Summer is prime curling up with a good book season; hence, the importance of what book(s) makes your summer reading list 2020.
Reading evokes thought, enlightens the mind, enriches the soul, lifts the heart and takes one to treasured places and descriptive destinations in ways only the reader knows reading can.
My Summer Reading List 2020 is a delectable literary picnic packed for the beach, lake, pool, porch, patio or bespoke indoor alcove.
Up first on the list is I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman.
I Was Told It Would Get Easier – by Abbi Waxman
Mother and daughter Jessica and Emily Burnstein have a college tour trip planned. Jessica anticipates reconnecting on a “she’s not a little girl anymore” level with her daughter- a daughter in search of a way to become excited about her future.
Traveling together along the east coast, mother and daughter experience a shared journey in personal growth and special bonds made along the way.
Brunch and Other Obligations – by Suzanne Nugent
Brunch and Other Obligations by Suzanne Nugent details the fictional story of four ladies, friendship, loss, humor, understanding, and the things one learns over a standing monthly brunch date – a final request from one friend to three grieving frenemies who meet and master hard times, the art of patience, and the dynamics of the female friendship.
The Jane Austen Society – by Natalie Jenner
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner charms the reader with a story set in the English village of Chawton post World War II, also known as the final home of novelist Jane Austen.
A group of socially different but like-minded people undertake a united and powerful effort to preserve the home of Jane Austen and her legacy.
A shared love of works, timeless words, the bonds of war, and triumphs in wins come together to create the Jane Austen Society.
Summer Solstice – by Nina Maclaughlin
Summer Solstice by Nina Maclaughlin details the details of summer and the elements and activities only summer knows.
Lakes, oceans, and every pond between.
Ripe red tomatoes ready for the summer salad or sandwich.
The taste of the first hot dog hot off the grill.
The scent and the seen of fresh cut grass.
Opened windows.
Fireflies.
Stargazing.
Nina MacLaughlin’s essay is a season of sun and fun insight into summer pasts and the ones that lie ahead.
You Had Me at Hola – by Alexis Daria
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria reads like a summer sexy soap opera, and the reader is all atwitter for it.
This romantic, sultry, and smart story is set in the drama-filled world of telenovelas.
Jasmine Lin Rodriguez is the soap opera darling returning to New York City after a breakup to star in a bilingual romantic comedy. All is presumably well until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela heartthrob Ashton Suárez.
After a series of career killing circumstances, Ashton figures his new gig will give him the chance to win over American audiences and Hollywood casting agents. The on-screen chemistry with Jasmine has got to be as hot as summer, but leave it to a less than memorable first impression to squash the hope of any heat between the two of them jumping off the screen.
In a career move to benefit both, Jasmine and Ashton mutually agree to rehearse together in private. Private rehearsals lead to a private affair in true soap opera style.
The glare of the media spotlight is bright, and stands ready to discover and dish the dirt on these two telenovela stars.
Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?
The Vanishing Half – by Brit Bennett
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett promises to be a can’t put it down summer must read.
The story of the Vignes sisters, identical twins whose decision at age sixteen to runaway from the small, southern black community they called home, is a complex one.
From that time and moving forward, everything from their families, communities and racial identities is different.
One sister along with her black daughter lives in the very southern town at sixteen she tried to escape. The other sister secretly poses and passes for a white woman living with her white husband who knows nothing of her past.
Many miles and lies exist between them, and their fates continue to be intertwined.
Weaving together aspects of this family from generations past from the Deep South to California during the 1950s to the 1990s, this provocative story looks beyond issues of race to the lasting influence of the past and its influence on the personal decisions and wants, for reasons not easily recognized, people sometimes feel compelled to live as something or someone not of their origins.
The Florida Man by Tom Cooper centers around a 1980 timeline and a middle-aged beach bun named Reed Crowe.
Reed is living the Florida life on fictional Emerald Island on ill-gotten gains. When sink holes begin opening up on the Island, the seedy to the point of shambles motel and amusement park Reed owns as well as his secrets become endangered. In the midst of this predicament he puts into place his amateur spelunker skills. Soon he begins to uncover artifacts that connect the dots between his understanding and the island’s history as his family’s role as pioneering homesteaders.
Bringing more intrigue and to the mix is the company Reed has kept over the years.
Hector “Catface” Morales is a Cuban refugee, a trained assassin, and a crack-addicted Marielito who is after revenge on Reed for stealing his stash of drugs and then leaving him for dead (a detail unknown to Reed) in the wreckage of a plane crash in the Everglades decades ago.
Heidi Karavas, a globe-trekking art curator ex-wife, and Nina Arango, his current love, find their way into the state of confusion in the state of Florida.
