These ten books with short summaries are all good reads, published over the past year or two. They’re light and riveting enough for the beach – just remember to reapply sunscreen! (Lately I’ve been critiquing book covers, so check out those too. Some books are just easier to illustrate than others.)
The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club – Martha Hall Kelly
Historical drama/family saga about two sisters struggling to keep the family farm going when American soldiers descend on the island for training exercises n 1942. The book club part seems incidental but it’s a nice story, with a bit of romance, but I love anything about Martha’s Vineyard.
Famous Last Words – Gillian McAllister
Psychological thriller. Riveting tale about a new mother’s search to find the truth when the police arrive at her door to tell her there is a hostage situation developing in London, and that her husband is the gunman.
Camino Ghosts – John Grisham
Captivating thriller/courtroom drama, about a resort development firm claiming ownership of an unoccupied island between Florida and Georgia, and the last living inhabitant, an elderly black woman, who stands who stands in their way. The island was owned by free slaves and the locals believe it to be cursed. I’ll read anything by John Grisham, but this was one of his better books. This is the latest of his Camino Island trilogy and the best, same characters, but it can be read as a stand alone, the first was about a murder during a hurricane.
The UnWedding – Ally Condie
Thriller/Mystery. A woman spends her 20th wedding anniversary alone at a fancy resort near Big Sur, after the unexpected break up of her marriage. There’s a wedding at the resort, and a big storm brewing, and complications occur when the groom is found dead floating in the pool on the morning of the wedding. This was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection.
Middle of the Night – Riley Sager
Thriller/Mystery – Thirty years later a man returns to the quiet neighbourhood where his best friend disappeared from their tent in his backyard in the middle of the night. I’ve never read anything by Riley Sager, but this was good and very suspenseful. Nominated for 2024 Goodreads Thriller of the Year
The Inheritance – Joanna Goodman
A mother-daughter family saga. A grieving 36 year old single mother with three children, deeply in debt after the death of her husband, receives a phone call from a New York lawyer offering a glimmer of hope between a life of poverty and wealth thanks to her unknown deceased billionaire father. The drama is in the legal fight for her inheritance. I didn’t like this protagonist initially, but the story grows on you, and the ending was quite good.
Pineapple Street – Jenny Jackson
Family saga. Contemporary fiction about three women in New York’s one percenters, and their families – love and class. If you ever wanted to read about how the rich live, it was surprisingly interesting, and I liked how she wrapped up the stories at the end. Nominee for Goodreads Readers 2023 favourite fiction.
Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano
Family saga. An “emotional, heart wrenching family drama’ about an Italian Catholic family of four sisters. Two sisters fall for the same man, causing the family to break apart for 25years. Hello Beautiful is the greeting the dad gives each of the daughters. I have to admit I shed a few tears at the end.
The Maid’s Secret – Nita Prose
Heartwarming mystery, the latest of the Molly the Maid series and the best yet. You can’t help root for Molly who is on the autism spectrum. She’s been promoted to head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, in charge of special events, but when a daring art heist takes place during the filming of an antique roadshow reality TV show, long buried secrets are revealed about her dead grandmother’s wealthy past. I really enjoyed the grandmother’s diary entries, and the ending – well – pass the Kleenex. My favorite yet of the three in the series, plus the Christmas novella.
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern – Lynda Cohen Loigman
Nominated for Goodreads Historical Fiction 2024. When I saw this one on the new releases list I was intrigued because as a retired pharmacist, I had never read a book where the main character was a pharmacist, so I liked it even before I opened a page. After turning 80, newly retired Augusta Stern relocates to a senior’s centre in southern Florida, where she unexpectedly crosses paths with her first love Irving, the delivery boy who broke her heart 60 years ago. Alternating between present day and 1920’s Brooklyn, Augusta attends pharmacy college (rare for a woman then) after her father’s sudden death and inherits his neighbourhood pharmacy. When her eccentric Great Aunt Esther moves in Augusta is drawn to her unconventional remedies, ranging from homemade chicken soup to a mysterious array of powders and potions, and she decides to experiment with a love potion for Irving with disastrous results. But is it ever too late for love?
