I definitely want to add the Shirley Jackson recommendation to my reading list, as well as the Susann (I think I missed that one, and I have never seen the movie). Likewise I may have read Room with a View -- I had a roommate whose absolute favorite novel* was Howards End so I probably branched out into other Forster -- so many decades ago.
Thank for this list (I strongly endorse the Lewis Carroll and Agatha Christie recommendations as well).
*Now my memory is saying that there was a George Eliot that was his absolute favorite, probably Middlemarch, and maybe Bleak House. He was an English Lit major and pushed me to read so many great things I wouldn't have touched while I was building my Rex Stout collection.
The Bird's Nest is really good. After Hill House, it's my favorite of SJ's novels.
And of course you can't go wrong with Bleak House, which, if I hadn't decided to quit while I was mostly ahead, I was truly going to tout as a wonderful summer read, presuming you've got a lot of reading time on your hands.
I think that The Haunting is as excellent as film as one might have expected of the novel in 1963, and everyone in it is superb, especially the divine Julie.
(I don’t think that Shirley was all that impressed with it, but so be it.)
I find the 1963 film to be excellent, and fully in keeping with the tone and essence of the novel. Best to keep MILES away from the 1999 film, which had none of what made the novel (and the first film) work. I was hoping to like the Netflix series, but it pretty much just took the novel, the two films, Stephen King's Rose Red, and innumerable other somewhat recent horror cinema and put them into a blender--yuck.
I think, by the way, that anyone who is looking for an intelligent, succinct, and densely human read with an element of mystery might be glad to read "Minnow on the Say" by Phillipa Pearce.
I am happy to note that unlike the list published by the Sun Times, the articles about which have been coming to my inbox for a day now, these are all real books.
Yes, I did not mean to increase your summer workload by asking for more book recommendations--but they would be most welcome!
If I get some sun (and resulting color in my pale face) later on, I'll share a pic of me wearing your art. Otherwise, I will spare you. I do love this shirt.
Maybe I’ve wondered what it’s like if you didn’t read it when it was new, or relatively new. Certainly when I reread it now I recognize its flaws (though they don’t bother me, that’s how much I love it); it pleases me to think that younger readers who didn’t live through that innocent, or at least largely nonfatal, time can enjoy it as well.
I just ducked into the piece to link (down at the bottom) to another piece I wrote, the day after Election Day last year, that’ll yield you six more superb reading experiences.
Thank you! (I wasn't a subscriber then, I think.) More to add, and I think Bel Kaufman's book was the only one I have read. (It was before the Sandy Dennis movie came out, but I was older than 10.)
What an excellent list. Sorry I won't have as much vacation time to read (or re-read, as the case may be) all of these selections!
Count me as a fan of The Bird's Nest. The architectural imagery to describe the state of Elizabeth's psyche is very unsettling (and also seems to hint at some not-sane architecture Jackson would later write about).
Thank you for this! I read Murder on the Orient Express for the first time in January. The ending knocked me on my butt. I enjoyed Jackson's short story The Lottery, so I'm intrigued to read The Bird's Nest. A Room with a View is already on my list, and I will add the others. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! I didn't see that coming. "Curiouser and curiouser!" Yuk, yuk. If anyone is looking for more, I recommend Madeleine Watts's Elegy, Southwest and Denis Johnson's Angels. They are the two I have enjoyed the most this year.
“Poirot-oriented” — why sorry? It trips over the tongue as I trip over the lights fantastic (also the door step).
And oh, “Valley of the Dolls” — beaches and bitches and a smoldering cigarette.
One suggestion: “The Thirteen Clocks”.
I definitely want to add the Shirley Jackson recommendation to my reading list, as well as the Susann (I think I missed that one, and I have never seen the movie). Likewise I may have read Room with a View -- I had a roommate whose absolute favorite novel* was Howards End so I probably branched out into other Forster -- so many decades ago.
Thank for this list (I strongly endorse the Lewis Carroll and Agatha Christie recommendations as well).
*Now my memory is saying that there was a George Eliot that was his absolute favorite, probably Middlemarch, and maybe Bleak House. He was an English Lit major and pushed me to read so many great things I wouldn't have touched while I was building my Rex Stout collection.
