What’s in Your Beach Bag?

Beach books are, by definition, works of escape:  mysteries, romances, light fiction that doesn’t require too much of the reader.  There’s nothing quite like the tide lapping at your feet, a gin and tonic in the cup holder and hours to wile away with an engrossing novel.  In anticipation of many lazy hours by the shore, I packed 1 hardback (pressed on me by my dad who thought I would enjoy it), 3 paperbacks and 5 new titles on my Kindle – okay, a bit overly ambitious to be sure, but who wants to get caught short with only the old selection of romance novels in the beach house?  Here’s what I read:

Last Night in Montreal is an earlier book by Emily St. John Mandel, the author of the brilliant Station Eleven, and you can see here how she has the potential for the later work.  Like her prize-winner, this one is strange and creative, jumping around both in time and perspective.  The theme seems to be the idea of obsession and loss.  Lilia, rescued from her mother by her father after an abusive episode, is always traveling.  She and her father spend years motoring around the United States, never staying anywhere very long.  Even after her father meets a woman and decides to stop traveling/running, Lilia finds that she cannot stay in one place.  She enters into relationships that are deep and which have the potential to be lasting, and yet she always walks out, obsessed with not belonging anyplace or to anyone.  Christopher, the detective hired by her mother to find her, becomes first consumed with finding Lilia and then, when he has the opportunity to catch her and her father, chooses to simply follow them – for years. Michaela, abandoned by her parents (Christopher and his ex-wife) becomes focused on trying to understand her father’s obsession.  All of these people seem somewhat broken, latching on to whatever keeps them going, even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense.  This was the most literary of the books in my bag and, despite some flaws, a novel worthy of a book group discussion. 

The 14^th Colony by Steve Berry is a great beach read passed on to me by my dad who likes political thrillers.  It’s the latest in a series about an intelligence officer, now retired, named Cotton Malone, who is recruited to investigate what turns out to be a plot by old Soviets to bring down the U.S. government.  The key to the whole mystery resides in an old journal written by a member of the Cincinnati Society, apparently a real group that dates from the Revolutionary War.  The book was very much in the vein of a Dan Brown – switching perspectives, fast-paced action, historical secrets, dashing main character.

The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Lianne Moriarty is a satisfying and light read by the author of Big, Little Lies, embodying her trademark style:  changing perspectives, characters who don’t realize what is in front of them, and complicated relationships.  Ellen is a hypnotherapist who believes she is helpful (enabling people to stop smoking, lose weight, gain self-confidence as a speaker) despite the lack of respect that she gets from certain quarters, including her mother, an M.D.  As the book opens, we see her at work with several of her clients, one of whom (unbeknownst to Ellen) turns out to be the ex-girlfriend who is stalking Ellen’s new boyfriend, Patrick.  For a while, the narrative switches back and forth between Ellen and the stalker and the reader is kept guessing as to which of the clients is THE one. As the ex’s background and the significance of her relationship with Patrick and his son are revealed as well as the fact that she knows what she is doing is unhealthy and unwise (but can’t stop), she becomes highly sympathetic.  Even Ellen finds herself strangely intrigued by this woman, failing to completely empathize with Patrick’s outrage.  At several points, the story has the potential to turn dark, but Moriarty manages to include a fair amount of humor and the novel ends on an upbeat note for everyone.

When I discovered a mystery series featuring a “detective” that cleans out people’s homes and runs estate sales, I was impressed with the originality.  C. J. Box also demonstrates some creativity with Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden in this first of a series, Open Season.  The plot, which revolves around the competing interests of oil pipelines and economic prosperity versus ecological preservation, is what you might expect of a mystery set in the west, but the main character as well as the gun-toting, hard drinking, wild west cast of supporting characters are what propel the narrative.  Joe is a hard-working, rule follower who can’t be bought off, qualities that give him a certain nobility.  He’s also a little bumbling at times (losing his gun first to a man he is trying to ticket for hunting out of season and later when he leaves it in a property that is promptly blown up when he walks out the door), making him seem more human and endearing. 

And still reading when we left the beach – After the Fall by Noah Hawley.  A private jet takes off from Martha’s Vineyard heading for New York City.  Eighteen minutes after take-off, it disappears from the radar.  Presumed dead are the head of a major news network, his wife and children, a businessman and his wife under investigation by the Justice Dept., a crew of three, and an artist who accepted a last minute invitation for a ride back to the city.  The artist, a long distance swimmer in his youth, survives and manages to swim for 8 hours, reaching shore with the media magnates 4 year-old son on his back.  The story alternates between the aftermath of the crash and the back stories of the people on the plane which, presumably will eventually shed light on why the plane went down. 

Happily, I have two more beach trips planned this summer, so I will get to those other downloads before too long.  Next up on my list – my book club’s next selection:  My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff, a nonfiction account of her first job in NYC as the assistant to the editor who worked with Salinger.