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Summer sun, summer books. Lighter, quicker, a little less ponderous and a little more delightful. Whether you are looking for a selection for your book club or something delicious to read at the beach, here are 10 books that look like they fit the bill.
What books are you reading this summer?
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Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
From Amazon: “With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that’s bigger than it first appears.”
What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman
From Amazon: “Clara Cartwright, eighteen years old in 1929, is caught between her overbearing parents and her love for an Italian immigrant. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, Clara’s father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash, he can no longer afford her care–and Clara is committed to the public asylum.”
The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer
From Amazon: “Sensible thirty-six-year-old Sophie Anderson has always known what to do. She knows her role in life: supportive wife of a successful architect and calm, capable mother of two. But on a warm summer night, as the house grows quiet around her and her children fall asleep, she wonders what’s missing from her life.”
Dietland by Sarai Walker
From Amazon: “Part coming-of-age story, part revenge fantasy, Dietland is a bold, original, and funny debut novel that takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight loss obsession—from the inside out, and with fists flying.”
The Rocks: A Novel, by Peter Nichols
From Amazon: “What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years? And how did their history shape the Romeo and Juliet–like romance of their (unrelated) children decades later?”
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
From Amazon: “In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf’s inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis’s wife. Haruf’s last book is a perfect ending to his writing.”
The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein
From Amazon: “In the beautiful, barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever-present midnight sun, Frances and Yasha are surprised to find refuge in each other. Their lives have been upended – Frances has fled heartbreak and claustrophobic Manhattan for an isolated artist colony; Yasha arrives Brooklyn to fulfill his beloved father’s last wish: to be buried “at the top of the world.” They have come to learn how to be alone.”
Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont
From Amazon: “Jack Shanley is a well-known New York artist, charming and vain, who doesn’t mean to plunge his family into crisis. His wife, Deb, gladly left behind a difficult career as a dancer to raise the two children she adores. In the ensuing years, she has mostly avoided coming face-to-face with the weaknesses of the man she married. But then an anonymously sent package arrives in the mail: a cardboard box containing sheaves of printed emails chronicling Jack’s secret life. The package is addressed to Deb, but it’s delivered into the wrong hands: her children’s.”
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
From Amazon: “Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.”
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
From Amazon: “Building on the triumphs of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things, set in a world of almost unimaginable beauty, The Marriage of Opposites showcases the beloved, bestselling Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. Once forgotten to history, the marriage of Rachel and Frédérick is a story that is as unforgettable as it is remarkable.”
Dr. Margaret Rutherford
Tuesday 7th of July 2015
Thank you for this! September is my book club selection and I was searching around.. great recommendations! I loved The Paris Wife... so that might be good or DietLand looks intriguing...
Judy Freedma
Monday 6th of July 2015
Love when you provide your reading suggestions. So helpful!
Lois Alter Mark
Monday 6th of July 2015
I have a bunch of these sitting on my shelves and just finished Luckiest Girl Alive. I need more time to read!
Sharon Greenthal
Tuesday 7th of July 2015
Me too, Lois.
Barbara Torris
Monday 6th of July 2015
I am creating a list of books on my blog. I just linked to this page. I am also adding books written by the Midlife Women as I find them. Let me know. retireinstyleblog@gmail.com
Carol Cassara
Monday 6th of July 2015
These look great. I've just bookmarked the page and later in the day will go back and see which I want to buy right now. It's rare I see a list that has so many I havent' read but appeal to me so much. Thank you!
Sharon Greenthal
Tuesday 7th of July 2015
You're welcome - so glad you are intrigued!