Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Reading Ahead: September 2013, part 5


I hope you'll forgive me if I mention things in this post like summer is starting to wind down, autumn is nearly upon us, and that for many of us that means that light beach reads take a back seat to some fiction we can really sink our teeth into.  I realize that it's still August, but Halloween decorations are making an appearance (already, I know, it's kind of crazy) and I'm already seeing a few trees whose leaves are changing. Resistance is futile--might as well lose myself in a book.  Here are a few I'm looking forward to next month.



Maddaddam, by Margaret Eleanor Atwood.  This is the conclusion of Atwoods speculative fiction trilogy, which began with Oryx & Crake and continued with The Year of the Flood.  The series has been described as highly inventive, dramatic, and a perfect combination of humor, romance and adventure.  Atwood is a superb storyteller--if you haven't read her before and are looking something a little outside of mainstream fiction, this would be a great series to add to your reading list.

Someone, by Alice McDermott. McDermott, a National Book Award winner, is a lyrical wordsmith, and I have been eagerly awaiting her return to fiction, as it's been seven years since the publication of After This.  Someone is the ordinary life of an ordinary woman, caught in snippets and snatches, stitched together in McDermott's deft prose.  From first heartbreak to the lives of her children, a life as it is lived, both simple and remarkable.  For those looking for a thoughtful read.

Evil Eye, by Joyce Carol Oates.  In this collection of four novellas, Oates explores chilling tales of love gone horribly wrong.  In the title story, the young fourth wife of a prominent intellectual begins to lose touch with her sanity after a late-night visit from her husband's brazen first wife.  Oates does psychological fiction extremely well--this one might keep you up at night, for a variety of reasons.


You know I've been reading some incredible books I just can't keep to myself--I'll be back with one of those titles on Thursday!

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