June Update & July Preview

Well, I haven’t been on the blog much as of late as June has been a month that sort of snowballed away from me. I visited my folks in SoCal mid-month, which was very pleasant, but then catastrophe struck the province of Alberta, Canada, where I live, due to major flooding.

It happened on June 20 when very heavy rains made a number of rivers jump their banks and flood through neighborhoods all over the place, destroying much in their paths. I think 100,000 people had to be evacuated and thousands of homes were damaged. It’s basically been a nightmare for so many people across the province. Some still can’t even get back into their homes, which have been condemned.

Luckily our home on higher ground wasn’t damaged, but I’ve been helping others in the flood zone, where basements and garages were hit. Wet drywall had to be taken out and damaged items put in the trash. Caked mud is on everything and not much is salvageable. It reminds me a bit of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, seeing such devastation on a grand scale. The repair and rebuilding costs will be in the billions. Yet despite all the tragic losses of property, people have been resilient and have pulled together to cope and help others out. It’ll be a long battle back to clean up and rebuild. Some areas will be changed forever.

On the side of this happening, I was reading the excellent 1992 novel “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt for my book club. I had already read it before in 1992, but someone had picked it to discuss so I was refreshing my memory of it by rereading it again. Many know, it’s a 559 page doozy of a classic crime story set at a college in Vermont about six close friends (all students specializing in Ancient Greek) who commit murder and then deal with the aftermath. Richard is the narrator who reflects on the situation years later. The story plays out like a Greek tragedy.

It’s quite chilling and a fast page-turner for the most part. Only a few times did I wish it was edited shorter. Otherwise it’s a gem of a novel, so well done I would like to read the author’s 2002 novel “The Little Friend,” which is also supposed to be scary and disturbing. And good news has it that Donna Tartt’s long-awaited third novel “The Goldfinch” is due out Oct. 22 of this year. She is definitely brilliant, so I will not miss it.

As for books coming out in July (see list at the top right), veteran authors Chris Bohjalian and Phillippa Gregory both have new novels coming out, which should be good. I’m also curious about Susan Choi’s latest one called “My Education.” I have liked her writing in the past, notably her novel “The Foreign Student” back in 1998. “My Education” is about a graduate student and a professor and is “a raw, wild, hurtling foray into the tangled realms of sexuality and self-knowledge,” says Jennifer Egan. While Michael Cunningham calls it “passionate and surprising.” hmm. The subject matter sounds like a bit of a departure from some of her other novels.

In July there’s also a slew of notable debut novels coming out (I counted 19 on the list at the right). Of these, I’m intrigued to read “The Violet Hour” by Katharine Hill and “Love All” by Callie Wright. I will also look for Jenni Fagan’s debut novel “The Panopticon” which has been getting fabulous press. It’s about a young woman growing up alone in the Scottish foster care system. Ali Smith says it’s “uncompromising and courageous … one of the most cunning and spirited novels I’ve read for years.”

As for July movies (see the list at the top left), there’s some high-octane action features due out with “The Lone Ranger” and “The Wolverine,” as well as some comedies notably with the return of Adam Sandler in “Grown Ups 2” and Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening in “Girl Most Likely.” But perhaps I’m most curious to see Woody Allen’s latest feature “Blue Jasmine” starring Cate Blanchett as a New York housewife who’s having a crisis and goes out to San Fran to visit her sister. It should be a decent mix of drama and comedy, judging from his usual films.

Lastly, in music for July (see list at bottom right), the biggest release will be Jay-Z’s latest album called “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” which is due out July 4. It’s got quite a title. And no singles have been released from it early so it’s quite a mystery but it has several guest singers appearing on it and should be a sales blockbuster for sure.

That’s all I have for now. What about you? Which books, movies or albums are you most looking forward to in July?