Summer Reading 2013

Here's my take on my summer reads.  Hey, I didn't lay on the white couch making pretend I was napping all the time (especially when I heard: "MOM!) without getting some reading done.  In the pool, while the kids were at the lake, in an easy chair which sits outside on the deck (please reference the Clampetts here) or mostly? On the couch......

BEST OF THE BEST...

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

My fave book of the summer.  Twins - the good, the bad, the power of sisters.  It flies.

If you haven't read Prep or American Wife? You have so much to look forward to in the Fall!

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Massoud

I love this author.  This woman in this story is PISSED OFF.  Oddly, I like an edgy voice. Swept away and uncomfortable.

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

I do love camp stories while my children are at camp.  It's the Big Chill from Summer Arts Camp.  Loved it.

My Education by Susan Choi

This is a sexy book, with a rich story about a college girl coming of age caught in a relationship with her professor and his wife. Really...need I say more? Read it!

OTHER RICH AND WONDERFUL:

The Dinner by Herman Koch

Austrian, tight, tense, riveting mystery story with dramatic twist. Powerfully grasps our relationships to our growing kids.  Two families take sides...Do we really know our kids? YIKES! Memorable.

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

A gripping, literate story of a spinster who is befriended by a young family, where the husband is an artist.  Riveting and compelling and powerful...narrative twists and compelling points of view.  I'm afraid to say more...I'll give good stuff away.

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Poison-wood Bible was her best book ever, but this is a magical, powerful story...almost as good, but worth the read.  You know, the whole: when a butterfly flaps its wings the world will change.  Loved the evolution of this story.

Beginners Goodbye by Anne Tyler

God I love Anne Tyler and her quirky tales.  This one just touched my heart...about a man who loses his wife...but has he? It spoke to me about the power of love, marriage and connection.  And scared me about how I would live without my husband. 

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver

She pisses me off.  This is her story about a woman with a morbidly obese brother and the struggle to have a relationship around the fat and the issues that got him fat.  I don't think she likes fat people.  Being a fat person myself I was prickly.  However...this is powerful and memorable.  Side note:  The author's brother passed away in his 50's from being overweight.

SHIT YOU SHOULD READ CUZ IT IS IMPORTANT:

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

A bickering couple... I would say not memorable enough but my memory is fading as my children age.  (I don't age.)  But it is a negative read on marriage.  Not in that voyeuristic, let-er-rip kinda way.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

She is revered as one of the greatest voices of our generation.  It was a hard read and I don't know that my life is any richer at the end.  Hilter, Bombing in WWII (Okay - I was richer for understanding THAT!). Sad, tortured.

The Bright River by Patrick Somerville

An okay story about a guy finding himself against some intense family secrets.

DELICIOUS STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU ARE DRINKING A BEER IN A FLOATIE:

Outtakes from a Marriage by Ann Leary (anything from Ann Leary)

She is Dennis Leary's wife - so this is good stuff - amazing and delicious.  Of course you read her indepth stories of flawed marriage and relationships and are pretty sure it is all about them.  Making it more delish.  Riveting, can't put it down, perfect for summer.  God, she can't write these fast enough for me.

Chanel Bonfire by Wendy Lawless

This author tweets with me AND her book is fabulous.  I thought I was reading a novel but it is her memoir growing up with a crazy, mentally ill, over-the-top, Hollywood type mother.  Fast read, can't get enough, riveting.  And did I mention that she tweets me?

READING RIGHT NOW:

Yonahlasse Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafini

I'm hoping this is something my daughters can read.  We love Summer Camp stories, but this ends up being an old time story about a girls' boarding school.  The protagonist is being sent away for something "bad".  I will let my kids read this (I will insist actually - this will make my threats about Boarding School carry more weight) if there isn't some graphic sex or too tragic ending.