Summer Reads

writing down my summer reads list. here is what i got yet.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
By Aimee Bender
304 pages
At age 8, Rose Edelstein discovers she can taste feelings in food—lonely pie, adulterous roast beef, resentment soup—whatever angst or elation the cook might have experienced while preparing the meal. Weird for any kid, yes. But when a family like the Edelsteins is serving up its own wacky stew of alienation and contradiction—from the taciturn father, who "always seemed a little like a guest," to the misanthropic brother, a physics prodigy with KEEP OUT posted (in 17 languages) on his bedroom door—having the ability to sense the dissonance between emotion and behavior can be especially painful. It's no wonder Rose's insights and subsequent psychic ramblings land her in the ER. Thankfully, George Malcolm, an adorable science whiz, comes to the rescue, simply by believing her. Voracious for human connection, Rose comes of age while unraveling family secrets as strangely lucid as they are nightmarish. At its core, Aimee Bender's novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake encourages us all to make the most of our unique gifts while still finding a way to live in the so-called real world. — Kristy Davis

Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov
His powerful sentences of lust, but more interesting is the inescapable lust the reader is subjected to — turning us into Humbertish perverts.
Waiting for Godot

A Mango shaped space

by Wendy Mass.
hirteen-year-old Mia Winchell appears to be a typical eighth grader. But Mia is keeping a secret from everyone who knows her: sounds, numbers and words appear in color for her. Mia has synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. A Mango-Shaped Space is a poignant, coming-of-age novel spiced with wit and humor that chronicles Mia’s developing appreciation of her gift and the part it plays in her life.



Father of the Rain
By Lily King
384 pages; Atlantic
Early in Father of the Rain, 11-year-old Daley experiences a moment she'll treasure for decades: "My father grinning his biggest grin and looking at me like he loves me, truly loves me...." Never mind that he's high on martinis and the thrill of pulling a stunt that humiliates his wife and insults her dinner guests. Lily King's luminous novel centers on a child's blinding hunger for a parent's affection. King makes this well-worn theme seem fresh with her vividly drawn characters—especially Daley's father, Gardiner, a narcissistic alcoholic with an ugly temper and a magnetic charm—and a clear eye for the details of their singularly messed-up relationships. Set in the affluent East Coast seaside town where Gardiner was raised, in a world of Wasp privilege he takes for granted, the novel covers three decades starting in the mid-'70s. Daley's mother leaves Gardiner, but Daley can't give up hoping he'll change. "You want the daddy you never got," her boyfriend says. Obvious? Maybe to us. The uplifting ending comes as Daley finally sees for herself what's been clear all along. — Karen Holt


The Summer We Read Gatsby
By Danielle Ganek
304 pages; Viking

A sophisticated comedy of manners about a wealthy family torn apart and brought together by the contents of a will. A bit over-the-top and rarified—as befits both the title reference and the author's history. Ganek wrote about the chi-chi New York arts scene in Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him. — Sara Nelson





Someone Will Be with You Shortly: Notes from a Perfectly Imperfect Life
By Lisa Kogan
208 pages; HarperStudio

Fans of Lisa Kogan's column in this very magazine will revel in the characteristic deadpan wit on display in her first book, Someone Will Be with You Shortly. Like the bit of banter you don't think of until ten minutes after the dinner party has broken up, Kogan's riffs on motherhood, politics, relationships, and life itself are what we wish we'd said, only sharper and funnier. ("Johannes and I are not married in the eyes of the law," she writes about her daughter's father, who lives in Switzerland, "[but] we have privately vowed to irritate each other for as long as we both shall live.") This is good stuff. And believe us: We're not just saying that because her office is down the hall.