A Fading Seaside Town, A Clever Second-Chance Romance, and A Cocktail that Gets Back to Basics
Plus: Dark and twisted historical sci-fi!
Is there anything better than coming home from vacation to find the book you pre-ordered months ago sitting waiting for you, perfect for devouring in the depths of jet lag at five in the morning?
Well, not having jet lag at all, of course, but this is the price we pay for being able to fly hundreds of miles an hour across continents in skinny metal tubes with wings. And if I’m going to be awake at stupid o’clock for several mornings in a row, may as well enjoy some great reads. Do you have any favorite books for the middle of the night? Enquiring minds would like to know.
This week I read and loved…
The Amusements by Aingeala Flannery
If you loved Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, The Amusements is tailor-made for you. Set in the Irish seaside town of Tramore, this sequence of linked stories about two families, over a few decades perfectly captures the claustrophobia and pettiness of small-town life, the place the daughters of the families can’t wait to get away from but can never truly leave behind. Flannery’s style is wonderful, pivoting neatly from black humor to sadness and back again, with all the different characters’ voices coming through so clearly. This is the author’s debut, and I’m very much looking forward to her next project.
Happy Place by Emily Henry
If you know me in real life, I have talked your ear off about Emily Henry at least once. In some cases, I have shoved copies of her books into your hands and said, “Read this if you want to understand why I do what I do.” Suffice to say that she has upped the contemporary romance game to a whole new level, to the point where I and several other romance writers I know are just the smallest amount afraid of her genius. Well, her reign of excellence continues with this book, which I think is my favorite of hers yet. It’s a perfect cocktail of the fake-dating trope with the second-chance-romance trope, with two real, flawed people who love each other desperately but can’t believe they’re capable of making the other person happy. Add in the joys and complications of long-term friendship in a big group and an idyllic Midcoast Maine setting, and this is the perfect summer read.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books are what I always recommend to people who’ve lost the knack of reading genre fiction, or want to try a new one on for size. I’m a pretty dedicated romance reader, but if Moreno-Garcia’s writing the book, I’ll read it, whether it’s historical fantasy featuring Mayan death gods (Gods of Jade and Shadow) or horror that will mean you’ll never look at fungi the same way again (Mexican Gothic). She continues her reign of excellence here - The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a humid, twisted, bloody version of The Tempest set in 1870s Mexico, with Caliban a drunken, bitter Englishman straight out of a Joseph Conrad novel and Miranda appearing to be a genteel, exceptionally sheltered young lady…except there’s quite a lot more to her than meets the eye. Totally engrossing to the last page.
I also read and enjoyed…Birds of California by Katie Cotugno, In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation and In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti, Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block, and Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center.
And I mixed…Manhattans on the rocks.
Over the past few years of making cocktails at home, I’ve accumulated a decent amount of equipment. Jiggers and mixing glasses and various strainers, muddlers and long-handled spoons and Mexican elbows, not to mention the special ice trays that make enormous cubes and spheres. All of these things are wonderful, of course! But I was at my parents’ house in California last week, with none of my usual arsenal to hand, and it was a salutary reminder that as long as I have a set of standard measuring spoons and lots of ice, I can make fine drinks.
To wit: three tablespoons of rye, three tablespoons of sweet vermouth, two dashes Angostura bitters, and a dribble of Luxardo maraschino cherry syrup, all stirred with ice in the glass you plan to drink from, and sip slow.
I also drank and enjoyed…chilled, fruity Soul Love by Tessier in the Berkeley sun for aperitivo with my husband. Vodka tonics with homegrown lemons in my parents’ backyard. Woodford Reserve neat while watching basketball (WARRIORS!) and shooting the breeze with The Bad Influence. Black sugar hojicha bubble tea. Martinelli’s apple juice (the true nectar of the gods). Best of all: coffee with half-and-half, not just milk.