Some Books Match Summer Patience

One of the things most adults grieve is the loss of summer vacation.

Oh, many of us vacation during the summer. But that just isn’t the same thing, is it?

There’s nothing like walking out of a schoolyard in June and rejoicing in the knowledge that you don’t have to be back before September (except, maybe, for football practice).

During the summer before my senior year in college, I waited tables at night and spent every morning and afternoon at the beach. Over those weeks I managed to read “War and Peace,” “The Possessed” and “The Last Temptation of Christ.”

All I can tell you now is that two of them are about Russia, and the other was made into a movie by Martin Scorsese.

These days, my reading habits are more apt to include the latest Carl Hiaasen novel (“Striptease” anyone?). I don’t seem to have the time, much less patience, that I once did.

Especially during summer. So the summer-book recommended reading list that I’ve come up with (I had little help from the staffs at Auntie’s Bookstore and WaldenBooks in the NorthTown mall) should appeal to anyone similarly inclined.

Let’s begin with paperbacks.

“Tourist Season” (Warner Books, $6.99) by Carl Hiaasen. One of the writers who puts pop into Florida mysteries, the talented Hiaasen follows a a private eye who tries to solve a series of puzzling murders.

“Cowboys Are My Weakness” (Pocket Books, $10) by Pam Houston. Here’s a collection of short stories that examines the lot (the plight?) of single women dating in today’s world.

“Sunset Express” (Warner Books, $5.99) by Robert Crais. Another Elvis Cole mystery by the author of “Indigo Slam,” this one takes the Southern California private eye to Louisiana.

“The Alienist” (Bantam, $6.99) by Caleb Carr. A series of grisly murders occupies the attention of an early psychiatrist (then called an alienist).

Now for hardback fans:

“The Weight of Water” (Little, Brown, $22.95) by Anita Shreve. A woman fights to keep her family even as she conducts research on a century-old murder.

“Love Warps Your Mind a Little” (Norton, $23) by John Dufresne. After his wife kicks him out, an obsessed writer moves in with his lover, only to become her caretaker as she battles cancer.

“Little Miss Strange” (Workman, $20.95) by Joanna Rose. A young girl comes of age during the latter part of that American era known as the ‘60s.

I could go on, but I’m running out of space.

Also time. And patience.

, DataTimes