Whether there’s a plane trip, a hammock, a corner of a library or a bus ride to work in your immediate future, July has something for you to read while you are there.
Two of the books we can’t wait to devour this month come from Minnesota authors (and one of them comes with a bold endorsement from another Minnesota favorite, beloved mystery writer William Kent Krueger, whose next Cork O’Connor mystery is due in August). Another one promises to engage in an entertaining way with a subject we’re all very close to: our heads. Here are five titles to keep your eye on as summer hits full swing:
Archive of Unknown Universes, Ruben Reyes Jr.
Reyes, who earned glowing reviews for his short story collection “There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven,” publishes his first novel next month, hopping on something that’s been a big trend at the movies: multiverses. Californian Ana, who feels basically happy with her boyfriend, Luis, is brought up short one day when she uses a new machine called the Defractor, which can show users alternate versions of their lives. The images she stumbles upon depict her with a man she clearly loves, but he’s not Luis. Reyes’ novel promises to take readers from Ana’s native California to El Salvador (where the author’s parents lived before coming to the U.S.) and Cuba in a story about the unexpected impact wars can have on lovers. (July 1)
Ashes to Ashes, Thomas Maltman
The Twin Cities writer’s fourth book is a little bit of Minnesota magical realism. Set in a small town, it proceeds from a mysterious event: After Ash Wednesday, parishioners in the fictitious town of Andwhen, Minn., are unable to wash off the smudges on their foreheads. In the book that fellow Minnesota writer William Kent Krueger calls “far and away the best novel I’ve read this year,” a teenager and champion wrestler begin to put that event together with another mystery: the discovery of what are believed to be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer. (July 15)
The Headache, Tom Zeller Jr.
Cover blurbs don’t come any better than this one from the brilliant Mary Roach, whose science-but-make-it-fun books include “Gulp” and “Stiff”: “Required reading for anyone with a head.” Subtitled “The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction — and a Search for Relief," Zeller’s book is described as a deeply researched but also funny look at something almost all of us experience, at least occasionally. Zeller is a former New York Times reporter whose feisty X account, @tomzellerjr, is a fun follow. (July 15)
