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Top fiction pick: The Little Stranger

Sarah Waters

Riverhead, $26.95, 480 pages

Now and then, a book will come along that keeps you reading well into the night. This "ghost story" is just such a page-turner – an ideal choice for book clubs.

The richly written tale is set in England just after World War II, a time of reconstruction. The manor houses and vast country estates built by the privileged in the previous century are literally crumbling, soon to be replaced by suburbs.

One such mansion is Hundreds Hill in rural Warwickshire, occupied by the surviving members of the Ayers family. Mrs. Ayers is the mother of Rod, a maimed war hero, and Caroline, a plain-featured woman apparently happy with her spinsterhood. Young Betty is the only household servant in a dilapidated house that once employed a full staff and was the site of grand soirees.

Into the scene enters the story's narrator, Dr. Faraday, a general practitioner whose mother was once a maid at Hundreds Hall. He insinuates himself into the family dynamic and soon becomes a most welcome and frequent visitor, helping in times of need.

But something else has entered Hundreds Hall – or was it there all along? As a series of strange events occur and tragedies strike, the reader must ask a key question: How reliable a chronicler is Dr. Faraday?

The psychological tension steadily mounts to a horrifying conclusion.
Top non-fiction pick: Dangerous Games

Margaret MacMillan

Modern Library, $22, 208 pages; on sale July 7

MacMillan is well-credentialed to remind us that the act of documenting true history – "What really happened, and why" – is best left to professionals.

The corruption of history arrives when governments, dictators, corporations and churches distort and falsify the facts for their own ends, she writes, or when amateurs can't get their facts straight or have agendas of their own.

Further, the Oxford University history professor points out that the true values of history – which include providing nations a sense of identity and offering lessons on which current and future actions can be based – can be lost when chronicling turns into propaganda.

She offers examples, among them Napoleon's reign and his downfall; Mao Zedong and his rewriting of China's history; the "historic" self-justifications for the actions of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler; the events before and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; and the Cuban missile crisis.

The author cautions, "The past can be used for almost anything you want to do in the present."

Summer reading list points the way to mystery, action and romance

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Published: Monday, Jun. 22, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 3D

What are you reading this summer? Lists abound, compiled by newspapers, magazines, bookstores, TV and radio shows, and online sources. And don't forget word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and co-workers.

Even horrormeister Stephen King has a list of summer books he recommends, including three we liked a lot: "Shatter" by Michael Robotham, "The Tourist" by Olen Steinhauer and "Handle With Care" by Jodi Picoult.

I joined the crowd and put together this eclectic list.

HERE'S THE BEST OF THE REST:

Fiction

"In the Kitchen" by Monica Ali (Scribner, $26.99, 448 pages; on sale Tuesday): A British chef has almost landed the backers needed to open his own restaurant, but his world begins to fall apart when a body is found in the basement of the luxury hotel where he works.

"The Lace Makers of Glenmara" by Heather Barbieri (Harper, $24.99, 288 pages; June 23): Women in an Irish village help each other solve their problems as they bond over creating a line of fashion. Expect fresh starts, romance, intrigue, sudden tragedy and redemption.

"Sanctuary" by Ken Bruen (Minotaur, $24.95, 203 pages; June 23): The seventh Jack Taylor adventure finds our Irish hero on the trail of a killer who taunts him with messages.

"Rain Gods" by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster, $25.99, 384 pages; July 14): Burke is best-known for his series starring Cajun police detective Dave Robicheaux. Here, he introduces the improbably named Hackberry Holland, a Texas sheriff and cousin of another Burke character, attorney Billy Bob Holland.

"The Lovers" by John Connolly (Atria, $26, 352 pages): The Irish supernatural-thriller writer adds an eighth book to his Charlie Parker series. Parker investigates the long-ago suicide of his father while two "undying beings" are intent on killing the sleuth. Noir at its best.

"South of Broad" by Pat Conroy (Doubleday, $29.95, 528 pages; Aug. 11): After a 14-year absence, Conroy ("Beach Music") is back with a much-heralded story that tracks the lives of seven disparate friends, from high school into adulthood.

"The Strain" by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (William Morrow, $26.99, 416 pages): Film director Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") and novelist Hogan ("The Killing Moon") team for the first in a horror trilogy that pits humankind against vampires.

"Flint and Silver" by John Drake (Simon & Schuster, $24.95, 368 pages): Aye, matey, this bein' the tale of how Long John Silver threw his lot in with Joseph Flint to form a partnership never before seen on the high seas. But a woman comes between 'em. This "prequel to 'Treasure Island' " is just the thing for readers with a bit of pirate in their own souls.

"Free Agent" by Jeremy Duns (Viking, $25.95, 352 pages): Duns' debut is being called "reminiscent" of John le Carre's Cold War spy thrillers. British intelligence operative Paul Dark lost his father and his lover during a secret mission in World War II. Now, 25 years later, he's accused of being a double agent. With MI5 and the KGB on his trail, he must find the real defector before his own untimely demise.

"The Prosecution Rests," edited by Linda Fairstein (Back Bay, $15.99, 432 pages): These 22 stories by legal-thriller writers range from the lighthearted to the dark, from the Salem witch trials to modern courtrooms. All the contributors belong to the Mystery Writers of America. Fairstein is a New York Times best-selling author.

"Dust and Shadow" by Lyndsay Faye (Simon & Schuster, $25, 336 pages): In a sense, this pastiche is a historical thriller about a PI tracking a serial killer. Specifically, Faye writes as Dr. John H. Watson, who chronicles Sherlock Holmes' hunt for Jack the Ripper.

"Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn (Shaye Areheart, $24, 368 pages): It appears that Ben Day, 15, killed his own mother and two of his sisters. A surviving sister, Libby, who was 7 at the time, testified against him. Years later, the scheming Libby is confronted by the Kill Club, whose members track true-crime cases. They believe her brother to be innocent.

Continued on next page »

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni, (916) 321-1128.

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Summer reading list points the way to mystery, action and romance

HERE'S THE BEST OF THE REST:

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