What I liked about this book – the pharmaceutical accuracy and descriptions of a time when almost everything was compounded from scratch. The author acknowledges in the notes how she researched the remedies from old drug journals. The protagonist was based on a great aunt in the family who had been a pharmacist way back then. I liked Augusta’s independence, her spunk, and her dedication to her career, as it’s not an easy job to do. But what impressed me most was the love story part, (and you know I’m not a romance reader) as it’s the first novel I’ve read involving seniors which doesn’t portray them as a bunch of senile old people who are only concerned with their hearing aids, glasses, bowels, food and naps. Honestly, I’ve read enough of those British cozy mysteries set in retirement homes, as they seem so popular now, but the older people I know are not like that. So kudos to the author (whose father lived in a retirement home) for getting it right, both with the pharmacy stuff and what it’s like to be an active healthy senior today.
See a list of book club discussion books next week.
What are you reading this summer?
thehomeplaceweb 
Great reviews. The pharmacy story peaked my curiosity.
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Yea, it was different, and fun! I saw it on the Indigo new releases website, but I don’t think it got much PR. Let me know what you think if you decide to read it.
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Of these I’ve read Pineapple Street and enjoyed it, didn’t think it was the best book I’d ever read, but stuck with it. It was fun being a little nosy.
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It was different, but readable.
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Howdy. You do a lot of reading. Reading your reviews, I realized I’ve never read anything by Grisham, whose books have sold zillions of copies. I should remedy that.
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I don’t watch much tv. The one I mentioned in the Camino Island series is a bit different than most of his books which are usually mostly courtroom dramas of some kind. My bookclub read Sooley in February which was about an immigrant basketball player and it was different from his usual stuff too. But really any of his other 40 books would do to start. He’s not the best writer but he’s always a page turner.
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Several interesting titles here, Joni. I think I’ll give “The Unwedding” a try – thanks. I did read the Camino Island series and as you know, the characters and locale may have been the same but each of the stories were wildly different. I thought Camino Island was the best of the three, though Camino Ghosts was an interesting detour for Grisham as he delved into Florida history. Camino Winds was kind of a throwaway IMHO (or maybe I read it too close to Hurricane Helene’s passing through our neighborhood) 🙂
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You’re right, Camino Island was the first and it was better than Winds – I had them mixed up. I remember Winds being short on suspense/plot but good on description – but then I’ve never been in a hurricane! That must be a new experience for you? I think I enjoyed the Ghosts one the best, as I found the courtroom part very suspenseful, but yes it was a departure from his usual. And if you lived in California once? you might might enjoy the Unwedding.
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PS. My book club did Sooley last winter, and it was the only John Grisham book I had not read, and I had skipped it because I don’t care for basketball, but it was interesting, and lots to discuss.
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PS. I did find Middle of the Night very good too, if you’ve ever slept in a tent in your backyard when you were a kid and been scared even if you are 20 feet from your door! It was suspenseful and kind of spooky – with a male protagonist who moves back home, lots of twists to the story. Otherwise I’ve never read any of Riley Sager.
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Appreciate these recommendations, Joni. The Grisham sounds good. I noticed “family drama” appears a lot. 🙂 Is there an undramatic family on the planet?
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Thanks Eilene! Not in my experience!
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Wow, you have been busy reading Joni. You’ve put the heat and humidity and spending more time indoors, plus the rain (to eliminate hours of watering your garden) to good use.
I used to always read John Grisham books, either from the library or I exchanged books with a woman at work who belonged to a book subscription club, but I have not read him in many years now. I do sign up on Goodreads every time one of his novels is in a giveaway, but I’ve not won anything yet (his or any other author’s book).
As to beach reads, it was you who got me to read the first beach read you wrote about after I followed you which was “The Summer of ’69” by Elin Hilderbrand, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well we were both from that era as teenagers. I bought all her books since then which I didn’t like as much, including her last book before she retired, “Swan Song”. I just read somewhere that her retirement did not last long as she is co-authoring a book with her daughter.
I could never keep up with you reading-wise Joni, although I may have a chance to get more books read now that the howling, whining dog next door died. The first few days after it was 100% quiet during the day I read “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. I bought it a while ago in paperback and really enjoyed it. I watched the movie on Amazon a few days after I finished it. I’m still reading “Spare” by Prince Harry, which you told me you read too. I liked the beginning part, but just did a cursory read of the military service portions which I found a bit boring. I am just at the point where he met Meghan Markle.
I did like this selection and how fun that you found a book that was about a pharmacist, just like yourself.
