Summertime & the Readin' is Easy: My Favorite Summer Book Picks
Something about me: I love reading. There are piles of books cluttering my nightstand and one is typically tucked into my purse in case the opportunity arises when I can sneak a page or two in throughout the day. So it goes without saying that, in the summertime, my beach bag is not complete without a good book. I've come up with a list of some of my absolute favorite summer reads, perfect for lounging by the pool, lake, beach, in the park or even on the couch (made even better, in my humble opinion, with a good glass of wine nearby 😉). Tell me, what are some of your summertime reading recommendations?
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
This psychological thriller mesmerized me from the start. The Last Mrs. Parrish is full of twists and turns that I honestly did not see coming, and kept me up late at night to read "just one more page". Amber Patterson is fed up. She's tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more - a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne and her husband, Jackson - the beautiful philanthropist and the confident real estate mogul - are a golden couple straight out of a fairy tale, blessed with two lovely young daughters.
Amber's envy could eat her alive ... if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne's compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family's life - the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne's closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrish family, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces. With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller.
Synopsis: https://livconstantine.com/books/the-last-mrs-parrish/
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
It's not often that I can say that I've fallen in love with a novel, but Where the Crawdads Sing made me fall head over heels. Owens herself summarizes this novel perfectly: "A nature-immersed mystery and love story with an ending you'll never guess, and never, ever forget." This book is like a breathtaking watercolor painting of the North Carolina marshlands, a book of delicate and raw poetry, and a murder mystery all wrapped into one captivating little package.
For years, rumors of the "Marsh girl" have haunted Barkley cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she years to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
Synopsis: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567281/where-the-crawdads-sing-by-delia-owens/9.7807.35219090/
The Night Tiger by Yangtze Choo
I picked this novel for my book club a couple of months ago expecting to be dazzled. And dazzled I was. Admittedly it did take me a few chapters to really get into it, but once I was, I couldn't put it down. Set in 1930s Malaysia, The Night Tiger is a historical novel about a dance-hall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers.
Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dance-hall girl to help pay off her mother's Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for. Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master's dying wish: that Ren find the man's finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master's soul will wander the earth forever. As the days tick relentlessly by, a series of unexpected deaths wracks the district, along with whispers of men who turn into tigers. Ji Lin and Ren's increasingly dangerous paths crisscross through lush plantations, hospital storage rooms and ghostly dreamscapes.
Synopsis: https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3872/the-night-tiger
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
I've always been fascinated by WWII and Holocaust-focused novels. Elie Wiesel's Night, Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls and John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas have become permanent fixtures on my bookshelf. Heather Morris' The Tattooist of Auschwitz has been added to that list. A story of beauty, hope, courage and survival against the odds, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the true story of Lale and Gita and their love that was born in Auschwitz.
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism - but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day in July 1942, he comforts Gita, a trembling young woman waiting in line to have a number tattooed onto her arm. In that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her. A vivid, harrowing and ultimately hopeful recreation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
Synopsis: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38359036-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
I'm currently reading City of Girls and although I'm only a few chapters into it, I've already been charmed and mesmerized enough to add it to this list. The novel's story is narrated by an older woman reflecting back on her days as a young, fun-loving woman in 1940s New York City. Nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. What unfolds is her journey of life, love, and the complexities of being not only female but also human. City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.
I can't wait to devour the rest of this novel, and, with the speed in which I've been reading it thus far, expect to be done by the end of the holiday weekend 😏
Synopsis: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42135029-city-of-girls
This psychological thriller mesmerized me from the start. The Last Mrs. Parrish is full of twists and turns that I honestly did not see coming, and kept me up late at night to read "just one more page". Amber Patterson is fed up. She's tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more - a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne and her husband, Jackson - the beautiful philanthropist and the confident real estate mogul - are a golden couple straight out of a fairy tale, blessed with two lovely young daughters.
Amber's envy could eat her alive ... if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne's compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family's life - the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne's closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrish family, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces. With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller.
Synopsis: https://livconstantine.com/books/the-last-mrs-parrish/
It's not often that I can say that I've fallen in love with a novel, but Where the Crawdads Sing made me fall head over heels. Owens herself summarizes this novel perfectly: "A nature-immersed mystery and love story with an ending you'll never guess, and never, ever forget." This book is like a breathtaking watercolor painting of the North Carolina marshlands, a book of delicate and raw poetry, and a murder mystery all wrapped into one captivating little package.
For years, rumors of the "Marsh girl" have haunted Barkley cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she years to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
Synopsis: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567281/where-the-crawdads-sing-by-delia-owens/9.7807.35219090/
I picked this novel for my book club a couple of months ago expecting to be dazzled. And dazzled I was. Admittedly it did take me a few chapters to really get into it, but once I was, I couldn't put it down. Set in 1930s Malaysia, The Night Tiger is a historical novel about a dance-hall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers.
Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dance-hall girl to help pay off her mother's Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for. Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master's dying wish: that Ren find the man's finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master's soul will wander the earth forever. As the days tick relentlessly by, a series of unexpected deaths wracks the district, along with whispers of men who turn into tigers. Ji Lin and Ren's increasingly dangerous paths crisscross through lush plantations, hospital storage rooms and ghostly dreamscapes.
Synopsis: https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3872/the-night-tiger
I've always been fascinated by WWII and Holocaust-focused novels. Elie Wiesel's Night, Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls and John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas have become permanent fixtures on my bookshelf. Heather Morris' The Tattooist of Auschwitz has been added to that list. A story of beauty, hope, courage and survival against the odds, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the true story of Lale and Gita and their love that was born in Auschwitz.
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism - but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day in July 1942, he comforts Gita, a trembling young woman waiting in line to have a number tattooed onto her arm. In that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her. A vivid, harrowing and ultimately hopeful recreation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
Synopsis: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38359036-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz
I'm currently reading City of Girls and although I'm only a few chapters into it, I've already been charmed and mesmerized enough to add it to this list. The novel's story is narrated by an older woman reflecting back on her days as a young, fun-loving woman in 1940s New York City. Nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. What unfolds is her journey of life, love, and the complexities of being not only female but also human. City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.
I can't wait to devour the rest of this novel, and, with the speed in which I've been reading it thus far, expect to be done by the end of the holiday weekend 😏
Synopsis: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42135029-city-of-girls
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