Venus Rising

Film & BooksIssue: Cancer 10

A Few Good Reads

Now that school is out and summer is here, I cannot wait to relax in the sunshine and enjoy a few good reads. Here is my summer list:

1.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen This is a classic that needs to be re-read. Last night, I caught the tale end of the movie “You’ve Got Mail” for what might have been the 100th time. When Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were discussing the heroine, I was reminded of why this romance novel is so often referenced in movies. Indeed spring fever is here and romance and British etiquette usually ignites a daydream or two.

2.) A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living by Michael Dahlie This book earned the 2009 PEN Hemingway award. Some labels do matter! When it comes to choosing quality literature I often gravitate to the recipients of these awards. The first few pages I read appear to be humorous and rich with description. I also like how the reviews compare the main character to being a sophisticated Homer Simpson.

3.) The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz This is a Dominican-American writer whom I have enjoyed in the past. The NY Times book review by A.O. Scott states it best “In “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” Díaz, the author of a book of sexy, diamond-sharp stories called “Drown,” shows impressive high-low dexterity, flashing his geek credentials, his street wisdom and his literary learning with equal panache. A short epigraph from the Fantastic Four is balanced by a longer one from Derek Walcott; allusions to “Dune,” “The Matrix” and (especially) “The Lord of the Rings” rub up against references to Melville and García Márquez.” Junot Diaz is hip, and I always feel a bit ‘cooler’ after meeting his characters.

4.) The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel by Milan Kundera This is on my friend Melissa’s top five favorite reads. Like certain awards, Melissa’s recommendations have weight. She is just one of those friends who always knows what I should read (or wear.) Harper Collins described the contents, “In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence, we feel "the unbearable lightness of being" not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.”

5.) Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri This book has been sitting on my night table for forever; really I picked it up many moons ago and regret not having cracked it open. Lahiri was the recipient of the 2000 PEN Hemingway award and the Pulitzer Prize. She also wrote “The Namesake.” My friend Amy initially suggested it. She said that this collection of short stories captures the lives of immigrants, expatriates, and first-generation Americans with a distinct voice.