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Those books are from over the past year Linda, not just this summer. The Librarian wanted us to submit our past years best reads, so I typed up ten beach type books (light and fluffy which is what most of the book club members seem to like, and for next week (book club discussion books). I type really fast 80wpm so it doesn’t take me long to make a list. I just used the publisher’s blurb. I read about a book a week, or 50 or so a year, but then I don’t watch much tv. Mostly I just read an hour or two before bed. I could never get into the Crawdads book, did not get past the first 30 pages, Just not my thing. I found Harry interesting from a psych POV, even the military stuff, as he had such total self-centredness and unawareness of the people who got tragically killed because he insisted on doing a tour of duty when he was warned not to. No regrets at all….about anything really….a total victim mentality there. I do miss Elin Hilderbrand, and though Swan Song one of her best yet.
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That’s a lot of books Joni. I was an avid reader when I took the bus. I was on the bus an hour a day and then I usually read on my lunch hour unless I had errands to run. I couldn’t usually read at night, or in bed, because I would fall asleep almost instantly. The dialect was a bit tough in the Crawdads book, but it improved later when she could read and write and speak better. I don’t know why they would have allowed him to have a tour of duty, once he was pulled out the first time – “just because he wanted it” did not make sense and yes he would have endangered others. I am glad I’m done with that portion of the book and moved on to the final part. The print is so tiny, I had to put it down after a while as it gave me eyestrain. I was happy you wrote about “The Summer of ’69” – it turned out to be my favorite. I did not care for the ghost in the hotel book – perhaps I am confusing it with “Swan Song”.
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I think that one with the ghost was Hotel Nantucket. Swan song was kind of a wrap up finale of previous books with previous characters, but it really was her Swan Song. The one she is writing with her daughter The Academy from what I’ve heard about it is Young Adult fiction set at a boarding school. She probably wants to get her daughter’s career launched. It must be tiring having to crank out a book every year, so I don’t blame her for wanting to retire and enjoy life. She must have written 40 books over the years.
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That’s a lot of books – 40 over the years and the story I read about her co-writing this book with her daughter mentioned her battle with cancer, then with the surgery’s complications and she still fulfilled her book contract obligations. Yes, that was the book “Hotel Nantucket” and the ghost storyline. That was the one I didn’t care for – not “Swan Song” where their police chief had the heart attack and the mysterious bartender girl/couple/fire was the storyline.
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He died at the end but it was kind of a perfect ending as his last thoughts were of Nantucket.
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I forgot that he died in the end. You have better recall that I do of these books. I liked his character in the book. Once I sorted out who was who in the zoo on the Island, I liked the books more.
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I thoroughly enjoy reading your book reviews and wish I had time to respond to this delightful post more fully. My granddaughter is keeping me very busy – I am going to miss her very much wen she returns to Norway next week. I will get back into reading more then 🙂
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Thanks Anne. I will be posting a list of book club discussion books next week, which you may enjoy when your company leaves! We were to write out a list of our favorite books from the past year, so it didn’t take much for my lists to morph into a blog post!
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The Grisham and Sager books sound appealing to me, I’ll have to add them to my list. Reading on a beach chair under an umbrella is a lovely way to spend time!
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Thanks for the recommendations. I will have to write them down and carry the list when I hit up used book sales.
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I order from my local library, you can go online and make a reservation for whatever book you want, and they will send you an email when it comes in or is available from another branch. They send it to the branch closest to you. I couldn’t buy books for the volume I read in a year! Although I do like to browse used book sales, I find I’ve often read a lot of the popular authors I like.
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That’s a good idea, Joni. Not sure why I have never used the library. I guess I was worried I would not read the books quick enough. I do read a lot more now than I used to. Now most of the books I read come from used book sales ($2.00 a bag at the library sale) or my sisters share the books they have read.
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You can have them out for 3 weeks at our library, and renew it online if there is no one else on the waiting list. I find it very convenient. I also rent DVD’s from them as I still have a DVD player and the only streaming service I have is Netflix. The library also has audio and Kindle/electronic books, which have become way more popular, esp the audio ones. I personally can’t listen to a book while I am driving or doing something else, but some people must be able to! Reading time for me is just before bed or sometimes sitting outside.
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Oops! I was having trouble commenting, and I seem to have added mine to the next post, which I haven’t yet read!
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It’s okay Annie – I linked them. Hope you find something you like to read!
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