Summer Reads '21

I thought it be fun to share what I read & listened to this summer; as always friends I wish the list was longer. I’ve also added a few titles I’ve read previously that were brought to mind. I hope you enjoy and please leave a comment with any great titles you’ve read recently - I’d love to know!

You may remember both Empty Mansions and The Devil in the White City as books I was previously reading. Well, to be honest friends I started both of these titles and they lost their zeal for one reason or another and I put them down. I am happy to report I finished both in July.

The Overstory is a powerful book filled with the theme of trees and the experience of five different families - different species and what these trees mean to theses individuals. The grounding force of a permanent piece of nature in their lives. I’m listening to the title while my sister is reading the book we hope to be able to discuss our thoughts on it soon.

The Goldfinch is the hardcover I’m reading. This Pulitzer Prize work is the story of a boy who looses his mother in a devastating incident. The boy is interesting as is his world and those around him - or his perception of it all. I’m currently on page 335 of 771. It’s fantastic - I love the characters and how Donna Tartt has let the story unfold. I have been warned away from the 2019 movie version; although I will probably watch it at some point. I hope while we’re at the beach this week I’ll get to farther into the story. I do try and read at the swim club but, usually I find myself chatting with friends!

Here are a few past reads that were brought to mind this summer.

Killing Monica: I have always been a Candace Bushnell fan. This book did not disappoint.

The Waterworks: One morning in 1871 Manhattan, reporter Martin Pemberton sees in a passing omnibus with several elderly men, one of whom he recognizes as his supposedly dead and buried father. I loved the mystery of this story and how Martin as a reporter can’t stop seeking answers. (I read after my father passed away and I had dreams that my Dad Jim was back- crazy stuff!). The Waterworks becomes, in the words of The New York Times, “a dark moral tale . . . an eloquently troubling evocation of our past.”

Summer Rental: Ellis, Julia, and Dorie are best friends since childhood now in their mid-thirties each find themselves at the crossroads in their life. I really liked these friends and who doesn’t like a sweet May Kay Andrews read!

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore: A fun mystery set in San Francisco, involving an out of work web-drone designer who takes a job at a 24 hour bookshop but, soon realized there’s more to Mr. P’s shop than books and he sets out to uncover the truth.

The Little House: This sweet children’s book was brought to my mind by reading the Overstory. A poignant story of a cute country cottage that becomes engulfed by the city that grows up around it.