Why not follow up one cheesy Nantucket-related story with another? Elin Hilderbrand’s new one, The Rumor, didn’t disappoint. Just like her previous Nantucket-based stories, this one was heavily filled with place names and unique island features. I have never been to Nantucket, but I get the feeling that I have through Hilderbrand’s novels. As usual, this was nothing intellectually stimulating or mind stretching, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. Another good one to take with you to the beach – you’ll rip right through it.

I enjoyed Gone Girl very much when it came out and people told me I should look into Dark Places because it was even better (although now that I look at all her books, perhaps it was Sharp Objects that people really liked…). I don’t know that I agree that Dark Places was better than Gone Girl, but it was a good horror/mystery. Certainly a summer read – nothing deeper than that. If you like Gillian Flynn and you haven’t already read it, this is one to add to your list.

I adored The Rosie Project, and when I saw The Rosie Effect on the shelf at the library, I grabbed it. Once I started it, I was instantly back in the voice of the Rosie Project. Don’s persona really comes out in the writing. While it bothered me at first and made the story a little hard for me to follow, once I immersed myself in it, I enjoyed The Rosie Effect. It was not as entertaining and novel as The Rosie Project, but it was a good summer read, nonetheless.

I may be the only person who didn’t think Bossypants by Tina Fey was that funny. I like Tina Fey and I liked the idea of the book and some of the chapters (I think the baby one was actually laugh out loud funny), but the rest of it seemed to be trying too hard. Perhaps if I had read it closer to when some of the events she was writing about happened, it would have been better??

While I think I have liked Laura Lippman books in the past, Every Secret Thing was not a favorite. It took too long to tell the story and there were too many characters to keep track of. I thought it would be a good beach mystery read, but, alas, no.

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole was a wonderful epistolary beach read. A sentimental love story told in two eras, it was a quick and enjoyable read. Letters written back and forth from America to the Isle of Skye at first and then across the British Isles to Europe, it was a predictable romantic story, but one I would recommend.

Apparently, I never posted this last summer and it just oddly popped up in my drafts.

I will admit that I like a cheesy summer book as much as the next person and I was excited that Jane Green had something new for 2015. Sadly, I wasn’t at the beach when I read Summer Secrets, which would have been ideal. It took just a few hours to read this story of a recovering alcoholic and her relationships. A good one if you are not looking for something deep.

I am not sure how The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal ended up on my wishlist, but it was an interesting read. I enjoyed the story, but it was a little dry and could have moved a smidge faster. However, it was such a fascinating story of a con man and how he ended up ingratiating himself into the upper echelons of society, that one was able to move through the duller parts.

Boy am I glad I picked up The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson. I read half of it last night and the other half this morning. It was great. Kitty, a single woman living on her own as a bookstore owner, begins to have vivid dreams about how her life would have been if she had married Lars, the man who stood her up after he answered her “lonely hearts” ad in the newspaper. She loses more and more of her days as Kitty as she enjoys living the dream life as Katharyn. I loved the back and forth between her two lives, one as a single woman and one as a mother of triplets and the choices she made in both lives. This is a terrific beach read!

I read about Small Mercies by Eddie Joyce in several locations including this review on Gayle Weiswasser’s great blog Everyday I Write the Book. I didn’t read her whole review until I had read Small Mercies myself. I didn’t like the book as much as she did. While I enjoyed the beginning and middle, I got bogged down at the end and was ready for the story to end. So, overall, I found it disappointing, as I was expecting more. Small Mercies, however, had an intriguing premise – a week in the life of a Staten Island family who continue to cope with one of their members’ death on 9/11, ten years earlier. I felt that Joyce accurately captured what I imagine Staten Island to be like and I liked the characters. But, it just didn’t do it for me.