- The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Ties together our Hemingway/Dog Stars books.
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - His opus. Would make a great complementary read for The Son.
- The Painter by Peter Heller - Follow up to Dog Stars. I actually enjoyed this more.
- The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt - Philosophical musings and comedy from a pair of hired guns in the California Gold Country. Think Butch Cassidy meets Pulp Fiction.
- Any thing by Charles Portis, one of America's least known, best writers. You won't go wrong with True Grit (with an excellent intro from Donna Tartt), Norwood, or my personal favorite Gringos.
- Nobody Move by Denis Johnson - The National Book Award winner delivers a really fun and smart Hammett/Chandler style American crime novel.
- Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean - Non-fiction from the author of A River Runs Through It documents the disaster surrounding a group of elite Smokejumpers dropped into a Western wildfire in 1949.
By the way, here's what's on my Summer agenda:
- The Son
- The Road
- The Old Man and the Sea
- Remember Me Like This by Brett Anthony Johnston
- Freaky Deaky by Elmore Leonard
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- Why Does the World Exist? by Jim Holt
- My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
- Dissident Gardens by Jonathan Lethem
I'm typically a little ambitious and never stay committed to my original plan, but it's a good start. I'm excited about my choices. While you are here, post a comment below and let us know what you're reading (or planning to read) this Summer.
