Reading the Art in Caldecott Award Books a Guide to the Illustrations
Summer is in full swing and there'south nothing like heading to the beach — or the park — sitting by the h2o, contemplating the view, grabbing a expert book and just immersing ourselves in it. That's why we're throwing out some ideas for the perfect summer novels.
Nosotros are adhering to "embankment reads" rules though: almost of the titles here are either full page-turners or grant some instant gratification — or both. And all of them will ship you to faraway places or the kind of setting y'all'd enjoy spending a holiday at, either because of when they were written or where they are gear up.
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith (1955)
The oldest book on this list is the first one in a series of five psychological thrillers that Patricia Highsmith wrote about her infamous Tom Ripley character. Even if he's a sociopath with more than murderous tendencies, the reader tin't avert being on Ripley'due south side while reading Highsmith'south engrossing novels.
The whole series is ready in Europe with the offset book taking its protagonist and the reader to San Remo, Rome, Palermo and Venice. Plus, at that place'due south a abiding longing for a trip to Greece.
This Australian classic is set in 1900 and features a group of boarders from an all-girls school in Victoria equally they take a twenty-four hours trip to the nearby geological formation Hanging Rock. At that place are plenty of descriptions of proper picnic attire, the beauty of the landscape and the relationships that bond this group of teenagers and their teachers.
And while Joan Lindsay'southward writing way and the setting for this novel may have you cartoon some parallels with other classic coming-of-historic period novels written by and starring women, the ending of Picnic at Hanging Rock could just accept been written in the 1960s.
"Los mares del Sur" (Southern Seas) by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (1979)
Permit me the hometown reference with this Spanish novel set up in Barcelona in 1979. Written by the Galician-Catalan author Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Southern Seasis the most famous of his novels starring the individual detective Pepe Carvalho. He'due south a gourmet who's equally obsessed with food, literature and the metropolis of Barcelona.
As well a methodical description of the city in the late 1970s, the book also includes references to a trip to the Southern Seas that never was.
"Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami (1987)
Written past Japanese author Haruki Murakami, this coming-of-age novel follows the story of Toru Watanabe, a higher student who is obsessed with American literature. He's trying to figure out his life in Tokyo in the 1960s and ends upward in relationships with ii women who couldn't be more different: in that location's Naoko, the former girlfriend of his best friend, and Midori, i of his classmates.
The story takes the reader from the bustling streets of Tokyo to the peaceful quietness of a rehab eye lost in the mountains nearby Kyoto.
"Go Shorty" past Elmore Leonard (1990)
Small-fourth dimension Miami loan shark Chili Palmer travels to Las Vegas, hoping to get a debt paid, and ends up in Los Angeles, where he learns near the movie-making business and how to become a producer. Gear up in Hollywood in 1990, this California classic masterfully blends suspense, thrills, humour and even the slightest hint of a Western.
This story is so quintessentially Hollywood that in that location'due south a 1995 movie accommodation starring John Travolta and a 2017 TV show with Chris O'Dowd, but you should definitely start with the Elmore Leonard novel.
"Decease at La Fenice" by Donna Leon (1992)
American novelist Donna Leon has been calling Venice home for years. Her first volume in the mystery series that stars the Venetian constabulary detective Guido Brunetti follows the investigation of a music conductor's death after he'due south poisoned during the interruption of a Verdi opera at La Felice.
Leon has been steadily publishing one new Commissario Guido Brunetti installment a year for decades. So if y'all love the Venitian setting, criminal offense stories and the constant descriptions of all the delicious foods (and drinks) that Brunetti ingests on a daily basis, this could definitely exist the series for yous.
"Telephone call Me by Your Name" by André Aciman (2007)
Chances are we'll never get to meet Luca Guadagnino's sequel to his Call Me by Your Proper name moving picture adaptation. And while André Aciman's follow-upwards novel, Find Me, may leave hardcore fans of Elio and Oliver a footling chip underwhelmed, there's nothing similar going back to the original textile.
Set against the backdrop of the Italian Riviera, this coming-of-age story follows the precocious Elio as he falls in love with Oliver, a graduate student and Elio's parents' guest for the summer. This iconic summer read perfectly captures the feeling of longing for someone and it features plentiful, engaging conversations, early morning swims, leisurely bike rides, a furtive relationship and a passionate trip to Rome.
"Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)
Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sets this story — that deals with immigration, race and the feeling of belonging — in Lagos, London and New Jersey. Her protagonist is Ifemelu, a young Nigerian adult female who moves to the United States to farther her studies.
