8 summer reads to get lost in...

I just LOVE sitting pool side, at the beach or on the patio on a warm and sunny day and getting completely lost in a great book.  It is one of the most delicious way to spend a summer day.  Here are 8 books I have read recently that make for really great summer reads…

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman… This historical fiction set in a mental institution is a real page turner as the story line bounces between the present and the past. With themes of love, family and redemption with a touch of mystery thrown in, this story line will suck you in quickly.   

Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal… You will get lost in the South with this civil-rights era story set in New Orleans.  One part The Help and one part Secret Life of Bees you will soon wish Fannie and Queenie were your family too.

Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin… An honest look at motherhood on the Upper East Side of New York City.  This pages practically turn themselves in this book. I equally loved the peek into the lives of New York City mothers and could also find many parallels to motherhood regardless of location in this book.

Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore… Set in an idyllic family summer compound in Vermont… one minute you think you are reading a book about a girl from the "wrong side of the tracks" trying to become an insider in this new world. The next minute you realize there is way more mystery beneath the surface.  This is absolute favorite read in a while! I highly recommend.

Paris, He Said by Christine Sneed… When a wealthy art dealer offers a young beautiful starving artist a chance to live and create art in Paris, she says yes.  Through the eyes of Jayne, Paris is beautiful and full of opportunity but is it what she really wanted? This book asks the question, what happens when our dreams come true?

Charleston by Margaret Bradham Thornton… A writer returns to her roots in Charleston and the city is brought alive on the page with fancy parties, old lovers and Southern charm.  This is one of my favorite reads about Charleston to date.  Truly a great book to get lost in.

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber… This book is so mind-blowing and just plain strange.  That said, I adored every moment of it. A young pastor is offered to travel to space to live on a planet that is being colonized.  His experiences and daily interactions with the natives in nothing short of bizarre.  This book still haunts my thoughts.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins… If you haven't already - read this. It's creepy and addicting and the ultimate summer read.  I am desperately hoping they make this into a movie, like probably everyone else that has read it.

Have you read any of these? What other summer "get lost in" books do you recommend?

50. Book Review: The Great Gatsby (2014)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Synopsis

This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

Review

For my 50th book this year (I met my goal!) I decided to go with an easy and enjoyable read that would be a good companion to the holidays.  For some reason classics seem to perfectly pair with the Christmas break.  This was my third time reading this book and more enjoyable than the previous times.  This is such a fun and easy book to read. I often find myself reading and re-reading passages just because of how eloquent or absolutely perfect they are. This book was a great way to end the year!

Other classic books you may like…

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 

Pride & Prejudice

47. Book Review: A Sudden Light (2014)

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

Synopsis

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. 

 But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.

Review

I picked this book up on a whim from the library recently without having previously heard anything about this book or even having read this authors very popular previous book.  Which is pretty rare for me these days, usually I read on a recommendation.  I love it when I  randomly choose a book and then  absolutely fall in love with it. It is like winning the reading lottery.

This book was beautiful and eloquent and a definite page turner.  To say it is merely a "ghost story" doesn't do it any justice, but is in fact a ghost story in the best way possible. Ghosts, old dilapidated mansions, abandoned cottages, secret passageways and difficult family dynamics are a few of things that make this book irresistible.  I loved, loved, loved this book!  

In addition to an amazing story the author writes so candidly and tenderly about family and family obligations.  This book was an A+ in my book. I highly recommend it.  It's the perfect snuggle up and read by the fire book.  This would be a really great book club read as well… there are so many great opportunities for discussion.

Other books you may like (that are kind of "ghosty" in the best possible way)…

Her Fearful Symmetry

Thirteenth Tale

Bellman & Black 

46. Book Review: Station Eleven (2014)

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Synopsis

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. 

 One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of King Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur’s chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. 

 Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten’s arm is a line from Star Trek: “Because survival is insufficient.” But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. 

 Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

Review

My goodness, everyone is talking about this book it seems!  I was lucky to find it recently at the library and was happy to join in on the conversation.  I find post-apocalypse novels just fascinating and what I love about them is how they seem to re-invent the wheel each time - each post-apocalypse novel does it differently.  This one was stunning.  And scary.

One thing about this book was that I found the characters really hard to keep track of (maybe just me?) but the story was fascinating.  I love to read these books and then think what I would've done or how I would've handled the situation.  Books like these are definite eye-openers.  I always think post-apocalypse books would make great book-club reads too.  So much to discuss!

Other books you may like…

California

The Giver

43. Book Review: Mariana (2014)

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

Synopsis

Julia Beckett believes in destiny, settling into her rustic new home, Julia encounters haunting remnants of a beautiful young woman who lived and loved there centuries ago. It's seems Mariana has been waiting for Julia. 

 Review

I am now officially a Susanna Kearsley fan for life.  Similar in mood and readability as The Winter Sea, Kearsley effortlessly blends historical fiction and love into an absolute page turner.  These characters are instantly lovable and the scenery is so well written I absolutely felt like I was right in the action.  After I finished this book all I wanted to do was start another book by the same author.  Also the end has a very sweet twist that I loved.  I highly recommend this book!

Other books you may like…

anything by Susanna Kearsley

anything written by Kate Morton

41. Book Review: Eleanor and Park (2014)

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we’re 16. What about Romeo and Juliet? Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be. 

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Review

This was a great young adult read.  The characters brought back fully the awkward and often land-locked feelings of youth and adolescence.  The characters were lovable and totally believable.  There were a few points that were so frustrating as a reader.  Thinking of how difficult the teen years can be - especially for those with non-traditional family situations at home.  I will add that I really loved the books' innocence as well. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend… or even to my kids when they get a little older.  

Other books you may like…

The Fault in Our Stars

If I Stay

40. Book Review: The Vacationers (2014)

The Vacationers: A Novel by Emma Straub

Synopsis

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated. 

 This is a story of the sides of ourselves that we choose to show and those we try to conceal, of the ways we tear each other down and build each other up again, and the bonds that ultimately hold us together. With wry humor and tremendous heart, Emma Straub delivers a richly satisfying story of a family in the midst of a maelstrom of change, emerging irrevocably altered yet whole. 

 Review

I would call this book part family saga, part coming of age and part spying on a family during their family vacation.  As modern "literature" is these days, it was predictable and borderline sophomoric - but as far as beach reads or quick reads go, this one was a success.  I felt like the characters were a bit stereotypical, but also lovable at the same time so the author redeemed herself there.  This book is like your favorite rom-com.  Definitely pack it for your next weekend away - preferably somewhere warm!

Other books you may like…

One Plus One: A Novel 

  What Alice Forgot

39. Book Review: The Winter Sea (2014)

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Synopsis

History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. 

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write. But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…

Review

I originally picked this book up a few years ago to read and just couldn't get into it - I have no idea why! I started again from the beginning and just flew through this book this time around. I loved every single page!  I could feel the sea air on my face, picture Carrie's cozy little cottage and loved the gentle unfolding of the two love stories as well.  This is historical fiction at it's best.  This is a great fall or winter read when you can snuggle up with a cup of tea by the fire and devour a great book.  I would be curious if Kearsley's other books are this delicious.  Have you read any others by this author?

Other books you may like…

The Secret Keeper: A Novel

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

38. Book Review: If I Stay (2014)

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Synopsis

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. 

 Review

I saw the preview for this movie and knew right away I wanted to read the book first - not sure yet if I'll catch the movie.  And it didn't disappoint.  This was a great young adult quick read.  I was surprised by how fast I flew through this book and I can definitely see my daughter enjoying this book one day.  I wouldn't say this book was ultra "deep" but it did offer a thoughtful point of view on death.   If you are looking for a quick vacation read or fall weekend read - this is the book for you!

