought back the wonder I felt on those late nights listening to Lewis, but this story is definitely not for little boys and girls. Like the previous two novels, The Magician's Land packs enough twists, turns and surprises to fill several books, but it's greatest feat lies in how the story is brought to an end. This is one of the most satisfying ends to a series I have ever read, and although that in and of itself is deserving of high praise, the fact that it can make you feel the excitement and wonder of childhood makes it truly magical. Happy late nights!"
The final words this week go to Matt's wife, Jessilynn. In McLean & Eakin's e-newsletter, she observed that "it's been more of a 'reading day summer' than a 'beach day summer,' but we are confident that more beach days are on the way in August.... June and July flew by so quickly, that it almost feels like they were both a week shorter this year! Everything has been so fast and furious that we are worried there hasn't been enough focus on fun, relaxing, and lightening up for the summer. Here's to a lazy August, full of beach days, beach reads, and most of all s.l.o.w.i.n.g. down and relaxing in the sun." --Robert Gray, contributing editor (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)