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I'm sure that by now, many of you have heard of this book. This seemed to be the "book of the summer" and has had a very strong following. This book is about a teenage girl, Cadence, who spends her summers on a private island in New England with her wealthy extended family. It takes place during her seventeenth summer of being on the island and she can't remember anything that has happened during her fifteenth summer, but she understands that something terrible had happened. She spends her time with three other kids her age, two cousins and a family friend, while on the island and they call themselves the Liars. Cady is trying to piece together what happened during her fifteenth summer and we, as the readers, are learning the information as Cady does. The writing is poetically beautiful and there are fairy tales sprinkled throughout the book that relate to the story. I'm sure that many of you have heard about "the big twist" in this novel, so I don't want to give too much away. This is a very easy and short read - I read it in only a few hours!
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I am a HUGE fan of The Office. I have seen every single episode at least a dozen times. When I heard that B.J. Novak, an actor and writer for the show, was writing a book of short stories I knew that I had to get my hands on a copy. I found this book very whimsical and creative. The book opens with a story about the Hare wanting to have a rematch with the Tortoise, which sets the tone for a light hearted and amusing read. My favorite short story in the book is definitely The Man Who Invented the Calendar, which I think was also featured in The New Yorker. It is set up as diary entries by the man who invented the calendar and how he arbitrarily made decisions about the calendar based on his life at the time. I think by far this was the most humorous story in the book and I actually found myself laughing out loud at some points. The story lengths varied throughout the book - I think the longest was about ten pages and the shortest was only two lines. The stories are all so different and if one is not grabbing your attention, there are plenty of others to like. This is a book that has a little something for everyone!
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Rainbow Rowell is the name to look out for in YA fiction and this book, Eleanor & Park, has recently become quite popular. First of all, I love the setting of this love story. It takes place in the 1980's and has a punk rock motif throughout the narrative. The book follows two high school students who are completely different people and end up falling in love. Eleanor is a bigger, awkward girl with frizzy red hair. She has a very interesting backstory - her family is very poor and she shares a room with four of her siblings in a small house. She lives with her mom and dead beat step-dad. Park is more of the opposite and has a traditional family life. A big part of the story is her trying to overcome her insecurities and letting Park love her. The ending is quite sad as well so get your tissue box ready for this one.
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Historical fiction tends to be my favorite genre of literature. I like the idea of taking a historical figure and filling in the blanks with imagination. I came across this book in the airport before I left for vacation and felt that it had an amazing setting with great characters - 1920s, New York City, Paris, the French Riviera, Zelda, Scott, Ernest Hemingway, and other prominent writers and artists of the time. The book begins with Zelda's early life when she was living with her parents in the South. She soon meets F. Scott Fitzgerald and they fall in love. It seems like a beautiful love story at first, but after they get married everything goes downhill. The author also has a very interesting take on the relationship triangle between Zelda, Scott, and Hemingway. It is also interesting to see the parallels in the Fitzgeralds' lives with the great works that F. Scott Fitzgerald has published. If you like F. Scott Fitzgerald's work, especially The Great Gatsby, you should give this book a go, as the setting and over all themes are quite similar.
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I read this one over Fourth of July weekend while I was in Ocean City, so I would recommend this as a beach read. The story begins in the 1960s on a rocky island off the coast of Italy that is not frequently visited. The main character, Pasquale, is a native innkeeper and is surprised when one day a beautiful American actress comes to the island to stay at the inn. She is shrouded in mystery and gives no real explanation as to why she is there. Of course, Pasquale falls in love with this actress and wants to help her with whatever circumstance she is in. The story also jumps back and fourth between modern times and the sixties, introducing new characters that are somehow intertwined in the story as we try to figure out this mysterious actress. The book has an old Hollywood glamor (and not so glamorous at times) feel, including characters such as Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.
So, if any of these books sound appealing to you, you can click on the title links to check them out. If you would like, you can also follow me on Goodreads right here. What were some of your favorite books this summer??
Xx Christy
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