Summer reading lists are the hot-weather equivalent of New Year’s resolutions: made with good intentions but soon broken. With so many distractions under the Chicago sun, it’s hard to focus on cold, hard print.
That’s why we’ve rounded up these reader-friendly hangs; pick your prose and a place, and maybe you’ll finally meet your summer reading goals.
Hot-type hot spot
Hardly a summer goes by without a new novel by Elmore Leonard. His latest, “The Hot Kid,” (out now; William Morrow) strays far from his standard milieu of Hollywood sleaze and Florida trash; it’s set in 1930s Oklahoma and hearkens back to Leonard’s days as a writer of westerns. Still, it’s got the memorable characters, brutal punch and dry-as-a-dustbowl humor that fans expect. Tote this tome to Four Moon Tavern in Roscoe Village and order up a draft pint ($4.50-$5.25; we recommend the Four Moon Amber Lager). You can read in peace on a comfortable love seat in the backroom and, given Four Moon’s popularity with Chicago’s theater community, maybe you’ll spot the future star of the inevitable movie adaptation. 1847 W. Roscoe St. 773-929-6666.
Garden of readin’
Some things are worth waiting for, like a Chicago summer and a new Cormac McCarthy novel. It’s been seven years since his “Border Trilogy,” but McCarthy’s latest, “No Country for Old Men,” (out July 19; Knopf) echoes the same themes of darkness, violence and the harshness of the American West. Despite the action-thriller trappings (a heroin deal gone wrong, a psycho-killer on the loose), this is elegant, effective literature. It’s a novel worthy of the grandeur of the Harold Washington Library; head to the spot’s Winter Garden and let McCarthy’s expert prose transport you from the tight clutch of the Loop to the deadly vastness of southwest Texas. Best of all, you can get the book here for free. 400 S. State St. 773-542-7279.
French toast and Faulkner
Oprah Winfrey is a Chicago institution, and William Faulkner is an American literary icon, so it seems appropriate that Oprah’s Book Club has declared this “The Summer of Faulkner.” Next up on her reading list is “As I Lay Dying,” (out now; Vintage) a short but powerful novel of a family’s odyssey to bury their matriarch. Goodness knows what typical “Oprah” viewers will make of the young protagonist’s claim that his mother is a fish, but a good place to find out is Ina’s, just down the street from Harpo Studios. The sidewalk seating is lovely, and the French toast is exquisite (on weekdays, opt for the griddle variety with caramelized sugar and cinnamon for $7.29; on weekends it’s a $8.29 version that’s soaked overnight, then baked). Plus, cell phones are banned, so you can concentrate on Faulkner’s heady language. 1235 W. Randolph St. 312-226-8227.
Local lasses
If you want to get local this summer, Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s “Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life” (out now; Crown Books) is a perfect selection. A nationally known writer who’s a hometown girl at heart, she’s written an ingenious piece of creative non-fiction: a biography, by turns deeply moving and very funny, in the form of an alphabetical listing of everyday occurrences in the life of an unremarkable person–herself–who has some quite remarkable things to say. You can read it at another of Chicago’s treasures, Women & Children First Bookstore. Pick it up here, sit in one of the cozy nooks at this inviting shop, and you’ll not only get a great read, but you’ll also feel good about it. 5233 N. Clark St. 773-769-9299.
Cool read, chilly coffee
Is “The Hot Kid” too hot, Rosenthal too homey and Faulkner and McCarthy too heavy? Cool down by picking up “Ice Haven” (out now; Pantheon), the newest graphic novel from ex-Chicagoan Daniel Clowes. Featuring some of Clowes’ most inspired writing and drawing, this story of the titular town unfolds after a local boy’s disappearance. Take your copy to MoJoe’s Cafe Lounge to contemplate over strong iced lattes ($3.50-$3.75) and treats like a cranberry-lemon Little Miss Muffin ($1.50). When you’re done, check out works by local artists on the walls or stick around for readings by writers; you might catch the next Clowes doodling on a napkin. 2256 W. Roscoe St. 773-388-1236.
