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The Bookshelf
0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8e4b0000The Bookshelf features authors from around New Hampshire and the region, as well as books about New Hampshire by authors from anywhere. Covering mostly fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, it also features literary conferences, events and trends.Hosted by Peter Biello, The Bookshelf airs every other Friday on All Things Considered.What's on your bookshelf? Let us know by sending an email to books@nhpr.org.

What to Read Now: Summer Book Show 2016

We hear from our booksellers on some of the best books for summer reading this year, from pure beach reading to literary fiction, plus serious and not-so-serious nonfiction.  There's a new Harry Potter book from J.K. Rowling plus new releases from Stephen King, Louise Erdrich and Annie Proulx.

 

  This program was originally broadcast on June 27, 2016.

GUESTS:

  • Dan Chartrand, owner of Water Street Bookstore in Exeter
  • Michael Herrmann, owner of Gibson's Bookstore in Concord
Books mentioned during the show:

  • The Girls by Emma Cline  - a lot of buzz around this dark debut novel about girls attracted to a Charles Manson-type character in the 60s.  Michael Herrman calls the prose "spectacular."
  • LaRose by  Louise Erdrich - a novel that asks can a person do the worst thing possible and still be loved?  The bookseller at Gibson's said "I'm not one to use the word stunning, but this one absolutely is."  Highly recommended by both panelists.
    "...her prose is so spectacular. She's a great storyteller, she's a real natural." Michael Herrman recommending The Girls
  • Barkskins by Annie Proulx - the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's latest epic novel about the taking down of the world's forests through vivid characters from the 17th century and travels across the globe.
  • White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in Americaby Nancy Isenberg.  A history of the class system in America, extending from colonial times to the present, uncovering our early leaders not only as principled men but also as vagrants, rebels and convicts.
  • Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters, depicting a United States where slavery still exists in four states.  Coming out July 5.
  • The Last Painting of Sara de Vosby Dominic Smith.  A landscape by a female artist in  Amsterdam 1631, and a forgery by an art history student collide in the present.
  • Power of Habitby Charles Duhigg, a caller said it changed his life.
  • Listen Liberalby Thomas Frank, recommended by a listener who said it stands out among political books this summer.
  • Everybody’s Foolby Richard Russo (recently featured on Word of Mouth).  Russo revisits the decaying factory town from his book "Nobody's Fool" 10 years later.

  • The Mandibles: A Family 2029-2047by Lionel Shriver.  Dan Chartrand says it's a wonderful book while at the same time being utterly frightening; how each family member navigates a new reality as an inheritance turns to ash.

