Summer School

Is summer half-done, or half-begun? We at Modern Tonic think there are still plenty of beach weekends for some juicy reading, so here’s part one of our 10 picks for summer ’08:

The Story of a Marriage: A Novel, Andrew Sean Greer This love story with a twist, about a husband and wife in 1950s San Francisco, accomplishes that rare feat: It’s an engrossing sentimental journey that doesn’t reek of false sentiment.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach Finding humor in science, Roach tackles brothels, pig farms, sex-toy labs and MRI centers as she explores how paraplegics have orgasms and how sows are inseminated.

The End of the World Book: A Novel, Alistair McCartney Call it Fear and Loathing in the 21st Century: A first-time author seeks clarity in the pending apocalypse by threading his story together with seemingly random facts and artifacts (pornography, head lice, Princess Di) and arranging it all in an encyclopedic A-to-Z list. It’s an alternative, free-form, philosophical gay novel.

Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found, Marie Brenner What would you do if the brother you’re not very fond of and hadn’t spoken to in a long time called to say he’s dying of a mysterious cancer and needs your help? If you’re journalist Marie Brenner, you lend a hand, and share with the world what you learn about life in this powerful account.

The Chris Farley Show, Tom Farley and Tanner Colby Like John Candy and John Belushi before him, SNL star Chris Farley was heavy of girth and big on scoring laughs, until his voracious appetites triggered his untimely death. This oral history might be entertaining, but its harrowing first-person accounts are anything but light reading.