Some Summer Reading Suggestions

It’s hot outside, gas costs a fortune, as does everything else and vacations are either too short or non-existent. There is a solution and it’s free, portable and can be fit into the most demanding of schedules--the mini-vacation that you get when you escape into a great story. So whether you are looking for something for the beach bag or to while away the long commute now that the bus has become a favorite mode of transportation, here are some suggestions.

Louise Erdrich has long been an author that tells a great tale and that’s what you get in The Master Butcher’s Singing Club. Set in North Dakota this is an unusual story that has elements of mystery, an unsolved murder, romance and familial relationships. The author builds a story that gives a good sense of the early 1900s and small town America.

Leaping from the Midwest to far-off India, Thrity Umrigar’s The Space Between Us paints a vivid picture of the lives of two families, one upper class and the other the domestics that serve them. Told from the point of view of the women of each family the story explores the relationship between the families, the constraints imposed on them by their culture as well as issues of loyalty. Well-drawn characters combined with an exotic locale make this one a good escape for a summer’s day.