For summer reading I like short stories, with a light theme. I just finished a great "first book" from local humor writer, Mary Hanna that I recommend to all, "You May Already Be a Wiener! and Other Midlife Wake-up Calls". It's available on Amazon, and direct from the publisher (www.birdlegspress.com). It is a collection of Mary's writing, previously published in the San Mateo Times. Very entertaining.

I recommend the book "This Much I Know Is True" by Wally Lamb. It is 900 pages long, but I got hooked on it. I can't summarize it, check the library's catalogue or Amazon.com for a summary.

One of my all-time favorite fiction books is "Girl with A Pearl Earring," by Tracy Chevalier. It's the story of a girl depicted in a Vermeer painting. Also, I just finished "Another Day in the Frontal Lobe," by Katrina Ferlik, a funny, down-to-earth book about being a neurosurgeon.

T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain is my favorite of his; our book group also liked his Riven Rock.

This summer I am devouring "Acts of Faith" by Philip Caputo. Elightening, insightful and empathetic. We're all in here and we're all trying to do our best as we stumble, bumble and run headon into each other. Our drummer boy belief systems pull us along, keeping us busy until the coroner comes. Caputo holds his "mirror up to nature" so that we all may see our reflections. Pass it on.

While it's been out for a number of years, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien is one of the best-written books I've read (thanks Men of Letters Book Club!) However, it's not exactly John Grisham "lite" summer fare. Rather it's an oxy-moronic war novel, or collection of war stories, that is at once replete with black, gallows humor while making no pretense of understanding the incomprehensible horrors of war. If you're at all interested in paradoxes such as learning the "truth" from a factually false war story, or believing human spirit mired in despair can rise above tree level, check it out.

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I'd like to recommend "Men Of Tomorrow: Geek, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book" by Gerard Jones. Although it does deal with the birth of the super-hero comic, a uniquely American creation, it mostly serves as a fascinating look at Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century and how their experiences helped shape a mythology that now makes millions of dollars for multi-national corporations.

A must for any fan of Michael Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay."

I recently stumbled on "The Rescue" by Nicholas Sparks. I liked it so much I went ahead and read two more by him, "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember." I think any or all of them might do well for you this summer while you are lazing around the pool. Enjoy!

I read "On Beauty" by Zadie Smith last summer and enjoyed it immensely. It takes place in England and at an American university modeled on Harvard. It's funny and sad, deals with big issues like race and gender, and is extremely well written.

What a great variety of recommendations so far, from short stories to a 900 pager - thanks! Any more out there?

FYI, this announcement (below) has come in from the Friends of the Library about their book sale this weekend. Note that several titles that made the New York Times "Best American Fiction" list will be available.

*** CUBBERLEY USED BOOK SALES ***

Saturday, June 10
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Main Room opens at 11 am

Sunday, June 11
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

These sales are at 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, at the northwest corner of the Cubberley Community Center. For a map showing how to get to Cubberley, see Web Link For a map of where our sale room is at Cubberley, and more information on the sale, see Web Link

--- Best American Fiction in Last 25 Years ---

The New York Times Book Review recently asked several hundred writers, critics, and others to name the "single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years." The winner was Toni Morrison's Beloved, and runner-ups were Don DeLillo's Underworld, John Updike's four Rabbit Angstrom novels, and Phillip Roth's American Pastoral. You'll find copies of these books and others that received multiple votes along with additional titles by the same authors in a special section on the west wall in the Main Room at this month's sale. See the full New York Times list at Web Link

Palo Alto City Library is now offering Novelist, a fiction database that helps you answer the question “What shall I read next?”
Novelist includes:
* Read-alikes
* Book Discussion Guides
* Book Talks
* Annotated Book Lists and more!
This is a great tool for book groups!

To learn more about Novelist join the reference staff for a free introduction -

Tues. June 27 7:00—8:00pm @ Main Library 1213 Newell Rd.
Thurs. June 29 Noon-1:00pm @ Mitchell Park 3700 Middlefield Rd.
Reserve a spot—call 329-2436 or e-mail libraryreference@cityofpaloalto.org.

We hope you can come and enrich your summer reading.

How about "Stranger in a Strange Land?" Fast reading, and appropriate for our times.