Reading With Robin: 2016 Summer Reading Series & Summer Giveaway

The Assistants by Camille Perri

The Assistants by Camille Perri is pretty tough to miss. With its bright red jacket and former “books-at-large editor” at Cosmopolitan magazine author, this book seems to be on everyone’s list, as it well should be. When Tina, the assistant, is presented with a sum of money due to a technical error with her boss’s expense report she has some thinking to do. There is the matter of her student loan to consider. What’s a girl to do?

June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is a book I had been looking forward to since Miranda mentioned it at a book club Skype session. We were there to talk about her then current novel, Bittersweet (loved!), and naturally the subject of her next book arose. June is a delicious romp through the generations of June’s family. This suspenseful story takes place in a small town where a big Hollywood movie set up shop in the 1950’s and was never to be the same again. The love story in the heart of the novel is one for the books.

Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam

The second debut in my line-up is Rumaan Alam’s Rich and Pretty. I began following Rumaan on Twitter after reading his novel and find him as funny and charming online (@Rumaan) as on the page. Hailed by favorite authors: Mira Jacob, Emma Straub and Courtney Sullivan, you will be entertained from page one. “Sarah talks too loud. It’s a problem.” Alam’s career in fashion and publishing in New York has always had him surrounded by women. It’s with the knowledge and awareness of what goes on with us women that he brings to life so vividly the friendship of Sarah and Lauren. And friendship is the essence of what this book is about; that, and women.

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel is a book I enjoyed one snowy afternoon and barely put it down. Set in the 1960s and 70s, it’s about a wealthy New England family who finds out at a Labor Day at their family home on Martha’s Vineyard that the family money has run out. Gasp! Fern and Edgar, married with three children, each react to the situation in different ways both of which end with the children unwittingly left alone in the house. There’s no place like home. Really?

The Invincible Summer by Alice Adams 

Debut #3 is Invincible Summer by Alice Adams. In this gorgeous novel the reader will travel, along with four college friends, from the college campus to London, the Greek islands and beyond. I love books about friends who meet in college, which is such a pivotal time. When done well this leads to rich storytelling, as is the case in Invincible Summer. I’m glad to read the author is busy writing her next novel. I can hardly wait!

By The Numbers by Jen Lancaster

Jen Lancaster’s By The Numbers just might be my favorite Lancaster book thus far and I’ve been a fan for many books dating back to Bitter is the New Black. With Jen’s dead-on sense of humor and always full of heart, this latest novel has at its center the major upheaval of the Sinclair family. And just when Penny Sinclair has things figured out, everyone returns to the family home and things don’t go according to Penny’s carefully laid out plan. Do they ever?

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams 

You had me at Beatriz Williams. I was first introduced to Williams’ novels when I picked up and could not put down A Hundred Summers several summers ago. The latest novel, A Certain Age is a stand-alone book (those that followed Summers were not) and has Williams’ well-honed look at an era gone by. The Jazz Age figures prominently in this delicious story, which takes the reader from Fifth Avenue to Southampton, Long Island. You can almost hear the music and feel the Sound’s breeze. (LI Sound, that is) Glamour, humor and gorgeous writing, A Certain Age is just that good. 

The After Party by Anton DiSclafani

The After Party by Anton DiSclafani with its brilliant emerald with pearls standout cover is such a joy I have been thrusting it into readers’ hands wherever possible. I do this sometimes, be warned. Set in the world of 1950’s Texan socialites, this story is about friendship. Joan and Cece have on the most complex friendships in recent fiction memory. The drama, tension, loyalty and drinks come full circle as their story unfolds. Pour yourself a tall one and ring for refills. You will not want to put this book down. 

Modern Lovers by Emma Straub

Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers was a book I was really looking forward to after loving The Vacationers so very much two summers ago. The hits just keep on coming and now Modern Lovers is my new Straub favorite. The three friends at the center of this novel meet in college and now all live in the place where all magic happens, Brooklyn. Elizabeth, Andrew and Zoe are turning 50. A time of reflection, passion, some regret and of course humor holding it all together. There is still the matter of the fourth and famous member of their band who died. Dealing with that brings up, well, you can just imagine. Loved it!

Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss

Molly Prentiss had me at 1980! In her debut novel, Tuesday Nights in 1980 we meet three characters who come together with seemingly little in common other than location- Soho circa early ‘80s. With comparisons to Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From The Good Squad this exquisite story blends art, community and the city’s landscape. I can only hope that the soundtrack is on its way.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Last but by no means least, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld. Whether you are a Jane Austen fan or not (and who isn’t?) this modern retelling of Pride And Prejudice with its clever, funny, and snappy dialogue is almost too good to be true. Wait until you meet this cast of characters. The Bennett family in Eligible lives in Cincinnati, which is both, maligned and celebrated in equal measure. This story has one of my favorite novel set-ups, adult children living together in the family home. And of course the love interests! For the Bennett sisters there is no shortage of men both eligible and not so eligible. Don’t be put off by its 500 pages, you must find out if he does, indeed, put a ring on it!