Novels to lose yourself in this summer?

[Anonymous]

The Adults
The 2 Family House
Ice Twins
Small Indescretion
Her
The Headmaster's Wife
The Pure Gold Baby
Little Bee
The Story Of Beautiful Girl
Night Road
Dive At Clausen's Pier
Family History
One Day
A Lost Wive's Tale
The Familiar Stranger
A Friend Of The Family
The Blood Of Flowers
Olive Kittredge
The Space Between Us
The Glass Castle
Halfway House
The Woman Upstairs
Into The Darkest Corner
Books by Douglas Kennedy
Books by Jennifer Haigh
22 Brittany Road
The Condition
When It Happens To You (short stories by Molly Ringwald)
The Light Between Oceans
The Play date
The Innocents
Tumbleweeds
The Snow Child the Art Of Hearing Heartbeats
The Other Mother

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to hi-Jack your thread OP, but am contemplating reading "The Goldfinch" after seeing all the positive revs in this thread.

Is it a suspenseful/thriller-type read?
Also, what exactly is a "beach read?"

Something light, not too heavy or dark??
I don't imagine a Stephen King or V.C.
Andrews to be categorized as a common beach read.

I absolutely could NOT get into the Goldfinch at all. It's a very polarizing book I think. You either loved it or gave up 55 pages in.

I made it 2/3 of the way through, which is unusual for me. I'm usually either out in 50 pages or very into it.

The parts of Goldfinch I liked, I really liked. But I got so incredibly bored by the last section. Can't believe I quit that far in, but I was just done. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

I just started reading The Summer before the War by Helen Simonsen - and already I LOVE it. Very Downton-Abbey - but with a much more modern sensibility than Downton had. The writing is wonderful, and I am already rooting for the characters. I can't wait to keep reading.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading A Little Life right now. Not reading too much at one time because it's so good.

I'm a PP above but I will add:

Independent People (historical fiction in Iceland)

A Fine Balance (India- Dickens esque saga)

The Bridal Wreath (first of three books by Sigrid Undset- fantastic- medieval Scandanavian setting)

The Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark (First novel of several chronicling Australia)


You guys have the same tastes in literature as me so keep the recs coming!

[Anonymous]

Love this thread everyone, thanks for all of the suggestions! Keep them coming, I'm challenging myself to reading at least two books per week this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anyone read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August? I can't decide if I want to keep reading. Interesting premise, but nothing so far to pull me through.

[Anonymous]

Gone with the wind. Favorite book ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading A Little Life right now. Not reading too much at one time because it's so good.

I'm a PP above but I will add:

Independent People (historical fiction in Iceland)

A Fine Balance (India- Dickens esque saga)

The Bridal Wreath (first of three books by Sigrid Undset- fantastic- medieval Scandanavian setting)

The Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark (First novel of several chronicling Australia)


You guys have the same tastes in literature as me so keep the recs coming!

I will second A Fine Balance. A truly spectacular book. Audiobook is exceptional as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Little Life

Opposite of light.

Good lord, do not read this for summer reading. The most harrowing novel I have ever read. It was totally engrossing but after I finished and reflected, I'm not sure that I would read it again.

[Anonymous]

The next two on my list are Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson and Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For one under the fun, summer beach read category - Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld. Just finished it the other night and couldn't put it down. Fun, easy read.

I was disappointed - didn't like it very much.

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is insanely good

[Anonymous]

Has anyone read the new novel The Girls-loosely based on the Manson Family? It got a mixed review in the Times, but sounded interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What She Knew
• An eight year old goes missing, just a few feet from where his mother was. He seemingly just vanished into thin air, without a single piece of evidence left behind.

Many blame his mother while others are strongly suspected by the authorities.

The reader's own suspicions fluctuate from character to character until the ending.

Book's suspenseful pace starts off with a bang, then moves quickly throughout. The final chapters move at breakneck speed and the conclusion is really unexpected.

I lost a lot of sleep staying up late reading this A++ book.
And so will you.

Orphan #8
• As a child, a little girl grows up in Orphanages in the 1920s.
Back then, the children were used so that unscrupulous physicians could perform in humane medical experiments on.

Well when she gets older she works as a nurse and finds herself caring for the aging Dr. who performed such experiences on her.
Interesting now, the tables are turned per say and it is up to the nurse to seek revenge from this evil former physician who performed unthinkable experiments on her as a child......So horrible in fact that the nurse still bears the physical scars & after effects 35 years later and may even be dying herself over all the residual damage done unto her back then.

Thank you for these recommendations; they both sound really good!

I just started "Somewhere Out There" by Amy Hatvany. So far so good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What She Knew
• An eight year old goes missing, just a few feet from where his mother was. He seemingly just vanished into thin air, without a single piece of evidence left behind.

Many blame his mother while others are strongly suspected by the authorities.

The reader's own suspicions fluctuate from character to character until the ending.

Book's suspenseful pace starts off with a bang, then moves quickly throughout. The final chapters move at breakneck speed and the conclusion is really unexpected.

I lost a lot of sleep staying up late reading this A++ book.
And so will you.

Orphan #8
• As a child, a little girl grows up in Orphanages in the 1920s.
Back then, the children were used so that unscrupulous physicians could perform in humane medical experiments on.

Well when she gets older she works as a nurse and finds herself caring for the aging Dr. who performed such experiences on her.
Interesting now, the tables are turned per say and it is up to the nurse to seek revenge from this evil former physician who performed unthinkable experiments on her as a child......So horrible in fact that the nurse still bears the physical scars & after effects 35 years later and may even be dying herself over all the residual damage done unto her back then.

Thank you for these recommendations; they both sound really good!

I just started "Somewhere Out There" by Amy Hatvany. So far so good.

I like Amy Hatvany's books!

I'm reading "Lilac Girls" and it's really good. Starts in 1939 when Germany invades Poland. Told from the point of view of a Polish girl, an American socialite, and a Ferman doctor. Really sad, but engrossing.