Summer Reading

The ironic thing about running a bookstore in the Hamptons in the summer while working part-time as a librarian, is that there is almost no time to read. I review catalogs and read reviews and order books, but the time to sit down and read is almost non-existent.

You might be amazed at the sneaky ways I find to read. There is a book in my car for the line at the automatic teller machine (and the occasional long red light). There is a book in the kitchen and my cooking truly reflects my love of fiction. There are books in each room, just in case I can grab and extra minute or two.

My summer reading this year reflects the quirky nature of my reading life. The following books are both wonderful and just a bit odd:

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry was released a few years ago and being re-released this July. It is a tale of twins and madness and religious zealots and love. It takes place in Salem and tells the of a generation of women who can tell fortunes by reading pieces of lace. It twists and turns and surprises you up to the end.

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos is another kind of story. It is the story of a small neighborhood and friendship and a marriage. It is a story of first impressions and how they can change. This book continues the story that de los Santos started in Love Walked In and she takes her characters on an interesting and very human journey.

How to describe The Monsters of Templeton? Well there is a monster and it is partially a historical novel and it is also a contemporary story of a historian hiding out in her hometown after trying to run down her married lover's wife with a bush plane in Alaska. Oh yes, the town is a thinly disguised Cooperstown, so the Baseball Hall of Fame also plays a bit part. Actually, I really cannot describe this book. I really liked it and I hope you do too.

I absolutely love Georgia Nicolson. I know these books are for teenagers but I just don't care. I love her slang and her outlandish ideas and her many friends. I even like her enemies (no one can be more nasty than Wet Lindsey). Stop in the Name of Pants is the latest in the saga, so if you haven't read Louise Rennison before you must start with Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging. I dare you to try to stop at just one book.