Perhaps one of the greatest pleasures of summer is lying on a beach or in the grass reading a good book (Kindle, Nook, Tablet, iPad, whatever) that is neither work-related nor serious, diving into stories, falling in love with new or old characters to the satisfying end. Here's my list of a few books I love and those I hope to read this summer.
If you love Downtown Abbey (I'm still in mourning for Lady Sybil) creator Simon Fellow's first novel, Snobs is good fun. I haven't read his first book Past Imperfect"but I have added it to my list. I am a latecomer to the Jo Nesbo fan club but after reading Headhunters, I am a super fan. The Craigslist Murders is wickedly funny as a beautiful interior designer channels her rage for her very wealthy clients.
The Insatiable Critic by food critic Gael Greene is a sensual memoir of her journey to food critic and her founding work with City Meals on Wheels. At a cocktail party I asked Gael if a movie was made of her book which actress would she like to play her. "Uma Thurman, I sent her my book," she said. Uma, what are you waiting for? I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti is another foodie memoir that is funny as it is delicious. I usually avoid model/actor/realty show "authors" (if I suspect their ghostwritten) but Paulina Porizkova's Model Summer is a fascinating and gritty model coming of age story. If you read the New Miss India, you'll become fascinated with call center operators and the rising Indian technology scene pitted against old world values.
I have read the stunning Susan Fales Hill's memoir of her mother and Broadway star Josephine Premice so I am looking forward to reading her novel, Imperfect Bliss. Books that made me LMAO are Why My Third Husband Will be a Dog and The Broke Diaries.
I going to reread a book that is like an old girlfriend, Jacqueline Susan's Valley of The Dolls. Now with the e-book revolution many authors self publish, I am going to download B.M. Hardin's Can You Stay for Breakfast? because the plot intriques me. Another writer I have grown fond of Kathleen Tessaro, who's first novel Elegance laced with inspiration from the fashionista's bible, Genevieve Antoine Dariux's Elegance was clever and a good read. Ms. Tessaro's latest book is The Perfume Collector.
Naturally I loved Cathleen Schine's The New Yorkers but I can't resist The Love Letter. Though I usually refrain from any form of self-improvement during the summer, Julia Cameron's The Artist Way stimulates my creative flow. I adore everything Paul Rudnick (plays, films). I have read Social Disease but somehow I missed The Naked Eye so I added it to my cue. I loved Libby Gellman-Waxner's Première magazine critiques. I wish she were a sitcom or TV movie starring Megan Mullally or Fran Dresher. If you ask me.