  • Everyone Brave is Forgiven, Chris Cleave.  A WWII love story featuring the children not evacuated during the blitz recommended by a librarian from Campton.  She also recommended I Let You Goby Claire McIntosh, which caused her to gasp out loud at a plot twist.
  • Joe Gould’s Teethby Jill Lepore.  An intriguing read about a legendary NYC homeless figure supposedly working on an oral history of the US.  Illuminates NYC during the 30s, 40s and 50s.  This discussion also brought up Up In the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell.
  • A caller asked about books for 10-14-year old boys, and Dan Chartrand recommended The Wild Robotby Peter Brown, saying it combined nature, fantasy and technology.  Michael Hermann recommended the sci-fi fantasy The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy, the first in a series.
    "It feels like a combination of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, the movie Wall-e, and the animal parts of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe thrown in" Dan Chartrand describing The Wild Robot for young readers
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts I & II by J.K. Rowling.  The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later, and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.  Both booksellers noted lots of interest in a new narrative thread for the oft-reread series.
  • A emailer recommended the historical time-travel series Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
  • Nation of Nationsby NPR's Tom Gjelton was recommended by an emailer praising it for its perspective in shifts in immigration in U.S. history.  In addition to his Exchange appearance, listen to his thoughts on NHPR's 10-Minute Writer's Workshop.
  • The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien.  Our caller noted that "we read books to meet people" and was reminded of a book of Saul Bellow.  Michael Herrmann noted that Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain Kingmight be a good to re-read this summer.
  • Voyager: Travel Writingsby Russell Banks was recommended by both booksellers, calling it "a journey of exploration wonderful to encounter."  He was featured in conversation on Word of Mouth earlier this summer.
  • An emailer recommended a series of novels by WWII journalist David Downing, starting with Zoo Station, as an excellent read.
  • The Gene: An Intimate Historyby Siddhartha Mukherjee. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies -what becomes of being human when we learn to “read” and “write” our own genetic information?  Michael Herrman recommended it due to the quality of writing even if you're not interested in science.
  • Laura Knoy was enthusiastic about But What If We’re Wrong, by Chuck Klosterman, which challenged assumptions about things we take for granted, like gravity.  Klosterman's book was featured on Word Of Mouth recently.
  • Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh  was recommended by an emailer as a classic featuring an independent strong young girl for young readers.  Dan Chartrand noted the Great Stone Face awards as a good source of excellent books for kids.
  • Other books recommended by email included The One Hundred Year Old Man by Jonas Jonasson; The Long Weekend by Andrew Tinniswood for Downton Abbey fans; Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon; and Heretic: Why Islam Needs A Reformation Now.  And for kids,  the vintage Edward Eager Magic by the Lakeand other books in the series were recommended as well as a magic series about the Merlin saga (pre-dating Harry Potter) by T.A. Barron.
  • The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner for middle readers was recommended with the theme of heroin addiction gently handled, although it has garnered some controversy.

Michael Herrman gave his top four books to read now:

  • Before The Fall by Noah Hawley.  When a private plane plunges into the ocean off Martha's Vineyard, the media and the government want answers. He says it's "perfect" for summer with a great opening.

  • Redemption Roadby John Hart. Elizabeth Black is a hero. She is a cop who single-handedly rescued a young girl from a locked cellar and shot two brutal kidnappers dead. But she's also a cop with a history, a woman with a secret. 

  • Modern Lovers by Emma Straub.  Friends and former college bandmates Elizabeth and Andrew and Zoe have watched one another marry, buy real estate, and start businesses and families, all while trying to hold on to the identities of their youth. 

  • Dodgers by Bill Beverly.  He calls it "The Wire goes to the Midwest."

Dan Chartrand rounded up his top four summer reads, mostly history:

 
 

Both booksellers heralded Homegoing  by Yaa Gyasi as an important book, noting author Ta-Nehisi Coates called it "an inspiration" and one of their readers called it "an honor to read."  It' tells the story of two half-sisters in 18th-century Ghana and the lives of their many generations of descendants in America spanning three centuries.

 

More recommendations from Dan Chartrand, not heard on the show:

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Here Comes the Sun: A Novel by Nicole Dennis-Benn

One of Us Lost: Selected Poems by Robert Dunn

We Waking Up White, And Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving

Are As Gods: Back To The Land in the 1970s on the Quest for a New America by Kate Daloz

American Luthier: Carleen Hutchins – The Art & Science of the Violin by Quincy Whitney

The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams

Some more of Michael Herrman’s top books for Summer, not heard on the show:

You Will Know Me, by Megan Abbott (coming July 26)

Hamilton, by Ron Chernow (Hamilton: the Revolution, by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

Grunt, by Mary Roach

Mosquito Rain, by Dan Szczesny (local author)

For kids:

Books by Raina Telgemeier – like Smile and Sisters

Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke

New in paperback, June/July:

Kitchens of the Great Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal

Circling the Sun, by Paula McLain

Our Souls at Night, by Kent Haruf

Looking forward to in the fall :

The Nix, by Nathan Hill

Mischling, by Affinity Konar

The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

Nutshell, by Ian McEwan

 

Other listener recommendations include Us by David Nicholls, Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson, Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, books by Donna Leon featuring detective Guido Brunetti, The Longmire series by Craig Johnson, Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series, and When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.

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