Good Reads....

 a week at the beach meant a lot of reading..so what did I tackle as I sat sunning myself looking at the beautiful ocean in front of me?? Here's a snap shot of some of the books I've enjoyed this summer while on vacation!

Faking It by Elisa Lorello. This caught my eye because it has a tie to southern New England and it came up in my Amazon you read lots of chick-lit stuff suggestion list. I love the hint of New England and places that are mentioned. In a nutshell it's about a thirtysomething year old up tight writing professor who has her engagement called off, moves back near her hometown for work and an unlikely friendship with a male escort begins. I did enjoy this book. Was it the best thing I've read all summer, probably not, but the strange friendship between these two very different characters kept my interest peaked and it was a great book for the beach!

BossyPants by Tina Fey. So good. So funny. My friends who came to Martha's Vineyard are probably so sick of hearing me talk about the new term I learned from reading this hilarious book....crotch biscuits. A quick read that will surely entertain!

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan. I read this author's first book, Commencement, and really really enjoyed it. Mostly because I went to school up in Western, MA, where the book was set and enjoyed the references to the 5 college area in and around Amherst and Northampton, MA. But....what I really love about both of Sullivan's books are the characters. She does an excellent job of creating these believable, likable characters...the ones where you keep reading because you feel like you know them and want to see how their stories pan out. Maine is about a family with many different colorful characters and what connects them all...the family home on the water in Maine. I enjoyed this book as much as I did with her novel, Commencement.

The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain. Let me just say, my dad is a history buff. I am not. If novels rehash historical events I usually roll my eyes and start skimming. A couple months ago I was talking to my dad on the phone. He was going on and on about this excellent book he read about World War II and a bombing of a plane and this fantastic survival story. In my head, I was thinking...totally not my cup of tea. A week later I was browsing on Amazon.com looking for some books and saw rave reviews about this story of a fighter plane that was shot down during World War II. I bought it, read it, and then thought..is this the book my dad mentioned that I so easily dismissed? Yes, indeed it was. That book was Unbroken by Lauren Hildebrand. You might be asking yourself..what does this have to do with the book pictured above called the Paris Wife? Well, when I started to read what this book was about...a novel about Hadley Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's wife, set during the period where he wrote some of his greatest novels...that same history..ewww...not my thing thought came into my little narrow mind again. So, I decided to give it a shot and really really enjoyed this book. I love the era...the 1920's...and that the book is written from Hadley Hemingway's point of view. It might not sound like something you may typically read...but surprise yourself!