Summer Reading Update

So...whatcha readin' these days? I posted an abbreviated Summer Reading List back in May, and I am pleased to say that I added several more over the summer. You won't see anything too scholarly on my book list these days. At the end of the day, I'm looking for something to help me wind down and mentally escape the craziness.

Here are a few things I've enjoyed:

Kathryn Stockett's The Help

Everyone is hopping on board the bandwagon since the film premiered last week. I'm going on a moms' night out this Saturday to see the movie, so I made sure that The Help was one of my first reads during Beach Week. Alternately heart breaking and hilarious, I finished The Help in less than a day-- a true page-turner. If you're unfamiliar with the story, it's set in 1960s Mississippi and follows a college graduate as she sheds light on the social barrier between black and white women.


Mary Kay Andrews' Summer Rental

If I had to choose one word to describe Andrews' work, it would be "delightful." Nobody writes a heroine the way Mary Kay Andrews does. I love the way she gives her female characters some spunk along with little quirks. Summer Rental is the story of three girl friends who decide to share a Nagshead cottage together for the summer. They make a few unlikely friends during their stay, and Andrews' effortlessly weaves her fabulous sense of style into the story.

Elin Hilderbrand's The Island

Thanks to Paula, I got to enjoy another beach read this week! Hilderbrand is a new-to-me author, and apparently, much of her work is set on Nantucket. The Island is a bit darker than some of the other books on my list, but I love the fact that the author focuses on women and relationships, particularly mothers and daughters. She writes the sisterly tension between Tate and Chess so well...I wondered if she was a fly on the wall during the high school years my sister and I endured together.

Bodie and Brock Thoene's In My Father's House

If you like historical fiction, you will love In My Father's House, the first of The Shiloh Legacy series by the husband and wife writing team. It's been quite a few years since I first read anything by the Thoenes, so I decided to start the whole series over again from the beginning. This novel follows three friends as they finish their service in the First World War and head home. Drama, suspense, and romance...the Thoenes write books that will swallow you until you turn that last page!

I finally started Karen Ehman's A Life That Says Welcome, and I'll let you know how it goes!

Lately, Natalie is loving the Junie B. Jones books. We read a chapter (or three) while Michaela Byrd takes her nap. Both girls are enjoying The Magic Tree House series on tape from the library. It's amazing how quiet the car is when they are listening! And, we have read Dog Goes to Nursery School (except, I say "preschool" when I read it) about a thousand times to get Michaela Byrd excited about starting preschool next month.

Anything good on your reading list this summer?