Now presenting the 3rd annual Mainstreet summer reads recommendations.
*Insert wild applause*
It’s hard to write an introduction for an annual event and especially an introduction for a list of things. This is both.
You and I know when readers click on a “listicle” article, they tend to skip straight to the items in the list. That’s what they came for after all.
But listicle authors still feel the need to write an introduction that most readers, though clearly not you, will skip. And certain readers still feel the duty to comb through every sentence—like the forward, introduction and introduction to the revised edition of a book.
To satisfy both, here we are—a reader and writer while most have already skipped ahead to the first book recommendation (“The Man Who Ate His Boots”).
I wish I had a great insight to share and make this time more valuable. But I don’t.
Now to drop you off with Glory Reitz for the first listed item.
The Man Who Ate His Boots, by Anthony Brandt
Recommended by Glory Reitz
If you’re looking for a book that can make you feel a chill during a Florida summer, this history of the search for the Northwest Passage will do the job. There’s nothing quite like vivid descriptions of frigid winters in northern Canada to replace an air conditioner.
As one Goodreads reviewer describes it, this book is a “thumping good read.” It does not presume that readers know anything about the search for the Northwest Passage or the English obsession and delusion that prolonged that search—which is helpful if, like me, you approach the topic with curiosity alone.
Though John Franklin, the titular explorer of boot-eating fame, is heavily featured in the book, the author also leans into the English zeitgeist of exploration, and the key players who gaslighted their nation into overconfidence in the quest for a shortcut to Japan.
My only caution to readers would be that the storyline can be a little confusing or repetitive at times, as it spans the search from Martin Frobisher’s 1576 exploratory voyage to final quests for relics and records from Franklin’s journey up to 1880, decades after a passage was found. My only caution to those planning an arctic expedition would be to bring lots of citrus and warm socks.
The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath, by Joe Lieberman
Recommended by J.C. Derrick
The late Sen. Joe Lieberman was a man who wasn’t afraid to go against the grain. After becoming the nation’s first Jewish vice-presidential nominee as Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, he later won reelection as an independent and endorsed Republican John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid—while continuing to caucus with Democrats.
Lieberman brings that independent streak to this deeply personal book in which he recounts his devout adherence to Sabbath observance. He explains in detail how he balanced his commitment to rest with the demands of his job, including during the 2000 election campaign.
While walking through each element of weekly Jewish observance, Lieberman also weaves in vignettes featuring Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Sarah Palin and other notable figures.
In an era of constant connectivity, Lieberman’s message is more relevant than ever—for people of all faiths, or no faith at all.
Troublemaker, by Leah Remini
Recommended by Mike Ridaught
Although I’ve seen her show on television, King of Queens, I wouldn’t say that Leah Remini was one of my favorite actresses, nor was I one of her biggest fans.
However, the fact that she was a part of the Church of Scientology for over 30 years and wanted to tell her story on why she left and her accounts of the trials and tribulations that she went through as a Scientologist intrigued me.
The Brooklyn native details her relationship inside the church with such celebrities as Tom Cruise and she gives an honest journey from the time she first joined the church to the time she leaves.
I appreciate her brashness, her persistence, and her dedication to both her craft and the passion to serve both her career and the church. It was also interesting to hear about her acting journey and her time on the popular sitcom also starring Kevin James and Jerry Stiller.
Leah’s book was a great read, and I would definitely recommend it. I feel I have a good grasp of what the Church of Scientology is all about.
Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
Recommended by Lillian Hamman
Larry McMurtry showcases two retired Texas rangers’ cattle drive from Texas to Montana in his 1986 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction winner, “Lonesome Dove.”
After a friend-turned-outlaw convinces them the serenity of Montana Territory is worth the journey, Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae round up their cattle and a rag-tag team of former bandits, cowboys, prostitutes and rangers known as the Hat Creek Outfit. Rattlesnake infested rivers, dust storms, gangrenous infections, Indian encounters, and unrequited love along the way leave the characters at the mercy of life’s indiscriminate harshness and face-to-face with the stark reality that no one escapes death in life.
“Lonesome Dove” draws readers into the wilderness of America’s western frontiers while challenging them to explore the unchartered frontiers inside themselves.
Epigraph: “All America lies at the end of the wilderness road, and our past is not a dead past, but still lives in us. Our forefathers had civilization inside themselves, the wild outside. We live in the civilization they created, but within us the wilderness still lingers. What they dreamed, we live, and what they lived, we dream.” —T.K. Whipple
Chess Story, or The Royal Game, by Stefan Zweig
Recommended by Seth Johnson
Two quick admissions: At 100 pages, it’s more of a novella than a full book. It’s not really about chess.
Zweig’s novella is a character study of a man forced into solitary confinement by the Nazi Gestapo. Desperate to relieve the boredom bordering on insanity, he steals a book peeking out from the coat of an interrogator.
The stolen book turns out to be a chess anthology of master games, but the content doesn’t really matter. He devours each page and each chess game presented. It’s all he has besides the four walls that surround him.
After regaining his freedom, the protagonist lives with the impact of his time in solitary confinement. That’s where the reader catches up with him and sees the psychological and physical impressions left by the experience.
“But in his Chess Story—an effective, terse fiction that is among his most successful—Zweig a little indirectly confronted the horrors of his own time, about which he had long remained silent,” the introduction says.
It’s a quick read with quick pacing that you can finish while waiting for the sunblock to soak in.