Summer Reading

Now that summer is underway it feels like a good time to talk books! To start the conversation I put together the list of books that I’m currently reading or are on my list for the summer.

Meet me in the comments and let me know what you’re reading.

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Fiction

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. This book has been on my TBR list since it came out (and became a bestseller) in 2013. Don, a genetics professor takes an unconventional and highly organized approach to finding a wife and runs across Rosie, who is on her own search for her biological father. The Chicago Tribune says it’s “filled with humor and plenty of heart.”

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews. Mary Kay often marries her writing with her love of houses like she did in this summer’s release. A young widow who is rehabbing a money pit agrees to star in a reality show about the renovation. There’s also a little mystery and a love triangle to keep us interested. This one is waiting for me on my Kindle.

The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand. Elin is another go-to author for me every summer. New York Magazine says this about her newest book (out June 14): “The queen of beach reads” delivers an immensely satisfying page-turner in this tale about a summer of scandal at a storied Nantucket hotel.” I’m in!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I read Beach Read by this same author and while I didn’t love it (I was in the minority – it got great reviews) I liked it well enough. So I can’t pass up her newest book about a high powered literary agent vacationing in North Carolina for the summer who keeps running into her nemesis book editor from back in the city. The description is giving me You’ve Got Mail vibes.

Non-Fiction

I Have Something to Tell You: A Memoir by Chasten Buttigieg. We were all introduced to (Mayor) Pete Buttigieg during his run for President in 2020. It turns out, however, that his husband Chasten has a pretty compelling story of his own. I’m just about done with this one and can highly recommend it. It’s an especially great read for Pride Month.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. You’ve probably heard of Elizabeth Holmes, the tech world whiz kid billionaire who founded the blood-testing company Theranos at age 19. She was later convicted of wire fraud for the false claims she made about the company’s technology. This is the story, as told by the Wall Street Journal reporter who helped expose the fraud.

Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen. The best-selling and award-winning Columbine by this same author is one of the most compelling books I’ve ever read so Parkland has been on my list since it came out. Having covered mass murders for the 19 years since Columbine, Cullen vowed never again to go to a scene because of the trauma he experienced covering Columbine up close for so long. That changed, however, when he saw something happening at Parkland that he had never seen before: the students refusing to let adults take control of their narrative, which eventually became a movement. The reviews promise that Parkland is like its predecessor Columbine, a meticulously researched non-fiction book with a story so gripping it reads like a novel.

What are you reading this summer? I’d love to hear.

P.S. Quick reviews of what I’ve been reading and my favorite books of 2020.