Browse any
bookstore and you’re sure to find enticing covers with “summer” in the titles.
Hard to resist, aren’t they? Reading by the pool while listening to the birds
sing is one of my favorite things to do on a weekend.
I
just finished The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable, and oh my gosh, I loved
it. I came to the book having had no idea that Alicia Darr—former lover of JFK—had
ever even existed. Her story was fascinating, but I won’t give away the details. I
so enjoyed learning about the Kennedy family, Darr’s background as a WWII refugee,
and her rise in the 1950s that I don’t want to spoil the surprises. But I found
Gable’s novel exquisitely researched and brilliantly structured with
past and present threads. For historical fiction junkies and readers of pop
culture, this story will be a page-turner.
Then
there’s The Myth of Perpetual Summer, just out by Susan Crandall. I’m totally up
for a journey back to the 1960s-70s with a coming-of-age tale and buried
secrets in a Southern town. This one’s going into my beach bag.
The Summer Sail has also caught my eye. Wendy Francis’s work is new to me, but I
hear she appeals to fans of Emily Giffin, so this story about college friends
who reunite on a cruise ship is on my TBR list. Cocktails with tiny umbrellas may be in order.
Amy
Mason Doan makes her fiction debut with The Summer List. Two old girlfriends, a
secret, a lakeside town in California—and a mysterious scavenger hunt. What
could go wrong? I’ll be wearing my sunglasses and big-brimmed hat when cracking
open this book.
I recently discovered author Jamie Brenner (The Husband Hour), and so I'm anxious to dive into her latest novel: The Forever Summer. It's the story of a young woman whose life has just fallen apart, and her escape to a beachside B&B where she meets the grandmother she never knew she had.
I recently discovered author Jamie Brenner (The Husband Hour), and so I'm anxious to dive into her latest novel: The Forever Summer. It's the story of a young woman whose life has just fallen apart, and her escape to a beachside B&B where she meets the grandmother she never knew she had.
Beatriz Williams has a summer novel coming out in July that will be a must-read for me. The Summer Wives shifts from 1951 to 1969, with another character from the Schuyler clan. Can’t wait!
As I reminisce about my own summers in recent years, here
are a couple more titles I lapped up after smoothing on the sunscreen. A girl can
never read too many summer sizzlers, can she?
That Summer by
Lauren Willig – An old house outside of London, a mysterious heirloom painting,
and a woman trying to heal from past tragedy.
The Summer Girls by Mary Alice Monroe – Sea life, three testy sisters, and the love and lessons
of their grandmother.
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