Some Suggestions For Summer Reading

With plans made for summer vacations, avid readers during the rest of the year will find room in the family vehicle for a few books. As a service to readers of this column, here are some suggestions for books to take along. I seldom leave the house without a book, and I suspect many of you practice that same rule. You never know when an opportunity to read a few pages might occur.

Some readers want nothing but fluff for summer, but allow me to suggest a few books of weight and importance.

Tony Geraghty is a longtime reporter on the troubles between the Irish and the British. Johns Hopkins University Press has issued the first American edition of Geraghty's 1998 book, The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence ($29.95).

Besides being an important book that details the long and chilling conflict, this volume contains previously undisclosed secret details of actions taken by both the Irish terrorists and the British government.

The book obviously struck a chord with government officials, as the author was arrested in 1998 for violating Britain's Official Secrets Act. Charges were dropped a year later, the Crown Prosecution Service citing lack of evidence.

Anyone claiming either British or Irish heritage should seek out this important book.

Javier Marias is a Spanish writer of fiction whose name is destined to be famous in U.S. literary circles. When I Was Mortal (New Directions, $21.95) is a wondrous collection of short stories that make for breathtaking reading.

In what seems to be a superb translation by Margaret Jull Costa, When I Was Mortal takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions, ranging from a chilling ghost story to several funny tales that should tickle any funny bone.

Marias writes succinctly, so much so that one of his 12-page tales contains enough details for a complete novel. With Marias, every word counts.

P.L. Gaus has come up with the second novel in his Ohio Amish mysteries. The new book is Broken English (Ohio University Press, $24.95 cloth, $12.95 paper). The Athens, Ohio native, who teaches at the College of Wooster, this time produces a tale that builds nicely on the story of conflict between the gentle Amish and the "regular" world.

Gaus, writing with more authority than with his first tale, Blood of the Prodigal, keeps this novel moving along briskly. As the cliché goes, it's definitely a page turner.

In the mood for a taste of philosophy? Two recent releases may stimulate your mind, while entertaining as well.

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