In preparation for our upcoming trip to the beach, one huge priority is selecting the books to take along. Much thought goes into choosing the perfect books, because while I know I won't read every one, I will need a varied selection {I'm such a mood reader!}. I also know that vacation will bring lots of building sandcastles with my 2 grandsons {age 3 and step-grandson, age 7}; playing board games with my grown kids and making endless amounts of food {though we all take turns, most of the time}! My two oldest are readers as well so I have to bring enough for us three to share! Oh the woes of the reader! 😉
I'm beyond excited for five days of uninterrupted family time! Unfortunately, my sweetheart has to stay behind to work so this time around will be focused solely on my kids and grandkids. The icing on the vacation cake is that my mom & step-dad arrive on our last day so we will get a bit of 3-generation vacationing! We were all so blessed when my aunt and uncle purchased a condo at the beach to share amongst family. But we will get the chance to return the favor in the Fall when my aunt and uncle stay in our little-cabin-in-the-woods. Do you have extended family you vacation with or trade houses with on occasion? The books I've packed so far include
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Paris Wife, takes readers into the glamorous and decadent circle of British expats living in Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun tells the story of the beautiful young horse trainer, adventurer, and aviator Beryl Markham, from her childhood in British East Africa to her relationship with hunter Denys Finch Hatton and rivalry with Out of Africa author Karen Blixen-a notorious love triangle that changed the course of Beryl's life.
The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
Evoking the same small town charm with the same great eye for character, the co-author of Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society finds her own voice in this debut novel about a young debutante working for the Federal Writer's Project whose arrival in Macedonia, West Virginia changes the course of history for a prominent family who has been sitting on a secret for decades. The Romeyn family is a fixture in the town, their identity tied to its knotty history. Layla enters their lives and lights a match to the family veneer and a truth comes to light that will change each of their lives forever.
Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
Constance Kopp doesn't quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family - and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared. "A smart, romping adventure, featuring some of the most memorable and powerful female characters I've seen in print for a long time. I loved every page as I followed the Kopp sisters through a too-good-to-be-true (but mostly true!) tale of violence, courage, stubbornness, and resourcefulness." - Elizabeth Gilbert
The Ambassador's Wife by Jennifer Steil
When bohemian artist Miranda falls in love with Finn, the British ambassador to an Arab country, she finds herself thrust into a life for which she has no preparation. The couple and their toddler daughter live in a stately mansion with a staff to meet their every need, but for Miranda even this luxury comes at a price: the loss of freedom. Trailed everywhere by bodyguards to protect her from the dangers of a country wracked by civil war and forced to give up work she loves, she finds her world shattered when she is taken hostage, an act of terror with wide-reaching consequences.
Diplomatic life is a far cry from Miranda's first years in Mazrooq, which were spent painting and mentoring a group of young Muslim women, teaching them to draw in ways forbidden in their culture. As the novel weaves together past and present, we come to see how Finn and Miranda's idealism and secrets they have each sought to hide have placed them and those who trust them in peril. And when Miranda grows close to a child who shares her captivity, it is not clear that even being set free would restore the simple happiness that once was hers and Finn's. Suspenseful and moving, The Ambassador's Wife is a story of love, marriage, and friendship tested by impossible choices.
The Drowning by Camilla Lackberg
Christian Thydell's dream has come true: his debut novel, The Mermaid, is published to rave reviews. So why is he as distant and unhappy as ever?
When crime writer Erica Falck, who discovered Christian's talents, learns he has been receiving anonymous threats, she investigates not just the messages but also the author's mysterious past...
Meanwhile, one of Christian's closest friends is missing. Erica's husband, Detective Patrik Hedström, has his worst suspicions confirmed as the mind-games aimed at Christian and those around him become a disturbing reality.
But, with the victims themselves concealing evidence, the investigation is going nowhere. Is their silence driven by fear or guilt? And what is the secret they would rather die to protect than live to see revealed?
International bestseller Camilla Läckberg delivers a chilling and suspenseful mystery that will grip the reader right until its staggering final twist...
What books are YOU reading this week?
To participate in It's Monday What Are You Reading or to see what other bloggers have on their reading agendas, please visit Sheila's blog at Book Journey.
xoxo,
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