(She also hates summer: “People’s brains change in the summer. It’s surprising and irreverent the main character is a cantankerous, Christmas-loathing misanthropic goth who works at a run-down dog shelter. Happily, Lucie Britsch’s slightly sour, witty debut, SAD JANET (Riverhead, 276 pp., $27), fits the bill. If had a Choco Taco for every time a friend has asked me to recommend a book like “ Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” I’d be the Good Humor woman. Every sentence was memorable and meaningful - quotable, even - and let’s just say Shakespeare did not show his spine in our stack of beat-up paperbacks. But the reading! In that cool, piney air, every book was a page-turner. Even if you could locate a match, the single spluttering citronella couldn’t hold back the swarms of mosquitoes and gnats. The rocking chairs were splintery, uncushioned, always missing a slat where one was most needed.

The lamp tacked to the side of our rental cottage was of toaster-oven wattage, barely bright enough to illuminate a page. Nights were for books.Īfter kids were tucked between gritty sheets, adults tiptoed onto the porch with love stories, war sagas and family dramas tucked under sweatshirted arms.

It’s inspired by long-ago family vacations on Bailey Island in Maine, where days were diving into icy waves and doling out Pringles to people with pruned fingers. But, just for this year, I’d like to propose a pared-down vision of the traditional approach. We’ve given up so much already, do we have to add beach reading to the mix? I’m planting a flag in the sand: The answer to this question is no. Then there’s the less fraught but still critical question of when you will have a chance to grab a fat novel and hotfoot it down to the water’s edge. The lead-up was an excruciating blend of boredom and heartbreak, and the actuality is a series of quandaries that feel like an unwinnable round of Scruples: Is it safe to eat a burger off your neighbor’s grill? Do you need to wear a mask while biking? Can the virus survive chlorine?

Kevin kwan new book 2022