I’ll be honest, I spend a hefty amount of money on books. I blame Amazon for making it so easy to pick a few and have them at my doorstep in two days. I love diving into a good psychological thriller, and as of late, I’ve been trying to fit in more non-fiction and books where no one is kidnapped or killed. What can I say, I have a type! Here’s a list of my recent favorites from a variety of genres, all great for reading on the beach, at the pool or in-flight.
The Immortalists
Chloe Benjamin
Have you ever read a book where you force yourself to stop reading it at times so it can last longer? That was me reading The Immoralists. I’d stop myself after each section, and wait a few days before diving back in. I could have easily read the entire thing in one sitting, but I appreciated the slow pace to really enjoy it.
If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present?
It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.
Their prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in ’80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11, hoping to control fate; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.
The Woman in the Window
A.J. Finn
One of my favorite novels is Gone Girl, or really anything by Gillian Flynn. After being disappointed with The Girl on the Train, I was nervous The Woman in the Window would let me down as well. I ended up loving it and read it in one day by the pool.
It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .
Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.
What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.
The Oracle Year
Charles Soule
My most recent read, The Oracle Year, was an easy page-turner with an excellent premise—a man who wakes up with the knowledge of future events. As I mentioned, I have a type, and while the majority of books I read are by female writers, I really enjoyed Soule’s storytelling (he’s known for his Marvel comics) and it reminded me of Dark Matter, a book I tore through last summer.
Knowledge is power. So when an unassuming Manhattan bassist named Will Dando awakens from a dream one morning with 108 predictions about the future in his head, he rapidly finds himself the most powerful man in the world. Protecting his anonymity by calling himself the Oracle, he sets up a heavily guarded Web site with the help of his friend Hamza to selectively announce his revelations. In no time, global corporations are offering him millions for exclusive access, eager to profit from his prophecies.
He’s also making a lot of high-powered enemies, from the President of the United States and a nationally prominent televangelist to a warlord with a nuclear missile and an assassin grandmother. Legions of cyber spies are unleashed to hack the Site—as it’s come to be called—and the best manhunters money can buy are deployed not only to unmask the Oracle but to take him out of the game entirely. With only a handful of people he can trust—including a beautiful journalist—it’s all Will can do to simply survive, elude exposure, and protect those he loves long enough to use his knowledge to save the world.
Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert
In an attempt to switch up my reading habits, I grabbed this book after it popped up on my Instagram from multiple bloggers. I was hoping it would inspire some creativity in my work, but it actually inspired me to start this blog! An excellent read if you’ve ever had a small creative idea that you’ve wanted to explore further, but are nervous to take the leap.
Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.
It Ends With Us
Colleen Hoover
Do you enjoy crying while watching a movie on a plane? Do you enjoy crying behind your sunglasses at the pool while engrossed in a book? Then this book is for you. While it’s not new by any means, it’s an incredible, emotional story that had me thinking weeks after I read it. I brought it on our recent Cabo girls trip, and all four of us had read it by the end of the week.
Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
The Breakdown
B.A. Paris
After reading B.A. Paris’s previous novel, Behind Closed Doors, I knew I’d enjoy reading this one. A great psychological thriller goes great by the pool with a margarita in hand.
If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?
Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods. It was on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, and a woman was sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm, and she probably would have been hurt herself if she’d stopped. Not only that, her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home.
But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing. Where she left the car; if she took her pills; even the alarm code.
The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.
And the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…
I most recently placed another Amazon order with a ton of pre-orders from a couple of my favorite chic-lit authors, Emily Giffin and Lauren Weisberg and couldn’t resist picking up Marriage Vacation, which is based off a storyline from the TV show, Younger.
So, here’s my official summer reading list:
- All We Ever Wanted – Emily Giffin
- The Glitch – Elisabeth Cohen
- Marriage Vacation – Pauline Brooks
- When Life Gives You Lululemons – Lauren Weisberger
- Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World – Adam Grant
- How to Get Shit Done – Erin Falconer
- The Favorite Sister – Jessica Knoll
- Grist Mill Road – Christopher Yates
- Between Me and You – Allison Winn Scotch
- The Wedding Date – Jasmine Guillory
Someone please hold me accountable to read all of these, as I am horrible at letting books stack up while continuing to order/purchase more. What are your favorite recent reads and what are you planning to read this summer?