Vacation, glorious vacation! That week when I go away to a big cabin with my family (all 20 of them) and just eat and read and swim and read some more. We have some food traditions at our vacations, mostly just eating a lot all the time, but guacamole and Dan's chicken and a tub of licorice is always in order (though not necessarily in that order). Some foods, I noticed, seem to be quintessential reading food, as well as vacation food. Other times, the book begged for a certain food. So grab a snack for yourself and check out what I'm reading (and eating) this summer.This is What Happy Looks Like
Young Adult by Jennifer E Smith
I actually read this a while ago, but I didn't you to miss out on it because it's a great book for a variety of reasons. A) It's a sweet summer read, about a teenage couple that falls in love over emails and summer vacation and ice cream. B) It's a CLEAN young adult book that my daughter can read, in case you are, like me, on the quest for books of that genre. I kind of wish I had read it on vacation, actually, because it was set where I'd like to vacation someday: small town East Coast, lots of lobster and ice cream and picturesqueness. I think you can guess what pairs well with this book: ice cream. My favorite right now is Talenti brand gelato. I try not to eat the whole tub. (Hey, they're small.)
By Jason Mott
I also read this before vacation, but my mom wanted to know what I thought, so I'm writing about it. (Are you reading, Mom?) This reminded me of a book I read years about but I can't remember what it was. That ethereal quality pretty much sums up this book. A little girl in a small town in the southern US is suddenly discovered to have healing powers, and the country basically descends upon her, asking too much of her, including various people in her life. It is slightly mystical, beautifully yet briefly descriptive (the author is also a poet, so he wastes no words), yet slightly unsatisfying in some way. The ending is not happy but couldn't have been different. What did you think, Mom, and why did we not talk about this on vacation? I think this book pairs well with apples and carrots. It's fall in a farm town. Plus I was making up for the ice cream.
Something Like Faith
Young Adult by Mike Rumley Wells
This book is dear to my heart because a friend wrote it. You can download it here. Here is what I wrote about it on Amazon reviews: "If you like John Green, check out Mike Rumley-Wells. A coming of age story that will connect with young adult readers, aaaaand with those adults who aren't quite ready to admit they're not young anymore: Paxton had a childhood that could have messed him up but a strong inner voice, a cast of gritty but faithful friends, and his love of a girl keeps him headed in the right direction. He constantly questions that direction, and himself, but it just makes him more likeable. How much he's allowed to love the girl is in question as well, which kept me reading all the way to the end, along with other well woven tensions. Written with heart and smarts, this is one to pick up." Pairs well with? Whatever your childhood nostalgia food may be. I ate Luke's Organic Veggie Straws, which are mostly potato chips shaped like tubes, but some are green, so I felt like I was eating healthy Pringles.
Fiction by Fredrik Backman
If you haven't read any Backman, get a book by him now. I like them all. The bestseller is "A Man Called Ove," which I read this time last year and still can't decide how to say his name. This is actually a follow up to "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry," also a vacation read and also great. Backman takes this grumpy, horrible characters and makes us understand them, through their past tragedies that made them so and through their subtly narrated view of the world that makes them seem, just, human. Britt-Marie is suddenly single, middle aged, and jobless, but also must clean and make things proper or she will die. She ends up in a dying town as their rec coordinator and soccer coach--hilarity and also blood ensues. She saves people and they save her in Backman's special brand of misfits coming together. You don't have to read the first one to get this one, by the way. At the lake, this paired well with popcorn. It's like watching a train wreck as Britt-Marie accidentally insults person after person. You need something to put in your mouth to cut the tension.
An Abundance of Katherines
If you notice the abundance of young adult, it's because I'm trying to read all the books in my classroom library so I can recommend them appropriately to my students. Good thing I kind of like to read. And wow, this is a great book, for the right kid. It is fouler than his other books and I would not let my seventh grader read it, so I'll be careful who reads it in my room. It also has Green's amazing teenagers who speak with eloquence about the human condition and deal with true, modern teenage hardships, but sometimes just want a hamburger, too. I love them. This is the story of a road trip by a child prodigy who just graduated high school and is in despair of making his mark, with his Muslim friend, who get sort of lost in the boonies and end of working for a cotton factory owning family with a pink mansion. You can't make that stuff up, unless you're John Green. Love it. Pairs well with...no, not hamburgers, dill pickle potato chips, of course! Actually, any salty or greasy food would do, as long as it's one handed so you can turn the pages as fast the as the dialogue goes.
Fiction by JoJo Moyes
This is definitely a sequel that you need to read after the first book. "Me Before You" is a bestseller about awkward girl Louisa finding her way while assisting rich, dashing, paraplegic Will with his daily life and then planned suicide. The sequel was demanded by fans, according to the afterword, and it's easy to see how a writer would want to meet that demand. I think Louisa's story was over, though, because this book kind of drifts around like Louisa does. She travels, falls off a balcony, meets a guy, thinks about changing jobs, meets Will's daughter he didn't know he had...easy to read and comfortable if you know Moyes writing, but kind of pointless in the story telling department. I enjoyed it as a beach read. Pairs well with licorice--sweet and totally unnecessary, but hard to walk away from.
By the way, I quit two books, too. One was called "The Bookaneers," historical fiction about people who stole manuscripts before copyright laws existed. It looked more interesting than it sounds, and then ended up being just as boring as it sounds. I think it was too smart for me. The other book was the opposite problem; I was too smart for it. I got a few pages in to the very beachy sounding "My Very Best Friend" and found I couldn't get past the problems with perspective (how did she KNOW what she did on the other end of the phone line?) or bad description. There's not enough time to read bad books. I may quit the one I'm on, too, if it doesn't pick up soon. I have a nice fat stack waiting for me and I just made some tzatziki dip. I gotta switch snack foods after vacation to fat-free Greek yogurt and veggies. My pants say so.
