BookLovers, Summer Reading Season is upon us.
You supply the lemonade. I’ll supply the book suggestions. I’ll do this in a few installments, scattered throughout the summer, as part of my BookLovers Summer Reading Series. #DaleysPicks. We’ll kick it off today. Whether you’re headed to Horseneck, Round Hill, or your backyard: take these 5 books with you.
1. You might remember I loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “Daisy Jones & the Six,” naming it one of my best of ’19 picks — and you haven’t read that one yet, read it. Wildly good. Reid has done it again with “Malibu Rising” — another period novel, with rock stars, this one taking place in 1983 California. The Riva siblings, kids of a famed rock star, throw an epic party at their mansion. It will burn down by the end of the night. That’s all you need to know. #Mustread.
2. Alex Michaelides has done it again. Going by SouthCoast Century Clubbers lists, we all loved “The Silent Patient.” Michaelides returns with another page-turning mystery/thriller with “The Maidens.” From the publisher’s synopsis, Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike―particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.
Mariana is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one is found murdered. She becomes convinced that Fosca did it. But why? When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control…
3. “The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris.
SouthCoast book clubs: this is your next read. A timely story and outstanding debut from a new talent. It’s a fun thriller, but also, there’s so much to unpack here. According to the publisher’s synopsis:
Nella Rogers, 26, is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. So the editorial assistant is thrilled when Hazel joins the company…. But then notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: “Leave Wagner. Now.”
It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career…
4. In non-fiction, “Somebody’s Daughter,” by Ashley C. Ford is a gripping memoir, and a heart-wrenching tale to read before Fathers’ Day. According to the publisher’s synopsis:
Ashley has put her dad on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he’s the only person in the entire world who understands her. He’s sensitive like her, an artist. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there.
Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison….And that’s where the story really begins.
5. “The Chosen and the Beautiful,” by Nghi Vo
Amazing. Vo reimagines “The Great Gatsby” with gay Asian characters and it’s brilliant. According to the publisher’s synopsis:
Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.
Now get out there and start reading. I’ll see you on the beach, BookLovers.
Lauren Daley is a freelance writer and columnist. Contact her at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/daley.writer She tweets @laurendaley1.
