The weather is getting warmer, eventually, we all hope, and with that comes summer vacations, beach parties, and of course summer reading. These are five of my favorite books, ones I could read over and over again and would recommend to my closest friends.
1. Lisa Unger’s “Black Out”
I’ll start with my favorite, Lisa Unger’s “Black Out.” This is the book that introduced me to this wonderful author. I found “Black Out” at a garage sale a few years ago and just had to pick it up after I read the blurb on the back; “On the surface, Annie Powers' life in a wealthy Florida suburb with her husband, Gray, and her daughter, Victory, is happy and idyllic.
But that all changes when Annie sense that the demons of her previous life have resurfaced, and to her horror, are now creeping up on her.” Doesn't that sound interesting? What sold me though was the first line of the book. “Today something interesting happened. I died. How awful, they’ll say. How tragic. And she was so young, with everything ahead of her.”
Well, now I knew I had to read it. Unger paints a realistic picture of a young mom, who wants to lead a normal life. We learn as the story goes on that she had a less than usual past, and that she is running away some pretty shady characters. In the end, the twists and turns will keep you late at night as you try to read just one more page.
2. Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s “The Wife Between Us”
I was given “The Wife Between Us” as an advanced copy to read and review by St. Martins’ Press. It was the first book I received in such a manner, and I’ll admit that it took me awhile to get into it. That being said once I did start I absolutely couldn’t put it down. “The Wife Between Us” is about a young woman who is engaged, and the older woman who is scorned, and the man that connects the two.
What I loved about this book is the fantastic twist at the end of part 1. I’ll be the first to admit that I like to predict how things will go. I love to guess as I read or watch a television program and most of the time I am right. This particular twist though shocked me; it is what made me keep reading, up until that point I was reading it just to provide the review. But when I reached that twist, I knew I couldn’t put it down, and it turned out to be one of the best books I’ve ever read.
3. Phillipa Gregory’s “The White Queen”
Gregory is a master story-teller. She crafts historical fiction, unlike any author I’ve ever read before. But what I find amazing about Gregory’s work is that you do not have to be a fan of historical fiction to enjoy her writing. “The White Queen” is a prime example of how you can become engrossed in her writing without being a fan of the genre.
In it, Gregory tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville and the war of the Plantagenets. However, it is a love story, and the reader could easily enjoy it if they merely like reading love stories. It is also a story of fierce battles. What it isn’t is dry. It doesn't come across as a history lesson.
4. Gin Phillips “Fierce Kingdom”
“Fierce Kingdom” was such a fantastic book that I told my good friend she had to read it. Joan and her four-year-old son are visiting the Zoo, a thing that they did all the time. It is closing time, and as she begins to leave she realizes that there is something wrong, so she grabs her son and heads back to the Zoo. It involved an active shooter situation and given today’s climate that might not be something that everyone wants to read.
But for the realism of that sort of situation Gin Phillips gets it. She paints a vivid picture of what it is like to be in such a situation. Gives a realistic view of who would do it and why they would do it. She also paints a realistic picture in Joan as she describes someone that we can all relate to. In Joan, I saw myself. In her son I could picture my four-year-old and each choice she made I honestly said, would I do the same. I think if you read it, you will be doing the same thing.
5. Tami Hoag’s "Deeper Than Dead"
As you can imagine from reading this, I am a fan of thriller books, and Hoag never disappoints. In “Deeper Than Dead” she brings us back to a different time. The mid-80s, before cell phones, internet, and 24-hour news. To a time when things were a lot different. I honestly don’t remember the 80’s being born in them. But I can tell you that she makes it seem real.
You can remember that things weren’t always this fast-paced. She also talks about the early days of Forensic investigation and a lot of what we take for granted today when it comes to finding a killer. “Deeper Than Dead” rounds out my five picks for the summer.
