My LINKcat AccountThe summer beach books, or beach reads are beginning to arrive. It’s almost as if the publishing world knew that we would be experience hot, summer like weather these past week or so. With high temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s it seems that summer has arrived, even though the 1st day of summer has not. Summer won’t officially (or astronomically) arrive until Wednesday, June 21st at 9:57 a.m. Thanks to the publishing calendar, however, you don’t have to wait until then to get your hands on some of the books that are perfect for reading at the beach. “What makes a book a “beach read”?”, I hear you ask. Well, according to the Macmillan dictionary, it is “A book you can take on holiday (This must be a British dictionary: translation -- vacation), which is good enough to keep you engaged but not so serious it will spoil your holiday (vacation).” Most of the titles listed below would probably qualify as “beach reads”. The non-fiction titles, not so much. Start your summer beach reading now and record what you read and earn Dragon Dollars in our Summer Reading Program. Below you will find some new titles which may or may not be “beach reads”. You decide! Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory” by Ruta Sepetys. This is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page.
“Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II” by Evan Thomas. This thrilling, meticulously researched account of the three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb — and Japan’s decision to surrender— draws on their diaries to bring these critical events to life and contemplate the immense weight of their historic decision.
New Fiction
“Tom Clancy Flash Point (A Jack Ryan, Jr. Novel)” by Don Bentley. When a benign surveillance operation takes a deadly turn, Jack finds himself locked in a struggle with an unseen enemy bent on destroying the Campus. The chase leads Jack to the South China Sea where a midair collision between aircraft from rival nations threatens to serve as a flash point for the entire region
“Identity: A Novel” by Nora Roberts. The author expertly weaves a cat-and-mouse suspense plot between Morgan and the serial killer, Gavin. The blend of family, romance, and murder created a multi-dimensional story that makes this a real page turner.
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“Tell-Tale Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery (No.26)” by Carolyn Haines. This books marks the next novel in the series that “Kirkus Reviews” characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney. Several missing women, an abusive husband, and a fight over money add up to murder and mayhem for a pair of Southern belles with deep roots in the Mississippi Delta.
“Summer Stage” by Meg Mitchell Moore. Working together to ensure their summer production at a storied Block Island theater is a success, former aspiring playwright Amy Trevino, her daughter Sam and her brother, a well-loved Hollywood actor, must grapple with their desires for fame and fortune and discover what they really want out of life.
“Glassworks” by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith. Follows several generations of a family between
1910 and 2015, from Agnes who leaves her spendthrift husband for a Bohemian naturalist glassblower to her great granddaughter who is a burned-out stoner making cremains into glass keepsakes.
“Romantic Comedy (Reese’s Book Club)” by Curtis Sittenfeld A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamy pop star flips the script on all her assumptions from the author of “Eligible”, “Rodham”, and “Prep”.
“You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory” by Ruta Sepetys. This is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page.
“Killing Moon: A Harry Hole Novel (13)” by Jo Nesbo. The brilliant rogue police investigator Harry Hole is back, this time as an outsider assembling his own team to help find a serial killer who is murdering young women in Oslo in the next novel in the “New York Times” best-selling series.
“The King’s Pleasure: A Novel of Henry VII)” by Alison Weir. Having completed her Six Tudor Queens series of novels on the wives of Henry VIII, extensively researched and written from each queen's point of view, Alison Weir now gives Henry himself a voice, telling the story of his remarkable thirty-six-year reign and his six marriages.
“Central Park West” by James Comey. A federal prosecutor, Nora Carleton, enters into a high-stakes investigation involving conspiracy, corruption and danger when a mobster she is trying to convict offers information about an assassination in the first crime novel from the former director of the FBI.
“Good Night, Irene" by Luis Alberto Urrea. In the tradition of “The Nightingale” and “Transcription”, this is a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of courageous Red Cross women.