SUMMER READING LIST
SELLING YOUR
FATHER’S
BONES: THE
EPIC FATE
OF THE
AMERICAN
WEST
Brian Schofield
(HarperPress,
£20, out 7 July)
Historical
documentary meets personal testament
as Schofield traces the battle-strewn
journey of the ‘Nez Perce’ Native American
tribe as they were forced from their homes
on an exodus of 1,700 miles across the
country. But as they reached safety, the
tribe chief longed to return to the valley he
swore to his father he would never leave.
Fact not fiction: The term ‘Nez Perce’
means pierced nose.
FICTION
EXIT MUSIC
Ian Rankin (Orion,
£10.99, out now)
Prepare yourselves:
this is goodbye to
Detective Inspector
John Rebus, possibly
the most famous
of the plethora of
fictional policemen.
And it’s a classic plot
to send him on his way. Rebus is just days
away from retirement when he takes on one
last case involving dirty tricks, a political
cover-up and a big question mark hanging
over whether he will finally receive that
crystal duck retirement gift after all.
Fact not fiction: Before becoming a
full-time writer, Rankin worked as, among
other things, a swineherd, a taxman,
a hi-fi journalist and a punk musician.
DEVIL MAY
CARE (JAMES
BOND)
Sebastian Faulks
(Penguin, £18.99,
out now)
In a surprising move,
Birdsong-famed
writer Faulks has left
behind the Somme to
slip into Ian Fleming’s
shoes and pen a Bond book. He’s spoken
of his intention to work within Fleming’s
formula rather than overhauling it to ape
Faulks has spoken of
his intention to work
within Ian Fleming’s
formula rather than
overhauling it
36 / WWW.SHORTLIST.COM
the recent films. However, it’s still a great
way to whet your appetite before 007
returns to our screens in the autumn in the
upcoming Quantum Of Solace.
Fact not fiction: Faulks is an avid
West Ham supporter.
WHAT IS
THE WHAT
Dave Eggers
(Penguin, £7.99,
out 3 July)
Another fictional
memoir from Eggers
– in the same vein as
his A Heartbreaking
Work Of Staggering
Genius – about
Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee
escaping the civil war of the Eighties and
Nineties. He arrives in the US to prepare
for a new life but discovers a fresh set
of horrors awaiting him, leaving him to
conclude that, “God has a problem with me.”
Fact not fiction: Eggers can be heard
talking with Spike Jonze during the final
track of Beck’s album The Information.
JAR OF
FOOLS:
A PICTURE
STORY
Jason Lutes
(Faber and Faber,
£12.99, out now)
The third classic
graphic novel to be
published by Faber
began life as a weekly
comic strip in an alternative Seattle
newspaper, before being compiled into
novel form. It tells the story of a troubled
magician (reported to be based on Harry
Houdini) dealing with his brother’s death,
plus his estrangement from his girlfriend.
Comic writer Chris Ware describes
reading this forceful novel as “like getting
a slow-motion punch in the face”.
Fact not fiction: Lutes claimed he
would want Kate Winslet in drag to
play him in a film of his life.
HOPE FOR
NEWBORNS
Rodge Glass
(Faber and Faber,
£12.99, out now)
Scot Glass’s second
novel focuses on
the very modern
phenomenon of the
dysfunctional family,
with the story of one
young man’s attempts to hold together
his fractured kin, while at the same time
battling his urge to escape. He eventually
gives in to this urge when an old schoolfriend
gets in touch to invite him to join a charity
designed to “help repair your own
damaged life and the lives of others”.
Fact not fiction: Glass spent three years
as assistant to Scot novelist Alasdair Gray.
In The Uncommon
Reader, the Queen
goes on a journey
of literary discovery
THE
UNCOMMON
READER
Alan Bennett
(Profile Books,
£6.99, out now)
England’s foremost
dramatist delivers
what is essentially
a polemic on reading.
In his tale, the Queen
(yep, you heard right, she’s the main
character) stumbles upon a van parked
up in the royal grounds and discovers a
travelling library. And so begins her journey
of literary discovery, enjoying the life of
Samuel Beckett and Thomas Hardy
along the way. In fact, such becomes her
obsession with devouring books that her
public duties begin to suffer.
Fact not fiction: Bennett revealed he
had cancer in 1997, with his chances of
survival put at “much less than 50 per
cent”, but he’s currently in remission.
STRIKE BACK
Chris Ryan (Century,
£6.99, out now)
Ryan can add
‘best-selling novelist’
to his list of credentials
which currently runs
to SAS hero, TV
presenter, bodyguard,
trainer and lecturer.
Now he’s back, and
although he won’t be troubling the Booker
Prize judges, his latest effort is a guaranteed
multi-million seller. Strike Back tells the tale
of two ex-soldiers drawn back into combat
when a hostage crisis in the Middle East
threatens to spiral out of control.
Fact not fiction: Ryan helped to develop
the computer game IGI 2: Covert Strike.
MY
FAVOURITE
WIFE
Tony Parsons
(Harper, £6.99,
out 4 August)
The author of the ‘lad
lit’-launching Man And
Boy returns with the
tale of lawyer Bill
Holden, who moves to
Shanghai on the hunt for the ever-elusive
‘better life’, but finds himself with a Chinese
mistress and a disintegrating family unit.
Fact not fiction: Parsons is friends
with George Michael and wrote the
musician’s authorised biography.
CRIME
Irvine Welsh
(Jonathan Cape,
£11.99, out 3 July)
Welsh casts detective
inspector Ray Lennox,
a supporting character
from his novel Filth, as
the protagonist of his
latest work. Crime
picks up as Lennox
takes a break in Miami after wrapping up
a child-murder case and finds himself
befriending a young girl in trouble. Don’t
be fooled into thinking this is a plain old
police-procedural yarn, though, with Welsh
claiming it’s an “existential thriller”.
Fact not fiction: Welsh gave up his
job as an apprentice TV engineer after
he received an electric shock.
THE REAPERS
John Connolly
(Hodder &
Stoughton,
£14.99, out now)
When a book cover
is emblazoned with
the tagline: ‘Blood
will flow’, the chances
are you’re in for a
crime treat of epic
proportions. Ex-cop turned private
detective Charlie Parker is back and forced
to single-handedly protect a couple being
hunted by the world’s most feared assassin.
Fact not fiction: Connolly is an avid
music collector.
FALLING MAN
Don DeLillo (Picador,
£16.99, out now)
The author best
known for creating
intimate portraits of
American life is the
latest writer to tackle
9/11 with his story of
one survivor, lawyer
Keith Neudecker.
DeLillo examines the struggles of continuing
life in New York after such a tragedy.
Fact not fiction: DeLillo didn’t have
a football to play with as a boy, so would
use a wrapped-up newspaper instead.
CHASING
DARKNESS
Robert Crais (Orion,
£9.99, out 10 July)
He may often be cast
as a frothy Michael
Connelly, but Crais
is certainly the master
at producing a good
read. The latest in
the Elvis Cole series
sees the troubled cop begin to doubt
a conviction he’d previously secured
when another suspect turns up dead.
Fact not fiction: Crais was a script writer
for Hill Street Blues, Quincy and Miami Vice.
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