Page Turning Books to Take on Summer Vacations

I'm always looking for great books to read over summer vacation.  I love the kinds of books that are quick to read but well written, light without being dumb, substantial without making my brain hurt from thinking - a book that if I had to put it down to play with my kids in the pool that I could pick right back up and get right back into it.  If you are looking for a great book to read over summer vacation that fits those criteria, here are some suggestions from the books I've read over the past few years.


Fun Fiction:
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty - I really enjoyed the premise of this book.  It made me think about the last 10 years of my life.  Am I who I want to be?  How did I get to this place in my life?  Is there anything I would change about the last 10 years? Liane Moriarty's books are all pretty fun and fast paced, but this one is my favorite.





The Martian by Andy Weir - It's odd for me to include a Sci-Fi book on my list, but this one, although outside of my reading comfort zone, made me cheer and race to the finish.  It does have a bunch of technical stuff in it, but the determination of the American hero in this book is fun to follow.





Best Romantic Reads With Substance:
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - I loved the non-traditional romance set up in this book.  I raced through this one at the very beginning of fall.  Cheesy to say it, but I fell in love with the story which follows Don and his intriguing "Wife Project" and how he accidentally falls in love with Rosie.





One Plus One OR Me Before You by Jojo Moyes- I'm embarrassed to say that I had never heard of Jojo Moyes before I picked up her book One Plus One in the "Hot Picks" section of my library.  At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, but Moyes has a way of pulling you into her novels, making you stay there and emoting all over the place.









Best WWII Historical Fiction: 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer - Ummm.... this book was pretty much amazing.  The short chapters which alternate story lines will keep you reading even with the lyrical writing style.  The craft that Doer shows astounded me, and so did the characters, the plot and the complexities of another side of WWII that I didn't know existed.






The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - I didn't think I needed to read yet another WWII historical fiction novel, but Kristin Hannah proved me wrong.  I was breathless most of the time I read this book and I actually threw the book across the room because I got so upset while reading it.  It's fast paced, epic, romantic, and totally worth it.







Best Memoirs:

Brain On Fire by Susannah Cahalan - I gobbled this down in one day and just couldn't believe what I was reading at certain times.  It's crazy how much about the brain we really don't understand and seeing what can happen to a relatively healthy 20something was terrifying and fascinating all at once.







A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett - This book stressed me out so much that I got a headache reading it . . . because it's that amazing and that good.  I didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything but read my book.  It is a story of hope, to say the least, and survival and the will and determination that human beings have.







Best YA: 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - If you love any of the John Hughes movies you are bound to love this touching first love / coming of age story.  You can almost hear the soundtrack as you are reading the book which only makes it better.




We Were Liars by e. lockhart - It took me one day to finish this one, and after I finished it, I'm pretty sure my mouth was still hanging open in disbelief.  I picked my daughters up from school and they asked, "Are you okay, Mommy?" because I was still thinking about this book.






Thrillers: 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins- I did not love this book, but you will turn pages quickly and it's a great book for the beach.  If you've been looking for something to read and you loved Gone Girl, you will most likely enjoy this thriller, too which has more than it's fair share of crazy women.





The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison - I thought this thriller, while way less appreciated and touted than The Girl on the Train, was a way better read.  It has more psychological depth to it, and it will make your heart race often.




Happy summer reading everyone! If you have a book that you think should be on this list, pass it along.  I am always looking for great recommendations.

A Hundred Summers

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

I scoured the internet to find really great "beach read" books even though I am not technically going to the beach until September this year (a perk of no longer teaching . . . I can vacation in September!).  I wanted something on the lighter side, but still legit - like way better than Nicholas Sparks (way too many people die in his books and the story lines upset me, not to mention that his writing is a bit dull and predictable . . . sorry Nicholas Sparks fans) and way less intense than Khaled Hosseini (who I LOVE but can't really fly through because he develops his characters and crafts to dizzying proportions and I want to savor each word and digest his brilliance slowly).  I found some books that popped up again and again on Amazon.com's best of the summer beach read books, and then Oprah's best of the beach read book list.  I read book descriptions and created a few lists of books that I really wanted to try.  My short list: The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Dislafani, The Time Between by Karen White, The Interesting's by Meg Wolitzer, and The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly.  I also have a list of must read memoirs, but I will save that for another entry.  I decided to start my quest for summer beach reads with A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams mostly because it actually has a picture of a beach on the cover.  Okay, it's not the best reason to buy a book, but I also liked that the book takes place in the 1930s and depicts friendship and love and crazy relationships.

I don't know my exact feeling at the end of this book.  True to "beach read" promises of being able to turn and burn pages, I did that with this book.  I loved the almost too perfect main character Lily (also called Lilybird by her equally perfect beau Nick).  I loved the setting in the New England high society where image is everything.  I loved the way Williams developed her characters, and I felt like I did indeed know these people, but I didn't love this book.  I wanted to, I really did.  I know that I am sometimes a book snob, and I have been locked in a literary ivory tower for 15 years, but I like to think of myself as a literary omnivore able to switch into different genres with a single bound.  Even with my open mindedness and my quest for beach reads, I found that I didn't really care about the outcome of the characters in this book.  They were all too much of something.  Lily and Nick (who I rooted for despite their all too perfectness) were too good.  Budgie, I mean really . . . she was so evil that her bones were rotten.  And handsome Graham who was such a stereotype.  I think the ultimate revelation that I didn't love this book stemmed from my apathy in the storm.  I didn't care about it.  I was just turning pages to finish this book so I could move on to . . . something better.  I wanted Dynasty on the beach to be over.

It could be me, since the amazon reviews are really good for this book.  I will need to test my "beach read" adaptability.  Next up: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer and The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Dislafani.  Both of them take place in summer camps and I can't wait to revisit my own memories of camp life.