Summer is already booked
A stack on the night table, a few on the floor
By Todd Leopold
CNN
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(CNN) -- This is the time of year you see all those articles about summer reading -- that is, if they didn't all appear a month ago around Memorial Day.
You know the ones. Some of them suggest beach reading, defined as "books that won't tax your brain as you work on that tan."
Other columns promote dense histories, in the theory that summer is the one time of year you'll be able to get through, say, the latest LBJ volume from Robert Caro (which, incidentally, was terrific) or this year's doorstop, Bill Clinton's "My Life."
All I can say is: Summer reading? Hah! I still have reading lined up from the spring.
I'm in a book club. We take the summer to read thick novels, both classic and contemporary. In the past, those have included "Atlas Shrugged," "Anna Karenina" (I'm proud we were ahead of the Oprah curve), Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, and Michel Faber's "The Crimson Petal and the White." This summer, we're doing Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex."
I haven't started yet.
Then there's the online book group, which -- in between discussions of politics, movies, recipes and the behavioral patterns of certain animal companions -- we talk about books. Some of the members regularly contribute elegant, thoughtful reviews. Others offer wonderful stories about their TBR (to be read) piles and their latest Amazon shopping trips.
I swallow quietly and feel behind.
Nevertheless, summer is a good time to take stock -- of the books on the night table, the books on the floor, and the books I'm putting off packing up in preparation for a move because, well, you just never know. So here's what I'm reading, what I hope to read, and what I'd like to re-read.
Eye on Entertainment turns the page.
Eye-opener
Several months ago, having enjoyed (and actually remembered!) Richard Russo's "Straight Man," I picked up a copy of his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Empire Falls" (Vintage paperback). Earlier this week I took it off the shelf and started reading.
I'm only about 60 pages in, but I'm already enmeshed in the story of a faltering Maine mill town and the owner of its grill, Miles Roby. Russo has a graceful writing style and a knack for making what could be "colorful" characters and situations heartbreakingly real. Now I'm going to have to get his "Mohawk" and "Nobody's Fool" (after I'm done with "Empire Falls," that is).
I haven't had a chance to read Simon Winchester's more famous "The Professor and the Madman," but I'm hoping to read his latest book, a history of the Oxford English Dictionary, "The Meaning of Everything" (Oxford). The earlier book told the parallel tales of the development of the OED and the insane man who contributed thousands of entries; "Everything" is more directly about the OED. (I'd also like to read Winchester's "Krakatoa" [HarperCollins hardcover/Perennial paperback] but it's already packed. Drat.)
Instead of devoting my time to Clinton's tome, I may try to dive into the story of a very different 20th-century leader, Simon Sebag Montefiore's "Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar" (Knopf), a comprehensive biography of the Soviet dictator and his cronies. Besides, it's a whole 300 pages shorter than Bill's book.
Richard Ben Cramer's "How Israel Lost" (Simon & Schuster) and David Horovitz's "Still Life with Bombers" (Knopf) are provocative takes on the State of Israel -- and the state of the Middle East. I hope to have a review written one of these days, but both are highly recommended -- though I guarantee one or both will probably tick you off.
One member of my online group said she was reading "The Full Catastrophe" by David Carkeet. I read "Catastrophe" when it came out, in 1990 -- I'd call it his best book -- and have hungrily devoured everything else he's written. One book by this underrated author I'd like to re-read is "I Been There Before," his wonderful 1985 novel about Mark Twain returning with Halley's comet and the country he finds. Mr. Carkeet, when is your next novel coming out?
And after all this, I'll get to "Middlesex." I hope Labor Day isn't in the rear-view mirror by then.
On screen
You already know about "Spider-Man 2," so I'm not going to belabor the point. Suffice it to say, everyone's saying it's better than the first "Spider-Man," and that's saying something. Opened Wednesday. (Read Paul Clinton's review.)"The Clearing" stars Robert Redford, Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe in the story of a successful businessman (Redford) taken hostage by a kidnapper (Dafoe). Opens in limited release Friday."Before Sunset" is the sequel to "Before Sunrise," the delicate Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy film about two 20-somethings who meet on a European train and spend the night together. Now they're several years older, but the old feelings are still there. Directed by Richard Linklater. Opens Friday."America's Heart and Soul" is a documentary by Louis Schwartzberg described as "a celebration of a nation told through the voices of its people." Perfect for Independence Day. Opens Friday.On the tube
CBS premieres new seasons of two reality shows Tuesday. "Big Brother" starts its fifth series at 8 p.m., and "The Amazing Race" comes on at 9:30 p.m. Wouldn't it be funny if the "Race" people got stuck at the "Big Brother" house? I didn't think so.Sound waves
Brad Cotter's "Patient Man" (Sony) comes out Tuesday.Paging readers
Ray Bradbury may not like Michael Moore's appropriation of Bradbury's title "Fahrenheit 451" for his own use, but Moore's movie came out at a dandy time: Bradbury has a new collection of short stories, "The Cat's Pajamas" (William Morrow), due Tuesday. At this rate I won't get to it until sometime in 2006, but Julian Barnes' new work, a collection of stories called "The Lemon Table" (Knopf) is due out on July 9.