Other books you may like…

The Fever: A Novel 

The Fault in Our Stars

37. Book Review: The Fortune Hunter (2014)

The Fortune Hunter: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin

Synopsis

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, is the Princess Diana of nineteenth-century Europe. Famously beautiful, as captured in a portrait with diamond stars in her hair, she is unfulfilled in her marriage to the older Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi has spent years evading the stifling formality of royal life on her private train or yacht or, whenever she can, on the back of a horse. 

 Captain Bay Middleton is dashing, young, and the finest horseman in England. He is also impoverished, with no hope of buying the horse needed to win the Grand National—until he meets Charlotte Baird. A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte falls in love with Bay, the first man to really notice her, for his vulnerability as well as his glamour. When Sisi joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Review

I absolutely adored this book.  It solidified and reminded me of my love for historical fiction and was quite a delight to read after having read some books I haven't cared for much.  The story line moved at a steady pace with absolutely lovable characters and rich imagery. I almost felt like I was watching this in movie form rather than reading it, the author brilliantly painted her landscape.  I highly recommend this book if you too are a historical fiction lover.

Other books you may like…

The American Heiress: A Novel

The House at Tyneford: A Novel

35. Book Review: Big Little Lies (2014)

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Synopsis

Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal.  A murder… a tragic accident… or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead. But who did what? 

 Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads: Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?). Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all. 

 Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

Review

This is a classic Liane Moriarty book… and while I loved her two other books (The Husband's Secret & What Alice Forgot) this one fell a little flat for me.  I will say her writing and story style is awesome, I love the mysterious element she adds to her genre - which I would call "smart chick-lit".  I have been in a reading funk lately and that could be why I didn't absolutely love this book.  Mostly I did not really relate to the parents at all. I went into the book hoping that I would since I have children in elementary school as well, and I know how some moms can be chatty/catty.  Mostly the characters seemed full of self loathing and uninspired - or maybe I just took it too seriously when it should have been a "for fun" read.  I would say visit Liane Moriarty's other books first and then try this one. She really is a fantastic storyteller. 

Other books you may like…

The Husband's Secret

A Hundred Summers

34. Book Review: The Steady Running of the Hour (2014)

The Steady Running of the Hour: A Novel

Synopsis 

A QUEST NOVEL and a historical tour de force, The Steady Running of the Hour unravels a tale of passion, legacy, and courage reaching across the twentieth century. 

 In 1924, the English mountaineer Ashley Walsingham dies attempting to summit Mount Everest, leaving his fortune to his former lover, Imogen Soames-Andersson—whom he has not seen in seven years. Ashley’s solicitors search in vain for Imogen, but the estate remains unclaimed. 

 Nearly eighty years later, new information leads the same law firm to Tristan Campbell, a young American who could be the estate’s rightful heir. If Tristan can prove he is Imogen’s descendant, the inheritance will be his. But with only weeks before Ashley’s trust expires, Tristan must hurry to find the evidence he needs. 

 From London archives to Somme battlefields to the Eastfjords of Iceland, Tristan races to piece together the story behind the unclaimed riches: a reckless love affair pursued only days before Ashley’s deployment to the Western Front; a desperate trench battle fought by soldiers whose hope is survival rather than victory; an expedition to the uncharted heights of the world’s tallest mountain. Following a trail of evidence that stretches to the far edge of Europe, Tristan becomes consumed by Ashley and Imogen’s story. But as he draws close to the truth, Tristan realizes he may be seeking something more than an unclaimed fortune.

Review

I absolutely loved this book from the get-go and about half way through I couldn't put the book down at all - I even stayed up until 2am reading one night. I can't remember the last time I did that.  The two stories lines make for a definite page turner and my curiosity about the mystery that the story presents is irresistible.  I would have loved a little more involved ending… the book ended so abruptly!  But regardless this is a gorgeous book and one I won't soon forget.

