I come here every summer to get my beach list for vacation. Thanks again, guys!
I think I will try Tragiani. Sounds like the kind of thing to read on a boat and on the beach.
Just finished “Schroder” by Amity Gaige. Gorgeous writing, interesting main character, and reads very quickly.
I say “interesting” because he’s one of those sort of unreliable narrators who are nonetheless kind of charming.
Father/daughter conversations in it are priceless.
I picked up “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” by Michael Chabon at a used book shop on vacation and I really enjoyed it. Great coming-of-age story set in New York prior to the US entering WWII.
Those who have read The Interestings might want to listen to today’s Slate podcast on the book. I haven’t listened to it yet, but these are usually quite good, with sharp insights.
[Meg</a> Wolitzer?s The Interestings podcast and book club discussion. - Slate Magazine](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/the_audio_book_club/2013/07/meg_wolitzer_s_the_interestings_podcast_and_book_club_discussion.html]Meg”>Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings podcast and book club discussion.)
Just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog and enjoyed it so much I watched the movie made from it (which was ok but, as always, not as good as the book).
I just finished Daphne Du Maurier’s The House on the Strand. I found it beautiful and haunting, with its themes of English history (1300s), time travel, addiction, and the price paid for immersing oneself in another time at the expense of present reality.
I just read Gone Girl. I was pretty gripped.
Stradmom,
I too really enjoyed Elegance of the Hedgehog but I was unaware that there was a movie of this book so I will have to check it out.
bookmama - it’s called “The Hedgehog.” It was fascinating to me how they portrayed Paloma’s journals in a visual medium.
What Colleges Dont Tell You.
OK, loved “Packing for Mars” and liked “Boink”, so I’ll have to download this one as well.
Will I be embarrassed reading it on the plane? (D2 laughed in a scandalized way seeing Boink on my iPad…)
And I’m really late in this one, but finally read The Aviator’s Wife and sat up all night to finish. Really good.
I just finished “Even Silence Has an End” by Ingrid Betancourt. She was the Columbian presidential candidate captured by guerrillas and held for six years before she was rescued. It is the story of her captivity, and I thought it was riveting.
As a note, JK Rowling has been outed as the author Robert Galbraith. “His” 2nd crime novel is due out either later this year or into next. The first is The Cuckoo’s Calling. Mr. Galbraith is a former Royal Military Police investigator who has worked in private security since 2003.
Apparently, someone - perhaps the Sunday Times reviewer - noted similarities in style and didn’t believe the book was by a 1st time author. The book notes that “Robert Galbraith” is a fake name. It was run through a text analyzer and was found to be in Rowling’s style. She’s admitted it.
Now I am interested in picking up those books! It’s not my genre but once in a while I read a crime novel and love it, that gives me reason to try.
Thanks much stradmom,
I will check that one out.
Thanks to MommaJ for the link to the Slate podcast about The Interestings. I enjoyed it.
Read two great books: PD James–Death Comes to Pemberely and Will Schwalbe–End of Your Life Book Club.
James creates a mystery set at Pemberely–Mr. Darcy’s estate (from Pride and Prejudice). The story takes place seven years after Elizabeth and Darcy have married. Austen fans will enjoy it.
I heard Schwalbe speak at the Nantucket Book Festival and I was impressed with him. He’s smart and insightful and has written a beautiful book about his mother’s last days and how she and the family handled it all.
Just read “A Drive into the Gap” by Kevin Guilfoile. Very short but so moving. About the relationship between a man and his father who has Alzheimers. Also about baseball but you’ll like it even if you don’t like baseball.
My son bought it and told us to read it. My husbands father died of Alzheimers and it’s a fear of his that it will happen to him.
I’ve never cried harder reading a book.
Read “Under the Greenwood Tree” by Thomas Hardy. It was one I hadn’t read before (as opposed to one I read 40 years ago and dimly remembered.) I love Hardy’s style so much…I had a couple of other books from the library at the same time but they didn’t hold my interest after the first chapter. 
3bm103–Just looked for “A Drive into the Gap” and couldn’t find it on our library’s web site, though they had other books by Guilfoile. 
Edit: Also want to recommend “The Best of All Possible Worlds” by Karen Lord. She is a black woman who “has been a physics teacher, a diplomat, a part-time soldier, and an academic at various times and in various countries. She is now a writer and research consultant in Barbados.” Anyway, the book is sort of a sci-fi love story. The writing reminds me at times of the best scenes from Star Trek (veiled social commentary, wit.) Clever, thoughtful, beautifully written. Alas, I couldn’t interest my son in it, though he loves science fiction. If I could have promised exciting fight scenes instead of a love story, maybe…
Maybe not a best book but a good one to read over a few hot summer days:
Joyland - Stephen King … a coming-of-age tale … a crime story … not what I consider a typical Stephen King.
I love the concept behind the retro Hard Case Crime and love the pulp covers.
[Stephen</a> King ‘Joyland’ cover first look | Shelf Life | EW.com](<a href=“Dotdash Meredith - America's Largest Digital & Print Publisher”>Dotdash Meredith - America's Largest Digital & Print Publisher)
*I had tears in my eyes at the end of the book.