First order of business...Happy birthday Sister K! They tell me that when you made your debut twenty-seven years ago today, I was none too pleased to share my space with you. Lucky for us, that didn't last very long. How could it when, in the years the followed, you blazed the trail for me to follow, instead of the other way around? I got to dance at your wedding, and then you at mine. I watched as you chose a career you enjoy, moved to a brand new city that quickly became your own, made a house into a home, and gave us all a baby to lavish with our unique brand of attention and love. I am endlessly pleased and impossibly proud to be your big sister. Wishing you the happiest of happy days. Can't wait to celebrate in person. 10 days!
K's birthday always makes me feel like summer has officially begun. Maybe because when we were growing up her birthday parties were always held poolside. Maybe because the seemingly endless stream of graduations that overtakes Manhattan every spring has finally ceased. Maybe because the windows of my favorite stores are replete with the brightly-hued clothing that signals the season (maybe because I recently purchased various articles said clothing...neon yellow skirt anyone?). Or maybe because the five day forecast for NYC has temperatures soaring to the 90s. Whatever it is, there is no doubt about it; summer is here.
Since starting this blog a few months ago, I have spent a lot of time reading other people's blogs. There is a great big bloggy world out there, and it has been incredibly fun discovering it and "meeting" the creators of these brilliant cyber-spaces. One of the aforementioned brilliant cyber-spaces is Lindsey Mead's A Design So Vast. Lindsey is an amazing writer and thinker; head on over and check out her site if you have the chance.
Yesterday on her blog, Lindsey mentioned that summer seems synonymous with reading. And she is right. This is the season where we read by the pool, on the beach, at the park, and anywhere else where we can simultaneously soak up sunshine and stories. And even though I am a winter girl myself, I can't help but delight in the image of sitting outside in the summer sun, drink and book in hand. I plan to do quite a lot of that in the coming months.
So I have been preparing. Well, hoarding is more like it. I have been hoarding books to accompany me through the sizzling days of summer. And although my summer queue contains a pretty eclectic assortment of genres, in my opinion, there is no better summer companion than a romance novel. Because summer is one romantic season. Five years ago I had a summer romance. We strolled through our city, hand in hand, taking advantage of sunny days, and balmy nights. And that summer romance turned into a forever romance. You may recall that I even made it my mission one summer to amass Nora Roberts' entire collection to date, and succeeded. The fruits of that summer's labor are currently displayed, in all their glory, on (all of) the bookshelves in my apartment. When summer comes, romance abounds.
Also on her blog yesterday, Lindsey told us all what is on her summer reading list, and asked for others to post theirs as well. And some of the suggestions were brilliant, and made my already tall stack of summer reading even taller. So in a nod to her superbly delightful and interesting blog post yesterday, I decided to do some crowd sourcing of my own.
I have spent some time over the past few weeks making romance novel recommendations from my vast library. Don't worry, there are more to come. But today, I am interested in hearing what you are reading. Many readers of this blog are my romance-loving soul sisters, so I'd love to hear what romances are on your plate for the summer. If romance doesn't strike your fancy, I would love to hear what else you plan to read as the weather turns hot. To get you started, I'll tell you that number one on my list is Susan Elizabeth Phillip's long awaited The Great Escape, that hits bookstores in a few weeks.
Now jump to the comments, and lets share some book ideas. As an added bonus, because I'm serious about sharing books, leave your comment by Friday at 10am for the chance to win Birthright, one of my favorite Nora mysteries.
Happy summer reading!
Oh, I love posts like this!! As I mentioned in my post, I recently read Cheryl Strayed's WILD and adored it - just loved, loved, loved. People had told me I would and for some reason I resisted it and finally I read it and it was wonderful. I have a mix of memoir, fiction, and poetry on my "list" right now. In the middle of Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 which for some reason I had never read (though I love his work). Next up is some Wendell Berry poetry. xox
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I've been doing some catching up lately and my recommendations are a bit dated. Bear with me. Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna" was great (so is the Poisonwood Bible if by some miracle you haven't yet read it). Matterhorn is also good if you can stomach war books. Also, The White Tiger and My Antonia - not happy endings, exactly, but good reads. Anna Gavalda is a French author and her books (in translation, obviously) are very French-y but also very real and gritty...her novel Hunting and Gathering is great. And Wally Lamb's "I Know This Much is True" is really compelling, although again, not super happy. Sorry that everything I suggested is at least a few years old, but I have a fine appreciation for contemporary classics :)
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