The books piled up again. The physical one on the bedside table; library queues; an electronic bookshelf where novels are bought impulsively from bed, initiated and then forgotten in one night of insomnia. My eyes are, always, larger than my attention span.
I reflected on the midpoint of the year, my book week commitment, the page count between here and 26. Reading, I told myself, shouldn't be a chore but fun. And so, when The Times Book Review arrived with its summer previews for both fiction and nonfiction, suggesting fancier titles, I was determined again to stamp this as reading season. A summer of book reading, in contrast to my “long magazine article” spring, was preceded by a winter “Dateline” and a fall “mostly podcasts.”
I am optimistic about my prospects. Andrew Lipstein, author of 2022's delightful “Last Resort,” has a new novel, “The Vegan.” It's about a Brooklyn hedge funder who, after a fateful dinner party, decides to go vegan. It doesn't come out until July, so in the meantime I'll be keeping myself busy with nonfiction.
Aisha Harris, late The Times and currently co-host of NPR's “Pop Culture Happy Hour” podcast, has a collection of essays coming up next week called “Wannabe: Reckonings With the Pop Culture That Shapes Me.” Then in June, a book I was waiting for someone to write: “The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy and the Wild Life of an American Commune,” by Alexander Stille. Over the years I have read everything I could find online about this Upper West Side community, founded by a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, seeking to redefine the nuclear family. I'm glad Stille's book filled a void in my internet independent school.
Also in June, Lorrie Moore had a new novel, “I'd be Homeless if This Ain't My Home,” her first since 2009. One storyline revolves around a man who goes on a cross-country road trip in the revived body of his ex. girlfriend. I'm not usually a “revived” person, but that was Lorrie Moore. I will read her shopping list if she will let me.
A sequel to Colson Whitehead's “Harlem Shuffle”, “Crook Manifesto”, is due for release in July, and Ann Patchett's newest “Tom Lake” is due for release in August. Will I finish many of the books I'm halfway through before I move on to my gift of choice this summer? Honestly, even though it hurts me to leave things unresolved, I am giving myself a new leaf. I want to read enthusiastically, athletically, this summer. I'm determined to get closer. My travel plans are set, my reading list is planned. Now, I leave it to the season to bring out sunny days and shady grass.
For more
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If you prefer a genre-based summer read, we've got you covered.
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How well do you know the popular summer novels? Take our quiz.
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Want more summer reading suggestions? The Times archives are full of them. This is a list from 1978. This is a list from 1988. This is last year's list.
WEEK IN CULTURE
Sunday's Question: Was the Supreme Court's decision on the Alabama election map a vote-winning victory?
“We will take it. Democracy needs to win,” wrote JD Crowe of AL.com, likening the Voting Rights Act to the phoenix rises from the ashes. But courts don't just strengthen voting rights maintaining the status quoMelissa Murray wrote for The Washington Post: “And the status quo is that this court, over the last 10 years, has crippled the law and its protections for minority voters.”
Back from the dead: In the novel “My Murders,” a victim of a serial killer comes back to life – but life is not the same.
Our editor's picks: “The Half Moon,” about a faltering marriage and a failing bar in a small town, and eight other books.
Best selling times: David Sedaris jokes about hard times in “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which is on the paperback nonfiction bestseller list.
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
Ethics expert: Should you support your partner's career with unpaid work?
Read the full edition.
NEXT WEEK
Which must be considered
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Men's French Open final this morning. Novak Djokovic is playing for his 23rd Grand Slam singles title.
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President Biden will host Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO, at the White House tomorrow.
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Nima Momeni, who is being charged in the death of Cash App founder Bill Lee, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
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King Charles III's first birthday as ruler will be celebrated on Saturday.
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Sunday is Father's Day in the US