2:49Summer books are usually the lighter stuff — potboilers, romances, mysteries, light-hearted and possibly light-brained books that can keep readers amused on a long flight or can be read in a desultory manner, interrupted by tennis matches and naps.
It's the brisker months of September through April when the heavy-hitters typically publish the big, serious novels. This year, though, more than in recent years, significant books by notable authors continue unabated, straight through June, July and August.
One reason, publicists say, is simply that there are more big books than ever, and they need to be spaced out. Another reason is the influence of Internet buying and foreign rights: If a book is published early in Great Britain, perhaps in order to qualify for the Man Booker Prize, impatient Americans can snap it up on the U.K. Amazon site if it's not yet available here.
Reviews of these books will show up in the Star Tribune books pages over the next few months. For now, here's a sneak peek at a dozen significant books coming out between late May and the end of August.
"And the Mountains Echoed," by Khaled Hosseini. The author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" expands his territory in his new book, taking his characters out of Afghanistan and into the larger world.
"TransAtlantic," by Colum McCann. This is McCann's first novel since his 2009 National Book Award-winning "Let the Great World Spin," and his first Irish-themed book in many years. It weaves the stories of four people who journeyed between Ireland and America over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries — writer Frederick Douglass, aviators Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown, and U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. McCann will be at Talk of the Stacks at 7 p.m. June 24 at Minneapolis Central Library, Nicollet Mall. Free.
"Big Brother," by Lionel Shriver. Shriver shot to fame with the 2003 publication of her devastating (it gave me nightmares) novel, "We Need to Talk About Kevin," the story of a boy who shoots up his school. But Shriver has been writing tough, devastatingly spot-on novels about families and relationships for many years. Her latest is the story of a rakish, handsome young man who grows into a morbidly obese adult, and what that means for himself and those around him. (June)
"The Silver Star," by Jeannette Walls. "The Glass Castle," Walls' heartbreaking memoir, was on the New York Times bestseller list for five years. Her new novel plows similar ground, telling the story of two children raised haphazardly by absent and neglectful parents. Walls will be at Macalester College's Weyerhaeuser Chapel at 7 p.m. June 21, sponsored by Common Good Books. Free.