The Bird's Nest is really good. After Hill House, it's my favorite of SJ's novels.
And of course you can't go wrong with Bleak House, which, if I hadn't decided to quit while I was mostly ahead, I was truly going to tout as a wonderful summer read, presuming you've got a lot of reading time on your hands.
I really enjoyed Hill House (and the earlier movie adaptation, the one with Julie Harris, is one of the better adaptations of a novel to the screen).
I think that The Haunting is as excellent as film as one might have expected of the novel in 1963, and everyone in it is superb, especially the divine Julie.
(I don’t think that Shirley was all that impressed with it, but so be it.)
I find the 1963 film to be excellent, and fully in keeping with the tone and essence of the novel. Best to keep MILES away from the 1999 film, which had none of what made the novel (and the first film) work. I was hoping to like the Netflix series, but it pretty much just took the novel, the two films, Stephen King's Rose Red, and innumerable other somewhat recent horror cinema and put them into a blender--yuck.
The best thing (the only good thing, really) in that benighted remake is Marian Seldes as Mrs. Dudley. Otherwise it’s unwatchable.
Good grief, for a minute or so there you had me wondering if this was a "blink twice if you need help" scenario.
I think, by the way, that anyone who is looking for an intelligent, succinct, and densely human read with an element of mystery might be glad to read "Minnow on the Say" by Phillipa Pearce.
I am happy to note that unlike the list published by the Sun Times, the articles about which have been coming to my inbox for a day now, these are all real books.
For instance https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/05/chicago-sun-times-prints-summer-reading-list-full-of-fake-books
You forgot my new novel, True Home, just out!
Man, cheap and gaudy works just as well.
Did you see this?
https://www.pcmag.com/news/chicago-sun-times-publishes-reading-list-with-fake-ai-generated-books
That's why we're here!
Figured. Keep going, though! This is a fun list!
PS. My t-shirt arrived. I'm feeling subtle and stylish now. Thank you.
Oh, I’m so pleased! (About the shirt.) Thank you!
Yes, I did not mean to increase your summer workload by asking for more book recommendations--but they would be most welcome!
If I get some sun (and resulting color in my pale face) later on, I'll share a pic of me wearing your art. Otherwise, I will spare you. I do love this shirt.
I brought "Dancer" to my gay men's book club a few years back, and of course it was a wow. The younguns had no idea what they missed.
Maybe I’ve wondered what it’s like if you didn’t read it when it was new, or relatively new. Certainly when I reread it now I recognize its flaws (though they don’t bother me, that’s how much I love it); it pleases me to think that younger readers who didn’t live through that innocent, or at least largely nonfatal, time can enjoy it as well.
a summer reading list of actual books written by an actual human! (blows kazoo)
Thank you. And, a greedy, “More, please?”
I just ducked into the piece to link (down at the bottom) to another piece I wrote, the day after Election Day last year, that’ll yield you six more superb reading experiences.
(If you didn’t read it then, that is.)
Thank you! (I wasn't a subscriber then, I think.) More to add, and I think Bel Kaufman's book was the only one I have read. (It was before the Sandy Dennis movie came out, but I was older than 10.)
What an excellent list. Sorry I won't have as much vacation time to read (or re-read, as the case may be) all of these selections!
Count me as a fan of The Bird's Nest. The architectural imagery to describe the state of Elizabeth's psyche is very unsettling (and also seems to hint at some not-sane architecture Jackson would later write about).
Thank you for this! I read Murder on the Orient Express for the first time in January. The ending knocked me on my butt. I enjoyed Jackson's short story The Lottery, so I'm intrigued to read The Bird's Nest. A Room with a View is already on my list, and I will add the others. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! I didn't see that coming. "Curiouser and curiouser!" Yuk, yuk. If anyone is looking for more, I recommend Madeleine Watts's Elegy, Southwest and Denis Johnson's Angels. They are the two I have enjoyed the most this year.
This aborted list is so true and beautiful we forgive you the use of that silly word describing books we want to keep reading. But only once.
True Grit by Charles Portis is great summertime (or any time) reading.