How a Book Becomes the Book of the Summer
Most summers have a book of the summer, though not all do. We had Gone Girl in 2012, but I'm not convinced 2013 had a book of the summer. It's hard to say why it happens and why it doesn't. Some novels, when read in hot weather, just seem to melt and run together with their surroundings, to the point where afterward one can never quite think of that summer without thinking of that story, and vice versa. We rarely see them coming, though after the fact it seems obvious. Of course the summer of 1991 would go for American Psycho, with its savage immolation of 1980s mores. Likewise it seems inevitable now that in 2002, the summer Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped, we should have flocked en masse to the icy brilliance of The Lovely Bones. But at the time, no one knew. If books of the summer have something in common, it's that they tend to break rules people pick them up because they can't quite believe somebody actually wrote that and got away with it. Lolita 1958 rendered skeezy pedophilia as high art. John Updike's Couples 1968 did the same with suburban adultery. Love Story the girl dies. The Lovely Bones the girl dies in the first paragraph. The Name of the Rose OMG, I can't believe how much medieval scholarship is in this book. It's impossible to predict it in advance, though that's what we're about to try to do, because the book of the summer is a surprise by definition. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out in July 2007 and sold through the roof, but it wasn't the book of the summer because everybody saw it coming. What really makes a book of the summer is when we surprise ourselves. It's not just about being fascinated by a book. It's about being fascinated by the fact that we're fascinated. The odds, 2-1 The One Plus One Jojo Moyes Pros Single mom plus nerdy millionaire equals unlikely romance. And there's a road trip! Cons Very few killer sharks. 2-1 All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Pros Blind daughter of a locksmith meets reluctant Nazi engineering whiz! What more do you want? Cons Complex, lyrical historical fiction may not have the necessary mass appeal. 3-1 The Fever Megan Abbott Pros Small-town girls hit by mystery syndrome. Tense, erotically fraught, has Gillian Flynn blurb. Cons Much adolescent angst. Are the stakes high enough?, 4-1 We Were Liars E. Lockhart Pros Rich people on an island sharp, funny-sad writing a head-snapping fourthquarter reveal. Cons It's a YA novel, so some adults might pass. 4-1 Landline Rainbow Rowell Pros Keen psychological insight, irrepressible humor and a supernatural twist a woman can call her husband in the past. Cons Relative lack of violence, perverse sex. 5-1 One Kick Chelsea Cain Pros Child kidnapping victim grows up to become ass-kicking vigilante looking for other missing children. Boom. Cons A thriller but maybe not a rule breaker. 6-1 The Quick Lauren Owen Pros Set in lovely, lush Victorian London. Plus vampires, vampires, vampires. Cons Owen's pacing is slow and artfulmaybe too slow for some. 8-1 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot David Shafer Pros Genius techno-thriller  la Neal Stephenson, powered by social-media info-conspiracy  la Dave Eggers. Cons Low-key romance may not play to all quadrants.