One Poet's Notes: Fiction Suggestions for Summer Reading

Last week I posted an article to One Poet’s Notes with a list of titles in the current issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review on its “Recent and Recommended Books” page, which includes various new volumes of poetry and poetics. At the time, I suggested the roster might assist those seeking current published collections of poems or essays about poetry for their summer reading.

As I suspect is the case with most readers of VPR, although I regularly pore through numerous books of poetry or volumes about poetic issues, I do not limit my reading to these items. Especially during the summer months, my materials for reading always include books of fiction, averaging at least one novel or short story collection each week, more during vacation time. In fact, since I am now a co-editor of the new online literary journal, Valparaiso Fiction Review, I have also received requests recently from some readers for recommendations of fiction books that might provide valuable selections for summer reading.

My habit has been to consciously alternate between contemporary works, usually published within the last year or so, and classic books of fiction that I have not yet gotten around to reading, as Marilyn Monroe seems to be doing with James Joyce’s Ulysses in the accompanying photo. I also sneak into the mix volumes of historical nonfiction on a number of topics, biographies or memoirs, and collections of critical commentary on poetry, art, film, music, etc.

However, since the older books of fiction I have been encountering lately are meant merely as a way for me to catch up and to fill gaps in my past experiences as a reader, openings which would be singular to each individual, I thought I would share today, in time for the Independence Day to Labor Day season, only the recently published books of fiction that I have read in the last few months. These books represent part of my early summer reading (between the close of spring semester and the July 4th weekend), and I mention them with the intention of recommending these new works as possible additions to others’ reading lists during the remaining months of summer.

I am not aware of any particular theme or type of writing prevalent in the books included below, since there was no deliberate pattern concerning content or style during the selection process. Nevertheless, some might note that eleven of the sixteen books are authored by females—purely a coincidence, but one that nicely balances the alternating list of classic books I have been reading, a majority of which happen to be written by males.

Although I have enjoyed some of these books more than others, and I regard a few of them as excellent, all have proven to be rewarding to read. In addition, I realize any person’s choice is idiosyncratic and subject to personal taste. Therefore, as with the poetry recommendations last week, I will not add any commentary or rank the selections in this post. Indeed, I do not have any desire at this time to offer critical reviews of the books; instead, the titles of these personal suggestions are merely listed alphabetically by author:

Sunset Park, Paul Auster
Once Upon a River, Bonnie Jo Campbell
All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost, Lan Samantha Chang
Room, Emma Donoghue
The Collected Stories, Deborah Eisenberg
The Adults, Alison Espach
Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
Lord of Misrule, Jaimy Gordon
Great House, Nichole Kraus
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
The Paris Wife, Paula McLain
A Gate at the Stairs, Lorrie Moore
The Wilding, Benjamin Percy
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Brooklyn, Colm Toibin