Favorite Reads of the Summer--So Far

I know, there are still a few precious weeks of summer left, but I'm starting to see school supplies displayed front and center in the stores, and for most of us, that's a telltale sign that fall is just around the corner.

So I wanted to post a list of my favorite reads from the summer up to this point. I admit, I haven't read as much as I normally do this time of year--I'm blaming that on several weeks' worth of anxiety and not being able to do much of anything. But once I got myself more on track and picked up a book, I could feel my version of "normal" quickly return. I still got horribly behind on the reading list I'd put together for myself, though.

Anyway, out of what I did manage to get through, here's a list of the titles I particularly enjoyed:
House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I admit, I'm biased--there aren't too many of Picoult's novels that I haven't liked. This book focuses on a teenager living with Asperger's syndrome who is accused of murder. I learned a lot about Asperger's syndrome--I think she could have included a bit less about this condition and focused a little more on the crime, personally. But part of what I love about her books is her attention to detail and compelling, "what happens next?" pacing. The story kept me interested, even if some of the detail did get a little long-winded (and repetitive) in places.

Ladies of the Lake by Haywood Smith. Sibling rivalry never truly goes away--even when the siblings in question hit middle age. That's the crux of this funny and heart-warming novel by Haywood Smith. Four middle-aged sisters are forced to spend the summer in their grandmother's rundown lake house in order to receive their inheritance. Along the way, they reconnect and work out some old hard feelings--grudgingly. (After all, there's no TV in the cabin--what else is there to do? :) )

Queen of Broken Hearts by Cassandra King. I loved her earlier novel The Same Sweet Girls, and this novel didn't disappoint, either. Clare Ballenger is a divorce therapist healing some pretty serious heartache of her own (though she's the first to downplay this fact, of course). Thanks to some wise, if quirky, friends and family, Clare owns up to her pain and begins to let go of the past in order to move on.

Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani. Like Picoult, Adriana Trigiani is one of my favorite authors, so I expected to love this book as much as I've loved her Big Stone Gap trilogy and Very Valentine. (I have 2 other books on my pile to get to, as well!) Lucia, Lucia includes all of my favorite elements--an independent, beautiful (yet still flawed) title character and a plot set in Greenwich Village in the 1950's. What's not to like? The title character, Lucia Sartori, is a seamstress in one of New York's high-end department stores, and Trigiani goes to great length to describe many of the clothes Lucia makes. I enjoy her books because she does a great job of transporting the reader to a completely different place. I can't wait to read her other books, including the second in her newest trilogy, Brava Valentine.

What about you? What summer reads would you recommend?

Sara's Picks for Best Books of the Summer

Since summer is more or less behind us (where I live in the Northeast, it seems like it didn't get here until a few weeks ago, but I digress), I thought I'd write a quick post on the best books I read this summer. People are always asking me for recommendations, so I thought I'd beat them to it!

Again, these are not paid endorsements--simply good reads that I enjoyed over the past few months:

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. This collection of essays was funny, but in a dry, sardonic, cynical way--in other words, exactly my humor. Though I smiled throughout many of the essays, my personal favorite was "You on a Stick"--Sloane's retelling of being guilted into being in a long-forgotten best friend's wedding. Hilarious!

How to Be Single by Liz Tuccillo. I just finished this book last week and really enjoyed it. Julie, a writer, tired of her life and her demanding job, convinces her boss to write a book about how single women handle their singlehood across the world. Her adventures are interspersed with the antics of Julie's friends, all with very different personalities who grow much closer by the end of the book. This has a very Sex and the City feel to it, which is probably because the author used to be a writer for the show. The idea of Julie writing a book gets a bit lost in the shuffle and some of the threads in the story never get tied up, but overall, this was a good read. There was no sunny, "everything is beautiful" ending, which I kind of liked--a very true glimpse of life.

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs. I read her first book, The Friday Night Knitting Club, and enjoyed that, as well. I didn't think Jacobs broke any new ground here or anything--she simply wrote a solid, well-crafted book with nicely developed characters and a storyline that kept me interested.

Testimony by Anita Shreve. I find that her books are hit or miss, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I love her elegant writing style, which served this particular book very well. A sex scandal at a private New England school causes a ripple effect of damage throughout the community--to the students involved, the school's headmaster, and the students' families. She alternates narrators, which I think added another layer of depth, and it shows that even the most private of moments or most impulsive of decisions can have serious repercussions for years.

There are a few precious days of summer left, so it's not too late to check a few titles off your reaidng list!