Summer has arrived and it’s time to select the summer books that you finally have time to read.
Perhaps it’s Harry Potter and “The Order of the Phoenix,” or Carolyn Parkhurst’s “The Dogs of Babel.” In non-fiction there’s a new biography on Benjamin Franklin, Hillary Clinton’s memoir, and Sidney Blumenthal’s “The Clinton Wars.”
Click “Listen” above to hear On Point’s guests say what they enjoyed most in their summer reading selections.
Reading Suggestions from Carole Horne, Harvard Book Store
- Paperback: “Three Junes” by Julia Glass
- Hardcover: “The Clearing” by Tim Gautreaux
- Memoir: “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi
- History: “Krakatoa” by Simon Winchester
- Travel: “Feeding a Yen” by Calvin Trillin
- Religion/History: “Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer
-Mystery: “White Lioness” by Henning Mankell
- Politics: “The Clinton Wars” by Sidney Blumenthal
– Current Events/Middle East: “Charlie Wilson’s War” by George Crile
- Nature Writing: “The Path: a One Mile Walk Through the Universe” by Chet Raymo
Reading Suggestions from Lev Grossman – Book Critic, Time Magazine
- Boris Akunin, “The Winter Queen” -a literary thriller translated from Russian
- David Lipsky, “Absolutely American” – a non-fiction book about life as a student at West Point
- Norman Rush, “Mortals” – a big, fat literary tome about Americans living in Africa
- Augusten Burroughs, Dry – a memoir about alcoholism… but it’s funny
- Hannah McCouch, “Girl Cook” – about a chef looking for love in Manhattan
- Roger Angell, “Game Time” – an anthology of Angell’s baseball writing
- William Boyd, “Any Human Heart” – it came out this spring, but for my money it’s the best novel of the year so far
Guests:
Carol Horn, Head book buyer for the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Deidre Donahue, book reviewer for USA Today
Lev Grossman, book critic for Time Magazine
Carolyn Parkhurst, Author of “The Dogs of Babel”
John Burdett, Author of Bangkok 8
