JMUSB Summer Reading List

Don’t worry, a little light reading won’t turn you into one of these guys.

So this is more than a bit off-topic from our usual selections, but it’s the offseason and we don’t want to completely disappear. In the spirit of that offseason, we present the inaugural edition of JMUSB’s Summer Reading List (really brings back the warm memories, eh?). Look, it’s established that we’re old dorks. But we certainly aren’t literary experts, so take this with a grain a salt and feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. Hopefully you get a chance to sit on the beach with something worthwhile for you.

1) A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash – Simply the best book I’ve read in the last three years. Completely unexpected and I’m forever in debt to the amazing woman that pointed me in Cash’s direction. I can’t even talk about it because to try to explain anything will ruin it. Just read this right now and don’t ask questions.

2) The Long Lavender Look by John D. McDonald – Ok, this one’s a bit of a personal pick and it may not be for everyone (particularly anyone under 30 or so), but McDonald’s Travis McGee is my favorite recurring character ever created. I’ve been patiently spacing out the 20 or so McGee novels, limiting myself to one per beach vacation (basically once a year), and I’m

This would still be “newfangled” technology to McGee.

legitimately sad that I’m nearly through these fun, but often melancholy and never without a grisly death or two, time-capsules to the [mostly] 70’s south Florida. You can really start anywhere in the series, but the world’s best indie-version private eye stories rarely disappoint. PC-crazies should beware that while McDonald’s views on crime, law enforcement, and sometimes even the environment are way ahead of his time, there’s a definite Mad Men-era attitude towards race and gender here. The Long Lavender Look is not typical of McGee (there’s no long-distance travel and very little houseboat cruising time), but it’s a cool picture of a part of South Florida that hardly exists at all today. So pour yourself some Plymouth on ice and find yourself a cheap folding chair.

3) Serena by Ron Rash – Some (though judging from the numbers not many) of you may have seen Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence reprising their frequent relationship in the movie based on this novel last year, but as always the book >>>>> the movie and this is definitely worth the read.

4) The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant – Homer pick, but also legit. We’ve plugged this one by JMU’s own Bondurant before, but I’ve also been surprised how much the feeling and eerie mood of this story of modern searching at the edge of Ireland has stuck with me a few years after reading it. The couple in the book combines the tropish Ugly American with a real searcher in a way that oddly hits home and I always like a story with subtle, but not cartoonish, hints of the supernatural/spiritual world.

5) Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote – Gotta have a classic on the list and with all the hype and controversy over the “new” Harper Lee novel due out this summer, the debut novel by her longtime compatriot and mentor seems fitting. The most stunning thing about Other Voices is that it was published in 1948. 1948. It’s just incredible how fresh the issues discussed still seem given that sexual and gender identity issues have only recently taken center-stage in American life.

6) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – Thrones and Potter nerds unite for summer reading fan service!

7) Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall – shoutout to Dr. Bryce-Finch wherever you are. If you take the time to check this out, you’ll realize it’s about as far away from my own life experience and privilege as possible, but this one always slows me down and helps me find empathy for others through the realization we all really have no idea what anyone else’s story really is. You can find a great searching-for-deeper-meaning story through a protagonist with any background.

8) Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: 16 Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids edited by Meghan Daum – maybe this non-fiction selection is a little too personal, but it’s a great thought-experiment whether you actually identify with this thought personally or just question your friends’ or family members’ decisions.

What’s everyone else reading this summer?