Summer reading: July
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Last month, the editors of the Book Review published a long list of new books that might make good summer reading. The books for July are here and on the next page. When reviews are published, we’ll add links to the list. Happy reading.
The Alchemy of Stone: A Novel of Automated Anarchy & Clockwork Lust by Ekaterina Sedia
An automaton finds herself caught among gargoyles, mechanics and alchemists in a struggle for control of a magical, clockwork realm.
All About Lulu: A Novel by Jonathan Evison
In a family of bodybuilders from Venice Beach, Calif., a young man’s attraction to his troubled stepsister turns into a first step on his search for self-identity.
Ark of the Liberties: America and the World by Ted Widmer
A history of the United States that argues that its leaders, from the very beginning, had global ambitions to secure rights and liberties for all.
The Black Hole War: My Battle With Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics by Leonard Susskind
If information falls into a black hole, is it lost forever? Find out here.
Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry
The author of ‘Lonesome Dove’ recalls his attempts during his Texas childhood to acquire his own personal library and his eventual establishment of a bookstore.
Chasing Darkness: An Elvis Cole Novel by Robert Crais
A corpse discovered in Laurel Canyon sets L.A. private investigator Elvis Cole on another quest.
many more books after the jump.
Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story by Christina Thompson
Part history of the Maori civilization and European explorations in the Pacific and part memoir, by the editor of the Harvard Review, who is married to a Maori.
A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-foot-8, 170-pound, 43-year-old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL by Stefan Fatsis
A sportswriter’s personal tale of surviving the Denver Broncos’ training camp, in the best tradition of such accounts as George Plimpton’s ‘Paper Lion.’
How Fiction Works by James Wood
An analysis of forms and styles from Homer on up, by one of our finest literary critics.
The Last Embrace: A Novel by Denise Hamilton
Dark doings (You don’t say!) in 1940s Hollywood.
The Lemur: A Novel by Benjamin Black
A new novel of murder and nasty family secrets, set in 1950s Dublin and contemporary New York City, from John Banville, writing again as Benjamin Black.
My Name Is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs and Shakespeare by Jess Winfield
A tale of two Williams: the Bard, on a secret mission to bring a sacred relic to England, and a broke graduate student who delivers a psychedelic mushroom to a client.
Palace Council: A Novel by Stephen L. Carter
An up-and-coming Harlem literary star finds the garroted body of a prominent Wall Street lawyer, and soon his sister disappears. His 20-year search for her leads him to the corridors of Nixon-era Washington and a shadowy group that tries to pull the levers of U.S. power.
Real World: A Novel by Natuso Kirino
Four teenage friends become entangled in a brutal murder and the search for the killer during a hot, smoggy summer in Tokyo.
Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss
How the Cold War was played out on the fields of the 17th Olympiad.
Secrets of the Sea: A Novel by Nicholas Shakespeare
Young newlyweds build a farm by the Tasman Sea, only to have their plans -- and their new life -- upset by a castaway they take into their home.
Shining City: A Novel by Seth Greenland
A satire set in West Hollywood, in which a dry-cleaning business fronts for an escort service. (read about the making of the book’s promo video)
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
A cultural and psychological study of that most mundane of our daily activities.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami
The celebrated Japanese novelist, who took up running in 1982, reminisces about his wide-ranging preparations for the 2005 New York City Marathon.
Carolyn Kellogg