Cindy La Ferle’s Home Officea window on the writing life

Cool summer reads

Cindy on June 17th, 2008

Wasn’t it Henry James who said that the most beautiful words in the English language were summer afternoon ? Come summer, I’m likely to quit work early and shuffle off to a local cafe in my flip-flops, novel in hand. Or I might head to the beach with a bag overflowing with new memoirs or juicy biographies. With that in mind, I asked several writer-friends to share what’s in their beach totes….

From DAVID CRUMM of Read the Spirit:

My summer-reading bag is pretty heavy, but here are a couple off the beaten track: Magnifico: the Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo De’ Medici by Miles Unger. This guy was amazing! An artist, poet, statesman, philosopher, he rubbed shoulders with Leonard Da Vinci and Michelangelo, among others. His era in Florence was like Paris or New York City at their peak of creativity — and tumultuous conflict. The original “bonfire of the vanities” was sparked in Forence’s streets. And, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices by Brian McLaren.  McLaren has written many best-selling books about new directions in Christianity. Now, he’s helping to launch an 8-volume series written by eight leading Christian writers that will take several years for Thomas Nelson to publish. In Volume 1, which recently debuted, Brian gives us a really down-to-earth appeal to reclaim ancient practices shared by Christians, Muslims and Jews — like taking time for a sabbath break each week, occasionally fasting and going on pilgrimages. Great advice for the summer season and a helpful book with lots of intriguing questions after each chapter.

From CYNTHIA HARRISON of A Writer’s Diary:

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas is a delight, despite the fact that I’m a cat person. Along with attention to language that graces every phrase, Thomas combines the best elements of John Grogan’s Marley and Me and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. Thomas’s book, like Grogan’s, has plenty of sweet and zany dog moments. I read Marley and Me to prep for meeting Bosco, my first granddog, on a recent trip to Texas, It’s perfect light airplane reading. For the two people on the planet who may not have yet read Eat, Pray, Love, Gilbert’s touching search for meaning after divorce takes her to Italy where she eats, India where she prays, and Bali, where she loves. But Thomas’s marital tragedy goes beyond divorce, and her subsequent soul search happens with dogs in upstate New York, not at an ashram in India.  Of the three memoirs, I’d rate Thomas’s the highest, even though it’s probably less read than the others.  And I adored The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, another memoir about a brilliant professor who learns he has little time to live, and is invited to give his last lecture before a live audience. And wait! I DO have a novel to recommend. Susan Breen’s The Fiction Class is inspiring in so many ways. Breen’s own story is wonderful: she published her first novel after age 50. And what a novel it is…there’s a love story, a making-peace-with-mom story, and even writing lessons in every chapter, as the protagonist, like Breen herself, teaches creative writing in New York. It kept me up late reading, the true test of a book’s readability.

From writer DIANA DINVERNO:

Oh, how can I pare down my list of favorite books? Impossible. So, I’ll just list a few and save the rest for another time! Possession by A.S. Byatt, is a novel that weaves the story of a pair of present day scholars with the lives of two Victorian poets. When I finished the book, I found the last chapter so beautifully written, I went back and read it aloud. Skip the movie since it miscast Roland, one of the major characters. Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety is a quiet but powerful novel that examines the long-term friendship between two couples who meet while beginning academic careers during the Great Depression. My friends in academia tell me that, even now, it’s spot on in describing the pressures of university life. Stegner’s exploration of the interior landscape of marriage and friendship is a rich and satisfying read. Alice Steinbach’s Without Reservations and Educating Alice are both delightful memoirs about the author’s adventures across the globe (she starts in Paris, of course!) and the discoveries she makes about herself along the way.

From CINDY HAMPEL of Cindy’s Coffeehouse:

In spare moments, I’m reading Wear Your Life Well, by Marilu Henner. Although Henner is well-known as an actress and dancer, she’s also an engaging writer with a sense of mission about helping people lead better lives. She’s someone who truly practices what she preaches.

From DEBRA DARVICK of This Writer’s Life:

I’m doing mini book mentions on my blog each Wednesday. Here’s what I’ve been reading: The Zookeeper’s Wife — which is about WWII Poland.  A zookeeper’s family uses their zoo to hide Jews and members of the underground.  It’s an amazing story of steel nerves and enormous and courageous hearts. One Thousand White Women is also a great summer book.  And winter, too. It’s a novel based on “an actual historical event,” as quoted from the author’s note: “In 1854 at a peace conference at Fort Lamamie, a prominent Northern Cheyenne chief requested of the US army authorities a gift of 1000 white women as brides for his young warriors.” This was the chief’s way of trying to assimilate his people into the white man’s world. What ensued is based on author Fergus’ incredible research and talent as a writer.  I couldn’t put it down. Another winner is  Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It’s set during the time of the plague in Europe, and centers around what happens when one town quarantines itself.  Brooks is such a fine writer. Her descriptions make your nose itch from the dust raised by the cart wheels approaching the town with supplies.

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