Time to clock out for a while! For my 10th annual beach reads edition, I’m featuring the best of what I’ve checked out of the library in recent months. Thank you, Ben Franklin for starting the nation’s first in my hometown (named for him). Get a free card and walk out with books for zilch, nada, nothing. And so many branches are networked. Amazing.
My favorite of the lot is All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. I was immediately pulled into this bicentennial tale of Patch, an impoverished oddball who dresses like a pirate, and his best friend (and crush) Saint, the tomboy beekeeper who takes pity on him. Girls in their town are going missing, and our heroes’ lives intertwine over the coming decades as they try and solve the mysteries. A gutting, heartbreaking novel that led me to seek out Whitaker’s debut, Tall Oaks. Another kidnapping tale, this time of a three-year-old boy, it’s a wild caper with memorable, colorful characters, especially teen mobster wannabe Manny. This author’s top skill may be his ability to weave genuine humor into his crime fiction (missing kids = laugh riot somehow). You can’t go wrong with either book.
Another outstanding debut novel is Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash. It centers on a crumbling open marriage and the couple’s three neglected teen daughters up to all manner of shenanigans. Throw in a creepy local billionaire and you have a terrific thriller laced with wit and satire. Cash is one to watch, as is Jac Jemc, author of the truly bonkers haunted house novel, The Grip of It. Take one look at the cover and decide if this sort of terror is for you. In short, a young couple needing to relocate gets a steal on a long-in-the-tooth listing and let’s just say there’s a reason it sat on the market so long. Is it wrong I so thoroughly enjoy seeing these characters descend into madness? Probably. Oh, but I do.
If it’s more name-brand, established writers you prefer, allow me to suggest Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid or Curtis Sittenfeld’s Show Don’t Tell. The former is a well-crafted secret lesbian love story sensitively told with the backdrop of the Reagan-era NASA space shuttle program (the misogyny! the homophobia!). Bless Jenkins Reid for consistently challenging herself to tackle new material. Sittenfeld published her second short story collection last year and it’s every bit as good as 2018’s You Think It, I’ll Say It: Stories. Sittenfeld is the master of drawing flawed, complicated characters with knotty yarns the reader is sucked into and quickly. There are no pat answers, making it all the more compelling a reading experience (and to me, short stories are perfect for the beach).
I’m currently enjoying Looking for Calvin & Hobbes by Nevin Martell. The author undertakes the Sisyphean mission to track down Bill Watterson, the genius behind the classic comic strip who pulled the plug on it at the ripe old age of 38. I’m midway through and going to recommend it already, because if you don’t enjoy learning about the creation of that kid and his tiger (and why they were never merchandised), well, I don’t even know who you are anymore.
Here’s to a nice, relaxing vacation with a good book or three.
If you have anything to say about this – or book recommendations – kindly post below (rather than emailing me) to spark conversation. Thank you!
Always appreciate your Beach Reads edition, Chris. I just put All the Colors of the Dark on my list. Are you on Goodreads? Just created a new list called: Recommended by Chris Bond. Hope all is well. Dave
I’ll look for that, Dave. Consider me flattered. Thank you and please let me know what you think of Chris Whitaker’s book. Thanks!