A Virtual Love by Andrew Blackman book cover
Woohoo, Summer is here! Sort of. Well, we had those two days of sun, remember? Ah, Summer. I haven’t quite cracked out the beach reads yet but I’m pleased to see everyone around me stocking up on novels for the Summer months. I’ve had a good reading month, even if I haven’t managed to write reviews for all my recent reads just yet – still, I’m hoping June will be an equally productive month, so fingers crossed!

My main read for the month is going to be A Virtual Love by Andrew Blackman. This was published just a few months ago and I’ve read glowing reviews from several bloggers. The book is a tale of love and identity in the digital age, seeing its hero mistaken for an e-Celebrity. A mistake he capitalises on, tricking a naïve American into a relationship with himself. I’ve been interested in the psychology of the Internet since I first studied it and I’m looking forward to reading Blackman’s interpretation of the world of remote relations.

Next on my list is The Night Circus – a book I’ve owned pretty much since its release (I was seduced by the beautifully designed UK hardback) but never opened. A story about a mysterious Victorian circus which operates across Europe by night and is chock-full of magical instalments, this sounds like a lot of fun. From reading the blurb I was put in mind of Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell, a book I very much enjoyed and so have high hopes.

I’m dipping back into Martin Amis this month, as I compulsively work my way through his books. Next in the firing line is Einstein’s Monsters – a collection of five short stories, which centre on the theme of nuclear anxiety/apocalypse. I don’t always get on terribly well with short stories, but I seem to have been enjoying quite a few artistic reactions to the nuclear world lately, and I find looking back at these responses from the second half of the twentieth century interesting.

Finally, with the English football season now finished I’m having withdrawal symptoms already! So I turn to the trusty old books to fill the void. I’ve rediscovered a book I started several years ago called Inverting the Pyramid. From the little I’ve read to date, this is a fascinating look at how football tactics have evolved over the years – from players running one behind another in a straight line (!?), to the slightly more sophisticated 'hoof it and hope' that we’re so fond of nowadays.

Right, right, right, so those are my books for welcoming in Summer 2013. What about you, what are you reading in this year’s sun?

Notable Posts from May