Summer Reading

It's that beach bag time of year. What are you tossing into yours? How does your reading list match up to Oprah's top pix? I took a looksie at a few of O Magazine's recommendations by finding them on Amazon and clicking on the Surprise Me preview for each book (which basically gives you a few random pages of the novel to read.) Here are the first 5 on a list of 42 . . .


Bennington Girls Are Easy by Charlotte Silver

Blurb: A ruefully funny coming-of-age novel that follows two recent Bennington grads who are determined to make it in the Big Apple.

Surprise Me: I read about some girl washing her lingerie, was cranky about not having hummus, and dropped an F-bomb

Would I buy it? Nope.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Blurb: What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Surprise Me: There wasn't any surprises because this book doesn't release until August 4th.

Would I buy it? Possibly. The back cover copy sounded interesting, but I'd like to sneak a peek at the surprise section first.

Stalin's Daughter by Rosemary Sullivan

Blurb: A revelatory biography of Svetlana Stalin, a woman fated to live her life in the shadow of one of history’s most monstrous dictators—her father, Josef Stalin.

Surprise Me: No sex, swearing or violence, just a lot of meh.

Would I buy it? No. Boring. Not the actual history, mind you. I just wasn't pulled in by the writing style. It was fine, but not spectacular.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Blurb: A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.

Surprise Me: Kind of read like a grocery list. This happened, then that happened, yada, yada.

Would I buy it? Unh-unh. It didn't grab me by the throat and give me a little shake.

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

Blurb: A wonderful novel about friendship, love, travel, life, hope, poetry, intelligence, and the inner lives of girls.

Surprise Me: Loved the preview. The writing was excellent. My only bugaboo is that I could only see the first few pages, not in the middle. I'm wondering how explicit it gets, but I don't know.

Would I buy it? Perhaps. The first few pages were snappy and creative.

There you have the top 5 Oprah pix. Interested?