Americanahmakes for a smashing read not only as an engaging and entertaining novel just also every bit a report about race in America from the perspective of a not-American Black person. The novel also packs a complex love story between Ifemelu and Obinze, who moves to London and has to live there as an undocumented immigrant.
"Big Picayune Lies" by Liane Moriarty (2014)
I don't care if you lot've already seen the star-packed HBO miniseries and know non but who the killer of this story is but also the identity of the person who dies and whose investigation propels the whole plot, Liane Moriarty'southward soapy thriller still very much deserves a read.
On the one hand, instead of the rugged coast of Northern California, the novel Big Little Lies is ready in the suburban Northern Beaches of Sydney. On the other hand, the book jams enough humor and sharp barrack — especially when it comes to the inclusion of dialogue from the police interrogations among the many parents who accept their kids to the aforementioned school every bit our protagonists — that you'll find enough nuggets of new material to more than justify the read.
"The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017)
Taylor Jenkins Reid's historical fiction bestseller is fix between the publishing world of present-day New York and the classic Hollywood of the 1950s, 1960s and onward. When the relatively unknown announcer Monique Grant is tasked with writing a profile on the legendary actress Evelyn Hugo, she can't believe her career-changing luck.
The novel guides the reader through a series of interviews betwixt Monique and Evelyn in which the former star tells her origin story and the reasons behind her many marriages throughout the years.
"Less" by Andrew Sean Greer (2017)
Andrew Sean Greer's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel stars Arthur Less as a novelist with a dwindling career and a cleaved heart. As if all of that wasn't enough already, Less is on the brink of turning 50. When his former long-time boyfriend invites Less to his wedding, our hapless protagonist decides to commence on a series of back-to-dorsum international trips with a "ramshackle itinerary" to avoid the much-dreaded issue.
Greer's fun and never-tranquility novel takes the reader and its protagonist from the foggy shores of San Francisco to New York City, Mexico Urban center, Turin, Paris, Berlin, Morocco, India and Japan.
"Agent Running in the Field" by John le Carré (2019)
The concluding published novel of late spymaster John le Carré is a render to some of his career-defining themes in the world of international espionage, which he describes with precision — and without a glimpse of glamour or spectacle.
The novel stars Nat, a reluctant-to-be-out-of-the-field agent in his late forties, who has had a long career developing sources in Russian federation. Nat's back in London and somehow tin can't avert getting himself involved in notwithstanding another surveillance plot. The book is fix in 2018 and at that place's abiding chatter among its characters regarding Brexit and the Trump administration. Le Carré favors none of those.
Even if you don't like international thrillers featuring double agents that much — who doesn't though? — Agent Running in the Field is nonetheless worth a read if just to appreciate Le Carré'due south succinct yet masterfully rich and descriptive prose.
"Beach Read" by Emily Henry (2020)
Let's add together Beach Readto this listing of beach reads considering Emily Henry's romance novel truly does its championship justice. Prepare in a pocket-size Michigan town, the novel tells the story of bestselling romance author January and acclaimed fiction writer Gus. They finish upwards existence neighbors and living side-by-side in lakefront cottages.
I thing leads to another and they stop up making a deal: by the finish of the summer he'll be the one to pen a romance book and she'll write a dark and bleak 1. They both need to teach the other everything they need to know to exist able to produce something in a genre they're not used to working in. Of course, likewise all the procrastinating and writing, at that place'south also time for love.
"The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett (2020)
Last year'due south revelatory novel The Vanishing Half tackles the bailiwick of passing when it comes to racial identity. The Brit Bennett-penned historical novel, which is already existence developed into a limited series by HBO, tells the story of two identical twin sisters from a minor town in rural Louisiana where the majority Black population is so light-skinned that one of the sisters passes as a white woman for most of her life later on fleeing town.
The activity encompasses several decades starting in the 1950s and weaves together the life of the assimilated sis — who'due south leading a double life in New Orleans first and and so Los Angeles — with that of the other 1, who is forced to return home.
"Velvet Was the Night" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2021)
Let's close this listing with an August release from one of 2020's bestselling authors. Afterward her Mexican Gothicwas chosen as Best Horror novel terminal year by the Goodreads users, author Silvia Moreno-Garcia returns with Velvet Was the Night.
The Mexican Canadian author sets the action in 1970s Mexico City and writes about Maite, a secretary obsessed with romance stories and her cute neighbor Leonora. When the object of her fixation disappears, Maite starts looking for her — simply she isn't the only 1.
Source: https://www.ask.com/culture/books-beach-read?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex