Book Lists, Round Two: What My Book Groups Will Be Reading Next Season

This is the first day of summer, officially, and also the beginning of the long St. Jean Baptiste weekend in Quebec.  The holiday, Quebec's Fête Nationale, is always big stuff here.  Usually  good weather has set in, schools are out and people are in a good mood.  This afternoon downtown Montreal was filled with smiling faces in spite of dreadful traffic, so I guess it's time to celebrate summer.

It's also the season when many people indulge their thirst for reading.  The following are books that the varioius book discussion groups I lead will be reading in the 2013-2014 season, but the list makes good summer reading.  I've thrown in some other suggestions at the end, as a bonus.  Sitting in the shade reading a good book is a great way to start a holiday--or to continue one.

 1. The Greenhouse by Ava Audur Olafsdottír

A coming of age story by an Icelandic writer that has become a word-of-mouth best seller.

 

2. Distantly Related to Freud, by Ann Charney

Ellen is the daughter of a Polish immigrant, growing up in Montreal in the 1950s.  " With its winsome protagonist and the palpable interplay between innocence and the shadows that encroach on it, Charney has written one of the most endearing novels of the season." Montreal Review of Books

3. Ru by Kim Thuy

"Literature at its most crystalline: the flow of a life on the tides of unrest and on to more peaceful waters." Amazon.ca Editors Pick Best Books of 2012

4. Hunting and Gathering, by  Anna Gavalda

Three young people (an artist, a chef and the scion of a great French family) and a grandmother face the world in Paris:  Gavalda casts her immensely appealing story in such a sunny albeit sentimental light, readers will find it nearly impossible to resist."  Booklist

5. The Cossacks  by Leo Tolstoy

One of Tolstoy's early stories, The Cossacks sheds light on Russia, the cultures of the Caucasus and Tolstoy's artistic development.

6. Caleb's  Crossing by Geraldine Brooke

" Bethia Mayfield is a restless and curious young woman growing up in Martha's vineyard in the 1660s amid a small band of pioneering English Puritans. At age twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other."

7. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewyck

"Drawing on her own family, Lewycka has created a funny, tender, and intelligent novel that is as much social history as family saga." Publishers' Weekly. "A classic Viagra comedy."  Booklist.

 Also good: Various Pets Alive and Dead , her latest book which does much to explain what happened to the economy in 2008.

8. The Meagre Tarmac  by Clark Blaise

 Shortlisted for the 2011 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee

Longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Short Story Award

" An Indo-American Canterbury Tales,"

9. He Who Laughs, Lasts  by Josh Freed

The latest collection from Josh Freed, winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour,  From the publisher's blurb: "Studies show laughter adds several years to your life, Freed recommends that readers take two pages of this book each morning—and live longer."

10. In the Country of Men  by Isham Matar

By the young winner of the Blue Metropolis Al Majidi Ibn Dhaher Arab Prize,

11. Solar by Ian McEwan

A story of climate change and scientific shenanigans from one of the world's most inventive storytellers.

12. Cloud Atlas  by David Mitchell

Six nested stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the nineteenth century to a distant, post apocalyptic future.  Short listed for the Booker Prize and winner of the British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award.

13. No Great Mischief by Alistair McLeod

A tale of Cape Breton that is far more than that. International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2001

14. The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea... 2011 Orange Prize winner.

15. A Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rawlings

The creator of Harry Potter tries her hand at an adult novel, and succeeds in keeping the tension up even when writing about town councils.

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

 In the Skin of the Lion by Michael Ondaatje

Italian Shoes, by Hemming Mankell

Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan

The Tinflute by Gabrielle Roy

Pure by  Andrew Miller

The Long Song by  Andrea Levy

 The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Americanah by Chingmanda Ngi Achiedie

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Wolf Hall by Hilary Martel

The Poisonwood Bible  by Barbara Kingsolver

Partitions by Amit Mujmudar

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan
Wutheirng Heights by Charlotte Bronte

The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

We Have to Talk about Kevin, byLionel Shriver

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

The Tinflute by Gabrielle Roy

Plus some thrillers/mysteries suggested by Howard Shrier, the author of Miss Montreal

Elmore Leonard: LaBrava , Glitz, Stick, Swag.
Ross Macdonald: The Blue Hammer, Sleeping Beauty, The Chill
Dennis Lehane: A Drink Before the War, Darkness Take My Hand, Prayers for Rain
Robert B. Parker: Looking for Rachel Wallace, Early Autumn