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Alternative Summer Book List
June 22, 2008 Posted in Buzz, Cool Stuff
GOD do I hate “chick lit.”
I am filled with quiet despair, walking along the beach and seeing titles like “Mr. Wrong Now” or “Beauty and the Shoe” or some other horrible “beach reading.”
If you want disposable literature, read a magazine. If you want quirky, alternative summer reads, try one of these:
by Max Brooks
This is an “oral history of the zombie wars.” The premise is that, after the recent zombie crisis, the author traveled all over the world and took down lots of different people’s stories.
It sounds like a dumb premise, but the book is ridiculously good. Brooks has a real ear for dialogue, so the accounts seem realistic. This is alarming to those of us who are highly suggestible. *coughmecough*
Plus, the neat thingy on the website said I have a 36% chance of survival in the event of a zombie war. Sweet!
by Gary Shteyngart
Lovable Russian Jew Misha Vainberg, fat and rich and dumb but with a beautiful soul, takes us
through this bizarre and laugh-out-loud funny tale of life, liberty, and love.
This is prose like you’ve never see it before. Shteygart is truly a master. This is only his second novel (he also wrote The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, which is very good but not as abjectly brilliant as Absurdistan). Catch up on him before he releases his third novel, which I have no doubt will blow all our minds, all while we laugh hysterically.
by Cormac McCarthy
This is an oddly touching tale of a father and son in a post-apocalyptic world.
The Road the fastest read of all time because it’s impossible to put down. McCarthy (who also wrote No Country For Old Men, among others) writes in lyric prose about a savage time and its dead environment. The language is spare, minimalist.
Beautiful, frightening, and ultimately heart-breaking, this is a must-read — but not for the faint of heart.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick
Ever see the movie Blade Runner? Well, this is the novel it was based on.
Philip K. Dick is one of the most prolific and influential science fiction writers of all time. In my personal opinion, he generally does best in his shortest stories–get in and get out, with a blow to the brain like nothing else.
But this is a notable exception. If you read just one classic science fiction book, let it be this. Philosophical, entertaining, and as original as they come, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? makes for a great beach snuggle.
Am I missing anything? What are you favorite “alternative” beach reads?
[Images courtesy of fangoria.com, swingleydev.com, amazon.com/]
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thestorysofar says:
Sun, 22nd Jun 20089:39 am
I'm gonna recommend Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk (fight club, etc). It's about a fashion model who gets half her face blown off so no one will look at her and she cannot speak. Its about how that happens/changes her life and the transvestite who befriends her. A really great read and one of my favorites.
Leah T says:
Sun, 22nd Jun 20089:41 am
American Gods by Neil Gaiman is quite remarkable.
Dana says:
Sun, 22nd Jun 20081:03 pm
My fiance's favorite book is Max Brooks' other book, "The Zombie Survival Guide". He made me read it and I had to admit it was entertaining.
J - NYU says:
Sun, 22nd Jun 20082:25 pm
I recommend everyone read Lolita.
I thought it would be stuffy and hard to get through, but it was hilarious and harrowing and Nabokov is now my favorite author.
Laura says:
Sun, 22nd Jun 20082:42 pm
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The most incredible book I've read since childhood, hands down.
CoCo says:
Mon, 23rd Jun 20086:54 am
Anything by Chuck Palahniuk is highly entertaining and simply amazing. I just read a book called The Rules of Engagement by Catherine Bush, cant stop thinking about it.
J - NYU says:
Mon, 23rd Jun 20087:41 am
I read "Haunted" by Palahniuk and I almost puked while reading one story. Not getting. Literally…almost…puked.
J - NYU says:
Mon, 23rd Jun 20087:42 am
and by "getting"…I mean…"Kidding"
Suzie - George Washi says:
Mon, 23rd Jun 20087:48 am
I just read Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, it looks really long but it reads quite quickly. It was a huge hit like two years ago– now I know why. I highly recommend it!
Audrey says:
Mon, 23rd Jun 20084:42 pm
'Time Traveler's Wife' is one of my favorites. GREAT read.
'The Kite Runner' and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' both by Khaled Hosseini are both excellent reads. It's a crash course history lesson in what life is really like the in the middle east with such amazing stories and irony tied in you don't even realize it.
giz says:
Mon, 23rd Jun 20088:31 pm
Nice picks. I'd second the Lolita recommendation as well as add Ender's Game… it may be old, but if you haven't read it, do!
Melissa says:
Sat, 28th Jun 20086:51 pm
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. One of my favorites.
Ashley says:
Sun, 29th Jun 200811:44 am
I would reccommend "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O'Brien to the post apocalyptic book lover. It's about a teenage girl who lives alone on her family farm in a secluded valley after some sort of world holocaust takes out all but the most remote of area. Her family went out to find survivors and never returned. Then one day a stranger in a radiation-proof suit comes into the valley…
It's written in epistolary (diary) form, which I love, and it's just an all around good read.