Summer is finally heading to Seattle, but I’ve started my beach bag reading early. Here are three to stash in yours for an enjoyable day at the beach, the lake or curled up in a lawn chair in your backyard.
- The Lion is In
by Delia Ephron: Clear an afternoon or so for this can’t put down book. The Lion Is In tells a tale of three women on the run (a 5-months sober alcoholic, a kleptomaniac, and a woman beaten down by her sanctimonious husband) and their life-altering encounters with the people of a small town and a lion. Ephron’s use of the lion in this novel is ingenious.
- Then Came You
by Jennifer Weiner: No one exposes women’s complex relationships with themselves and others better than Jennifer Weiner. In Then Came You, the lives of four women cross when fertility challenged India and her husband decide to have a baby via egg donor (Jules) and surrogate (Annie). India’s husband’s twenty-something daughter (Bettina) who’s less than happy about her new step-mom and soon to be sibling is also thrown into the mix. The story is told from each woman’s perspective, allowing the reader to see how each woman’s decision to participate in the baby-making process impacts herself and her family. This one’s another page-turner, so get your beach chair and bubble bath ready. And if you like it, look for Jennifer Weiner’s newest book The Next Best Thing
, which comes out tomorrow.
- The Wedding Girl
by Madeleine Wickham: A fast, fun read by Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeleine Wickham. Milly is engaged to Simon, heir to a billionaire and an inflexible but sweet guy with serious daddy issues. Milly’s mom is planning the gala wedding of the year and all is running smoothly until someone from Milly’s past pops up who could expose Milly’s marriage-wrecking secret. Chaos ensues, people’s true natures are revealed and character growth and revelation takes place. If you haven’t read Madeleine Wickham books before, you’re in for a treat. I prefer them to the Shopaholic series (because really who didn’t want to strangle her by mid-book 2) and if you like this one you can indulge in Cocktails for Three
or The Gatecrasher
.
Any other reads to recommend? Please share in the comments so we can have a reading-full summer.
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