The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (June 2)

By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

Here are four exciting new books to check out this summer.

Maybe you know Claire Messud from fantastic books like “The Emperor’s Children” or “The Woman Upstairs”. Your new romance, “This strange eventful story” (WW Norton), uses the contours of his own family to tell the story of three generations affected around the world from the Second World War to the 21st century.

Determined to be a writer someday, the narrator watches as her father struggles through many unhappy decades to follow his father’s example.

This wonderfully written book examines the way family secrets are protected and family myths are polished.

Read an excerpt: “This Strange Eventful History” by Claire Messud

“This strange eventful story” by Claire Messud (WW Norton), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble It is Livraria.org

clairemessud.com

I see a really fun romance in your future: “The Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley (Simon & Schuster). This delightful mix of historical fact and science fiction is about a secret British agency that rescues doomed people from the past.

The narrator is a young woman who serves as a guide for current life. Her first mission is with Commander Graham Gore, who died on Franklin’s Arctic expedition in the mid-19th century.

Imagine if “The Time Traveler’s Wife” had an affair with “A Gentleman in Moscow.” You will love.

Read an excerpt: “The Ministry of Time”, by Kaliane Bradley

“The Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley (Simon & Schuster), in hardcover, e-book and audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble It is Livraria.org

Speaking of bringing people back from the past: fifteen years ago, Michael Crichton died before he could finish his story about a volcano in Hawaii.

Well, life finds a way! Now, in the most spectacular partnership of this summer – or perhaps any summer – Crichton’s manuscript has been completed by James Patterson.

The result of this best-selling mash-up is “Eruption” (Little, Brown & Co.), an explosively cheesy thriller about a volcano that is about to send millions of tons of lava through Hawaii and possibly threaten all life on Earth. Put on your oven mitts: this one is hot.

Read an excerpt: “Eruption” by Michael Crichton and James Patterson

“Eruption” by Michael Crichton and James Patterson (Little, Brown & Co.), in hardcover, large print, e-book and audio formats, available June 3 via Amazon, Barnes & Nobre It is Livraria.org

michaelcrichton. with

jamespatterson. with

In early 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off into a clear blue sky. Seventy-three seconds later, the ship exploded, killing all seven crew members.

The contours of this tragedy are well known, but Adam Higginbotham finds new lessons in his exhaustively researched new book, “Challenger: a true story of heroism and disaster at the edge of space” (Simon & Schuster). He explores the culture of overconfidence that led NASA to ignore warnings and move forward as if spaceflight were routine. It wasn’t then and (as this book reminds us) it still isn’t.

Read an excerpt: “Challenger” by Adam Higginbotham

“Challenger: a true story of heroism and disaster at the edge of space” by Adam Higginbotham (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Nobre It is Livraria.org

adamhigginbotham.com

For more suggestions on what to read, contact your local librarian or bookseller.

That’s it for the Book Report. I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, keep reading!

For more information:

For more reading recommendations, check out these previous Book Report features by Ron Charles:

Produced by Robin Sanders and Roman Feeser.