Are you looking for some good reads this summer? Sarah and I welcomed KJ Dell’Antonia back to the Best of Both Worlds podcast this week. KJ is the author of The Chicken Sisters, a novel about two competing chicken restaurants and a reality TV show, that is appearing on several best-of-summer lists. But she also wanted to tell us about some other great novels! In case you are driving and can’t jot these titles down…
Beach Books
Brunch and Other Obligations, by Suzanne Nugent
I was Told it would Get Easier, by Abby Waxman
Musical Chairs, by Amy Poeppel
Beach Read, by Emily Henry
Happy and You Know It, by Laura Hankin
Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes, by Kathleen West
Last Tang Standing, by Lauren Ho
Beach Historical
The Jane Austen Society, by Natalie Jenner
Beach Tearjerker
You & Me & Us, by Allison Hammer
Classic Beach secret-in-our-past
East Coast Girls, by Kerry Kletter
Literary
MotherLand, by Leah Franqui
Empire of Wild, by Cherie Dimaline
Writers and Lovers, by Lily King
The All Night Sun, by Diane Zinna
Historical Mystery
The Body in the Garden, by Katharine Schellman
Travel Thriller
The Mountains Wild, by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Vampires!
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Vampire Slaying, by Grady Hendrix
Thrillers
All the Broken People, by Leah Konen
The Lady Upstairs, by Hailey Sutton
Nonfiction
Life is in the Transitions, Bruce Feiler
The Paper Solution, Lisa Woodruff
Here’s to some happy summer reading!
As a librarian I have access to pre-pub titles and was lucky enough to read Beach Read by Emily Henry. I wanted to clarify the plot description as KJ incorrectly stated some key elements. The story is about a romance author and a literary fiction writer, who knew each other in college, and find themselves living next door to each other. They are each suffering writer’s block so challenge each other to WRITE in their genre (ie the romance writer will pen a literary fiction novel and the literary fiction author will write a romance). KJ stated they would spend the summer READING in the other’s genre. This is a contemporary, open door romance with well-developed characters and clever references to other books.
I’d also second her recommendation of Happy & You Know It. I found this to be a fast paced look at society moms and the musician they hire for play group. It’s a bit of a coming of age story with a good twist at the end. It’s also told from multiple viewpoints, which some people like and some people don’t.
Hi Laura,
I find a lot of value in your books. Do you have a list of other time management books that you also recommend?
Thanks,
Angela