Raul’s Summer Reads

Where do I do my summer reading? In the living room listening to death metal. My wife watches TV in the bedroom, so I read on the couch, where I can get away from The Big Bang Theory and stuff like that.

1. Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
This novel is the first in a series that you will grow to love.  Carl Morck, recovered from an ambush that left one partner dead and another paralyzed, becomes head of Department Q, ostensibly a cold-case squad.  His first case tackles the mystery behind the disappearance of a politician several years ago.  The dark atmosphere of Scandinavian fiction mixes well with surprise humor, for the book is filled with quirky characters and unexpected developments that combine elements of both.  It is certainly something different than what you’d expect from the genre and a book you won’t soon forget.

2. Bookseller by Mark Pryor
Another first novel in a new series that you will enjoy.  Hugo Marston, former FBI and now head of security at the US embassy in Paris, witnesses the violent kidnapping of a man who has sold him books; when the police do not act, he calls on an old friend, Tom Green, former CIA spook, to help him in his unofficial investigation.  The intelligent characterization that is created between them makes Marston and Green a team to follow.

3. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
Space opera that is both sublime and visceral – also  the most fun reading you’ll have this summer!  The story combines elements of science fiction, mystery and horror, and the dialogue between the characters draws you in: you want to be there with Capt. Holden and Det. Miller as they struggle to save humanity from a danger millions of years old.  The trilogy is finished (Caliban’s War is next followed by Abaddon’s Gate), so if you want, you can get all three and get lost in this story that is full of suspense.

4. A Stranger in Olondria by Sophia Samatar
As a bookseller, the books I most enjoy are those that are about the love of books, and this work is the most beautiful story I have read since I first came across Ruiz-Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind many years ago.  It is not only the story that is wonderful, Samatar’s delivery is exquisite and memorable; there are passages, if you have a love of  language, that you will want to read aloud for they are so poetic and vivid.  This is a book you will want to read over and over again this summer; it will haunt you in the best way and will earn a special place on your bookshelf.

5. Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
A stand-alone masterpiece of modern fiction.  There is so much in this story that is relevant – an inside look at the culture of North Korea to begin with.  And the main character is something of an enigma – is he in fact a dissident disguising himself as a loyal party member or the exact opposite?  What will affect you most is that even in his disingenuous ways, you will sympathize and cheer for him anyway.  Certainly a book you will come back to and pass along to friends and family.