Other books you may like…

The Signature of All Things: A Novel

Flight Behavior: A Novel

Any book by Kate Morton who is a genius with double story lines like this book!

33. Book Review: California (2014)

California: A Novel by Edan Lepucki

Synopsis

The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they've left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable in the face of hardship and isolation. Mourning a past they can't reclaim, they seek solace in each other. But the tentative existence they've built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she's pregnant. 

 Terrified of the unknown and unsure of their ability to raise a child alone, Cal and Frida set out for the nearest settlement, a guarded and paranoid community with dark secrets. These people can offer them security, but Cal and Frida soon realize this community poses dangers of its own. In this unfamiliar world, where everything and everyone can be perceived as a threat, the couple must quickly decide whom to trust. 

 A gripping and provocative debut novel by a stunning new talent, California imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind's dark nature and deep-seated resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love.

Review

I love a good dystopian novel now and then. And while some of the reviews of this book weren't stellar, I actually really liked this book.  With dystopian literature you have to suspend disbelief and be ready for a few holes in the story.  We never really learn how the world of Cal and Frida get to the point where it's at or how the US essentially crumbles as the book references and the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger (sequel maybe?).  However, in between those two facts lie a riveting page turner that I found absolutely fascinating.  I love when a story fully transports me to another world and this book definitely did that.  If you need an end of the summer beach read or vacation read - I recommend this one.

Other books you may like…

Never Let Me Go
The Age of Miracles: A Novel

31. Book Review: The Fever (2014)

The Fever: A Novel by Megan Abbott

Synopsis

The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community. 

 The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. 

Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community. As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security.

Review

I had heard this book reviewed in a few places with glowing reviews.  I will say the story line was interesting - girls dropping of weird symptoms left and right is quite the page turner - but I found the character development a little lacking and the whole book a little ho-hum.  This is just my very small opinion of it, but I found the high school setting and characters a little contrived. For a book that should have been a fun and quick read, it seemed long and a little laborious at times.

That being said this book is characterized as a "dark" novel or a "noir" novel and that genre isn't one I usually gravitate towards.  So it could be that the genre of the book was a wrong fit for me.  I'm glad I read it though. It's interesting as a parent to see into the lives of high school students or even think what I would do in the circumstances of the book. This would be a great book to discuss in a book club as well.

You may also like…

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (review here)
Gone Girl: A Novel

28. Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See (2014)

All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr

Synopsis

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. 

 In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

Review

Wow! This book was a stunningly gorgeous read and an up-all-night-page-turner.  I highly highly recommend this book.  The characters and scenes are brilliantly rendered - I felt like the characters were old friends and the settings of the book were my childhood homes.  I could so vividly see each and every character and each and every scene.  This book was such a delight to read.  The short (often very very short) chapters made for an addicting read as I continually found myself saying "just one more chapter" and would end up reading another 100 pages.  This is one of those books that I waited all day to finally sit down and read and now that it's over I'm a little sad, but I will never forget it.  

While the book takes place during World War II I wouldn't categorize it as just another WWII book (while I do love reading that genre, if it even is a genre, it can get old after a while) in that the characters are so richly portrayed that the war takes a back seat to the story. Definitely read this book!

Other books you may like…

Suite Française

The Book Thief

27. Book Review: One Plus One (2014)

One Plus One: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

Synopsis

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever. 

 One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.

Review

I just love Jojo Moyes… I can't deny it. And while the reading is light and border-line "chic-lit" I don't care. I love her books.  Not everything you/I read has to be super literary. This book was no exception, I absolutely devoured it in 26 hours flat.  Two sessions reading at the pool and one super late night session. I couldn't resist! 

This is yet another touching and against all odds love story with absolutely endearing characters. This is one book you absolutely have to pick up for this summer… or any of her other books if you haven't already.

Other books you may like…

Me Before You: A Novel

The Last Letter from Your Lover

The Girl You Left Behind