Summer Reading Recommendations

I covet books. Digital reading devices are fine, I won’t lambast them. But handling a book entails a kind of sensual pleasure that I don’t find in handling gadgets and devices. I also appreciate design: a book jacket’s texture, the density of the paper, the choice of font, negative space on the page. I like to underline and star and make notes with a real pen.

Fortunately, my love for books is reinforced, and has been made very useful, by my involvement with A Public Space magazine. Not only do I have a growing community of equally book-obsessed folks, but I have access to advance review copies of amazing new novels, poetry, short stories, and essay collections.

The following list includes one or two yet-to-be-released works. Pre-order or at least make note of their release date(s). The others you can find easily by clicking the titles. And as always, remember to support independent presses and booksellers, small publishing houses, and non-profit literary magazines and journals.