Beach Page-Turners Include Beowulf, Says Book Culture

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Looking for summer reading material? In Beach Reads, we're asking some of the city's top bookstores the age-old question: read any good books lately?

There's only 24 days left until the unofficial end of summer, not to be depressing or anything. Make the most of this final stretch with as many trips to the beach as possible—be it the Hamptons, the Rockaways, or just in your mind—and make sure you're always equipped with a good book.

We asked Ryan Jaworksi, one of the managers of Book Culture in Morningside Heights, to give us his three top picks for hitting the sand. From two new fiction reads to a very classic tome, check out what he says to pack in your beach bag below.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

"Just out in paperback this May, Adelle Waldman's debut novel is a masterpiece of empathy. She writes from the perspective of a man, the eponymous Nathaniel P., and craftily captures the experience being an ambitious young man always on the verge of success—in both his personal and professional lives. Funny and wise, it's a quick but striking read, great for a plane ride or a lazy vacation."

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary translated by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Ninety years after he originally translated it and 40 years after his death, J.R.R. Tolkien's translation of Beowulf is now out from Harper Collins. Tolkien was the perfect candidate for this translation: one of history's preeminent Beowulfian scholars and also, if you didn't know, one of history's great imaginative forces. Edited by his own son, it also includes transcripts of the lectures Tolkien gave on the poem at Oxford in the 1930s."

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

"Haruki Murakami's life is all about regularity—in his running, his writing, his appreciation of cats—which means that, with the predictability of an election cycle, we can expect a new book from him every few years. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, his new novel about a man trying to reconnect with his former high school friends, comes out in English in just a few days, and I for one am excited about this new dose of simple meals, average guys, rock and roll, and the essential dreamlike nature of reality."

· All Beach Reads Posts [Racked NY]