The Boys of Summer

At the start of summer, I always picture long days filled with leisure time for reading all the books I couldn’t get to during the year. It’s always an unrealistic vision.

This summer I once again did not read the copious amounts of great literature that I had originally intended. And I actually started this summer with the Book Expo in New York City and brought home 26 pounds of books. My stack of books is still immense because I had to squeeze reading between active trips to California, Europe, North Carolina and Florida.  I do, however, have two books to share with you.

In the hot, humid days of July I read two books about angst-ridden male protagonists, both first novels written by men.  I first read the highly praised novel, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (published September 2011). Then I read my advance readers copy of A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins (set to be released October 2, 2012). Both books were entertaining and satisfying reading, but both lacked female characters of any substance. I have to admit -- I prefer reading about women. It seems a bit shallow to say that, but there you have it. Regardless, I enjoyed these books.

The Art of Fielding was both a baseball novel and a coming of age novel – two of my favorite subjects in one deliciously long book. The twists and turns of a slightly quirky story make this an enjoyable read. The book deals with a college baseball team and one amazing shortstop who eventually has to accept his limitations in life.

A Working Theory of Love has a neat plot about a young man and a computer that has been programmed with his dead father’s journals. He has long conversations with the computer/his dead father and tries to make sense of being a single 30something heterosexual male in Northern California. Watch for this book when it comes out in October. You can say you heard about it here first. And I will continue to read through my stack of books. The next month may be slower as I still dream of hours of interrupted reading time.