If you don’t get dressed up and read in your bathtub, are you even living? LOL
After taking a bit of a break, I went on a little reading streak in June. I spend a lot of time pouring through recommended reading lists, and very rarely come across one I don’t enjoy and wouldn’t recommend. I hope that these posts do the same for you! Lately I’ve been going down the “summer thriller/mystery” path. As always, I’d love to know what you’re currently reading, too! Be sure to leave me a comment! And if you’re new to C&C (hi, and welcome!) then be sure to check out my other reading list posts here.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The lives of the picture-perfect Richardson family are upended when they lease their rental home to a free spirited artist and her daughter. She’s a single mom and comes from a world that Mrs. Richardson has never personally experienced yet feels the need to “help.” I have not watched the miniseries and probably won’t. I always feel that the book is better anyway. I really enjoyed this story. It’s a good tale to teach perspective. Things aren’t always as they seem on the surface. It’s easy to misinterpret something and not give someone the benefit of the doubt. Little Fires Everywhere serves up these concepts with a side of drama and mystery. I found the unrealistic commitment to absolute perfection in Shaker Heights to be interesting. I’ve never been a part of a community like that, but I can imagine it easily through Elena Richardson, the matriarch of the Richardson family who does everything by the socially acceptable book. I’ve definitely met a few people like her before. The book begins with the Richardson’s house burning to the ground and will have you turning pages until the very end.
The Return by Rachel Harrison
Julie disappears and for two whole years is presumed dead, until she makes an unexpected appearance. But she’s not the same and her friends can’t quite put their finger on it. A weekend away is all they need to reconnect and bring Julie back to her old self. Ok, while I found this book to be interesting enough to finish, I would say it’s probably just good enough for your next plane ride. Not all books have to be award-winning to be entertaining and this one falls into that category. If you can get past the terribly immature dialogue and you’re into paranormal, then this book makes a fine summer read.
When We Believed In Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal
Josie’s sister was killed 15 years ago during a terrorist attack. One day Josie is watching television and she sees her sister, plain as day and alive and well in New Zealand. Is it really her? What really happened? Josie sets out for Auckland to try and reunite with her sister, or at least confirm if it’s really her. Along the way she’s confronted with old memories of growing up together on the beach, young love, a family secret and more. I really enjoyed this mystery. A good old fashioned family drama, as I say. I couldn’t wait to find out why these two sisters had remained apart for so long. What motivates a person to fake their death and become someone else entirely? Definitely recommend this one!
The Woman In The Window by A.J. Finn
Anna is agoraphobic and spends her time locked away in her home drinking too much wine, watching old movies, and spying on her neighbors. One night she sees something particularly horrific through the windows of the house across the way. But did she see what she thinks she saw? Is she just being paranoid? Why does everyone around her think she’s crazy? I devoured this book very quickly and wished I’d read it sooner. It reminded me of Hitchcock’s Rear Window, one of my favorite classic films. A voyeuristic look into your neighbor’s window does not often result in seeing what is actually going on inside. Or does it? You’ll find yourself questioning everything in this book, including the narrator herself. Definitely add this one to your summer reading pile!
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
This book is based on the true story of Pino Lella, an Italian adolescent coming of age during the height of World War II. Pino wants nothing to do with the war and tries to avoid the Nazis as much as he can, hoping to wait out the arrival of the Americans. Instead, he ends up assisting in an underground railroad that helped Jews escape and eventually as a spy for a top Nazi general. While I felt that the book had a pretty slow beginning, the rest of the story was beautifully told at a pace that feels at times quite suspenseful. As per most WWII stories, this one weaves tragedy with triumph. I really enjoyed taking my time with this one.
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
An extravagant wedding weekend on Nantucket is interrupted by the shocking death of the maid of honor just hours before the ceremony is set to start. All members of the wedding party are immediate suspects and as you soon discover, no couple is perfect. To say that I loved this one is an understatement. This is THE summer novel. It has all the aspects of a seriously juicy drama, from outrageously wealthy characters with unscrupulous interests to self-medicating mistresses. The characters are so well-developed that I actually feel like I know them. It’s just the perfect book to get completely lost in for a while. I haven’t read anything by Elin Hilderbrand but I’ll be reading more of her books for sure. Her newest one, 28 Summers, is out now!
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Happy reading!
xo – Erin
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