Thursday, Jul. 23, 2009
Summertime and The Readin's Easy
First things first: yes, I did take a beach vacation last week, and not a so-called “staycation,” despite the fact that I live less than two miles from the Atlantic’s sandy shores.
People who don’t live and work at the beach will never understand that going away to a different beach can be exciting – and relaxing, like it’s supposed to be.
Away from the e-mails, phone calls, Facebook accounts, Crackberries, etc., I did not touch a computer or send or read an e-mail for an entire week.
Anyhow, while on vacation at Folly Beach last week, my li’l nuclear family shared a mammoth rental house with my extended family – including seven kids ranging from elementary school age to college. And what struck me was, apart from my two youngest nephews and my nearly-two-year-old daughter, I think everyone present brought along a book to read.
And they weren’t just feigning intellect to attract mates on the beach – noses were buried in books all week long, either on the actual beach as waves cascaded by, or on the beach house’s various decks and porches, or inside away from the heat.
At one point, three of my teenage nieces were all laying in the same bed reading different entries in the popular “Twilight’’ series.
“Twilight’’ is not my cup of tea, but my wife recently got into the Nuevo vampire series, and not wanting to discourage her from reading, I somewhat reluctantly plunked down cash for the four-part series. And she devoured them like a bloodthirsty vamp.
And sure enough, she was soon looking to read more books. Next, she tore through J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,’’ which I found by reading the inside cover, I had failed to return this paperback copy to a classmate – 20 years ago.
Oops.
Then, I brought home a review copy of S.C. author Dorothea Benton Frank’s latest, “Return to Sullivan’s Island’’ and that set a perfect scene in her mind as we geared up for vacation at Folly Beach, also a Charleston-area vacation spot like Sullivan’s Island.
While at the Folly Beach vacation home, she began reading C.S. Lewis’ “Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia” which was among the books and magazines the house’s owner left scattered around for renters.
Even I got in on the act, reading the debut by North Carolina writer Nic Brown, titled “Floodmarkers,” a good portion of which I read one early afternoon at the beach house while my daughter and wife napped in one of the five bedrooms, my dad dozed in a chair next to me pretending to read a book, and the rest of the clan frolicked on the beach.
My reading, admittedly, was a little different, because I HAD to read “Floodmarkers’’ as part of this week’s cover story package where we revisit a popular theme we explored last summer: books to read while at the beach, poolside or taking summer vacation.
Ok, I didn’t have to read “Floodmarkers,” but I had given the assignment to myself, so I didn’t want to chew myself out, disappoint myself or fire myself.
In any event, we give you the thumbs up/or thumbs down on nine books for beach reading for the summer of ’09 that came from a list compiled by a local outlet of a huge national bookseller. We’ve chosen a variety of titles from a diverse slate of authors, including the aforementioned Frank to Jimmy Buffett to porn star Jenna Jameson.
Also, former bookstore owner/current libations columnist Colin Burch explores the state of the Grand Strand area’s mom-‘n’-pop independent book stores and how they are dealing with the economic downturn and the digital age.
Yes, summer is more than halfway over for those saps that don’t live at the beach, but as many locals know, beach-going can be enjoyed right on through September and sometimes October, so you’ve still got time to track down the books we’ve already vetted for you.
So, get to reading.