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?

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

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

36. Book Review: Lucky Us (2014)

Lucky Us: A Novel by Amy Bloom

Synopsis

“My father’s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.” 

 So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically acclaimed Away was called “a literary triumph” (The New York Times). Lucky Us is a brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny novel of love, heartbreak, and luck. 

 Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris’s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island. 

 With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war. Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life, conventional and otherwise. From Brooklyn’s beauty parlors to London’s West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.

Review

If the book was anything like the synopsis this would have been a fabulous book.  The characters were hardly developed, the storyline was often too quick and random and the book left me wanting for more in many ways. This was our recent book club selection.  I chose it after hearing the author on NPR and having my interest piqued, but the book fell short in so many ways that I can't really give it a good review.  

Other books you may like…

Rules of Civility: A Novel

A Hundred Summers

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

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

29. Book Review: Maine (2014)

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Synopsis

For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. As three generations of women arrive at the family's beach house, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago. 

 Review

This was a true summer beach read in all senses of the word.  I mean, just look at the cover, right? While I will say that I enjoyed this book I won't say that I absolutely loved it.  Although I really do find myself thinking about the characters even days after I have finished it.  And with such a cliff hanger of an ending I almost feel like a sequel could work for this book.  I loved the complicated family dynamics and how the author portrayed the story as a whole from the individual characters points of view - even though at times it was a little confusing reading about the events twice.  Each character was so brilliantly written that I found I quickly related to and understood each character - which I think can be difficult for an author to do.  My verdict: definitely pack it in your beach bag this summer.

Other books you may like…

A Hundred Summers

Summer Rental

24. Book Review: Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (2014)

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls: A Novel by Anton DiSclafani

Synopsis

It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty, and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm—a world now partially shattered. As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order, one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, her country. 

 Weaving provocatively between home and school, the narrative powerfully unfurls the true story behind Thea’s expulsion from her family, but it isn’t long before the mystery of her past is rivaled by the question of how it will shape her future. Part scandalous love story, part heartbreaking family drama, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is an immersive, transporting page-turner—a vivid, propulsive novel about sex, love, family, money, class, home, and horses, all set against the ominous threat of the Depression—and the major debut of an important new writer.

Review

This book is a coming of age/sexual awakening story and while I don't want to give this book a bad review I think parts of it were just done in poor taste.  Without giving away the story or plot line I won't go further, but maybe when you read it you will think the same thing.  

The writing was in my mind exceptional. It was very visual and I love the present to past changes it made up until the height of the plot line.  Most readers will guess where the story line is going, but I still think there were some good twists along the way. I could totally picture each scene from this book and the characters were all described in amazing detailed.  So the final verdict was that I loved and hated this book all at the same time. I loved the writing but I think the story line could have been just as provocative with a little more decency given to the subject matter.  

Other books you may like…

The Interestings: A Novel

The Starboard Sea: A Novel

Seating Arrangements

6 books to kick off your summer!

Summer (un)officially starts this weekend and if you are like me you are already planning what books to read at the beach this weekend or what books to take on vacation with you this summer.  Here are six of my favorite books to read poolside or with sand between your toes… put these reads at the top of your list for summer reading!

Beautiful Ruins: A Novel… An epic love story that takes place in Italy and LA over the span of 50 years.  Even if you don't have sunny plans this weekend you will feel the sun on your shoulders as the author plops you on the picturesque Italian coastline.

Rules of Civility: A Novel… this is one of my all time favorite books.   It's a glitzy and glamorous story that takes place in New York City among high society in the 1930's.  Grab a gin and tonic and settle in with this gem of a book.

Me Before You: A Novel… wear your darkest sunglasses and grab a tissue (or ten) as you settle in to this moving and deliciously tragic story of love and hardship.  You won't be able to put it down.

The Interestings: A Novel… this book begins with the characters at summer camp (serious summer nostalgia included!) and takes us through the lives of the six campers as they grow up and change.  This is a sweeping story of life and love and the decisions we make. 

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats… mystery, love and inspiration abound in this unique love story.  This is a story that will move and amaze you. This author just released a sequel too, which I can't wait to read, called A Well-Tempered Heart.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel… a hilarious story of Bernadette Fox, opinionated and quirky mom living in Seattle.  There are crazy private school mothers, virtual assistants in India, email trails and trips to Antarctica in this adventure of a book.