Poor Richard’s Books caps summer with some compelling fiction

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Poor Richard’s Books in Colorado Springs recommends a touching summer story, classic King and Longmire’s latest.

---

From the publisher: Tove Jansson distills the essence of the summer—its sunlight and storms—into 22 crystalline vignettes. This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a 6-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia’s grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland. The grandmother is unsentimental and wise, if a little cranky; Sophia is impetuous and volatile, but she tends to her grandmother with the care of a new parent. Together they amble over coastline and forest in easy companionship, build boats from bark, create a miniature Venice, write a fanciful study of local bugs. They discuss things that matter to young and old alike: life, death, the nature of God and of love.

From Jeffery Payne, assistant retail manager: Opening the first page of “The Summer Book” we are gently introduced to Sophia – a precocious, inquisitive child with worldly questions and a bit of seething anger just underneath the skin, and her grandmother – wise, caring with sharp words with a glint of mischievousness in eyes and cigarettes in worn pockets.

Jansson captured the pace of summer life on a small remote island in the Gulf of Finland. Skillfully crafted words lull the reader into a quiet space of mind and place. Her keen observations (on both nature and humankind) are a gentle, compassionate soft punch to the stomach at times. Written with a naturalist eye and an obvious love of life on the Finnish coast, “The Summer Book” gives us a good reason to stop and take a few moments to enjoy the waning days of this season.

---

From the publisher: A mesmerizing tale of unjust imprisonment and offbeat escape, this is one of Stephen King’s most beloved and iconic stories, and it helped make Castle Rock a place readers would return to over and over again. Suspenseful, mysterious, and heart-wrenching, this iconic King novella, populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, is about a fiercely compelling convict named Andy Dufresne who is seeking his ultimate revenge. Originally published in 1982 in the collection “Different Seasons,” it was made into the film “The Shawshank Redemption” in 1994.

From Jeffery Payne, assistant retail manager: Let me be perfectly honest, I am not a Stephen King fan. I don’t know what (story) started it, but I have shied away from reading anything written by Mr. King for decades. Recently when I was stuck without something to read between “major” books, I asked my colleague (Hi, Thom!) for ideas, he suggested, again, this novella.

There isn’t much new to say about “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” other than if one hasn’t read it, put it on the list. The concise and powerful use of words tells a story of hope and determination. The characters are incredibly fully developed even though this is a very small book when compared to King’s other volumes. We are drawn in easily, willingly. There is a reason that King has been a writing monument for many years, he is seriously good at his craft.

---

From the publisher: It’s the summer of 1964, and recent college graduates Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear read the writing on the wall and enlist to serve in the Vietnam War. As they catch a few final waves in California before reporting for duty, a sudden storm assaults the shores and capsizes a nearby cargo boat. Walt and Henry jump to action, but it’s soon revealed by the police who greet them ashore that the sunken boat carried valuable contraband from underground sources.

The boys, in their early 20s and in the peak of their physical prowess from playing college football for the last four years, head out on Route 66. The question, of course, is how far they will get before the consequences of their actions catch up to them—the answer being, not very.

Back in the present day, Walt is forced to speak before a judge following the fatal events of “The Longmire Defense.” With powerful enemies lurking behind the scenes, the sheriff of Absaroka County must consider his options if he wishes to finish the fight he started. Going back and forth between 1964 and the present day, Craig Johnson brings us a propulsive dual timeline as Walt Longmire stands in the crossfire of good and evil, law and anarchy, compassion and cruelty at two pivotal stages in his life.

From Jeffery Payne, assistant retail manager: Craig Johnson doesn’t disappoint with the latest volume in the Longmire series. In “First Frost” we seesaw between the past, where Longmire and his best friend, Standing Bear, do a good deed, or at least they think it’s a good deed, and how things play out decades later. The page-turning read shows just how decisions of years ago play an important part in where we all are today. The turmoil plays out cleverly, trying and strengthening the patience of friendships and the law. In quintessential Johnson style, there is subtle humor, point-on examination of the human psyche and the great cast of side characters that rarely get their due.

Type of Story: Review

An assessment or critique of a service, product, or creative endeavor such as art, literature or a performance.